• August 17, 2019

Mold in Bathroom

Do you think that you have mold in your bathroom? Are you worried that it might be dangerous and negatively impacting your indoor air quality?

Whether or not you should be concerned about what you are seeing is entirely dependent on each situation. In a continuing effort to educate the public about the dangers and misconceptions of toxic mold, MI&T will offer some basic advice about mold in bathrooms. Our hope is that these examples can give you a better idea about what is happening at your home or business.

The environment inside a bathroom is one that can easily promote mold growth. Showers, toilets, and sinks can all have plumbing issues and slow leaks within walls can go unseen and grow into serious issues. Even more common is having some growth in the bathroom due to condensation and elevated humidity stemming from hot showers and poor ventilation. Bathrooms without exhaust fans, especially if small in size can take quite a while to return to its normal environment. If mold starts to grow and you repeat this process everyday it could get the proper nutrients to become a problem.

Since every bathroom is under similar circumstances to what is described above you can usually find some mold growth in almost every bathroom. Spots seen on tiles or other non-porous surfaces is usually the non-toxic species cladosporium and nothing to worry about. If you start to see that growth grow substantially or anything on drywall, that could be something that needs to be addressed.

Preventing Bathroom Mold Growth

In order to avoid the need for mold remediation in your bathroom, the best weapon is practicing active prevention. If you take hot showers, make sure to use your exhaust fan to limit the humidity and condensation build up. If you do not have an exhaust fan in you bathroom, try to open a window or leave a door open in an effort to ventilate the area.

Check under sink, behind toilets, and around showers for any leaks or cracking sealant; the bathroom should have no where water can seap into and start growing mold.

If you are building or re-building a bathroom, make sure to install an exhaust fan and use water resistant green board and an anti-microbial paint. Doing all of the above will help keep you and your bathroom safe from mold.

If you are still unsure about whether or not what is happening inside your bathroom is  a problem and would like an inspector to come out and test your home or business, give us a call at 855-600-6653.