Too much moisture makes a home stuffy and gives it a faint odour. Humid walls create a coldness that makes more heating necessary and increases energy bills. Rising damp, penetrating damp and condensation are the three most common cause created when the house is moisturized too much. What is damp exactly? Damp refers to the presence of moisture, water and condensation being present within a property. There are number of signs that you can look, such as musty smell, black spot or mold and even dry or wet rot growth on walls.
The main cause of this issue is about poor building quality. Further, poor property maintenance is also the reason. This leads to bigger damages such as pipe, toilet, sink, hot water, washing machine and shower leaking; also rain seeping through the roof. Dripping water and overflows that gradually comes out will affect the property, and also change the moisture of the house, ended up in dampness. Dampness in your property will eventually cause structural damage over time. The end result leads to structural timber deterioration and the longer the damp is left then the worse problems of timber decay will be to the property.
Rising damp for example is caused by ground water moving up through a wall or floor. As for penetrating damp, it is caused by water leaking through walls. Meanwhile condensation is the most common kind of damp. It is caused by humidity of indoor air, low temperature and poor ventilation which particularly happened in rooms that naturally generate a lot of air moisture, such as kitchens and bathrooms.
Not only does damp cause problems to your building infrastructure but it can also have health implications too. Dampness leads to growth of mold. Occupants of damp or mouldy homes are at increased risk of experiencing health problems such as respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections, allergic rhinitis and asthma. Additional effort even need to do for babies, children, elderly people, those with existing skin problems, such as eczema, or respiratory problems, such as allergies and asthma, and anyone who is immuno-compromised (e.g., chemotherapy patients).
Some people would use chemical components to overcome it. But, chemical disinfection and the use of biocides are not recommended as a routine practice for mould control as it may be toxic for the occupants. The application of disinfecting substances also does not solve the cause of the problem, and therefore may provide more health risks than benefits.
When the mold presents in your house, it is recommended to get professional help. But, you can probably manage the job yourself if mold growth area is less than 1 m 2 .It’s all about cleaning your house and open the ventilation widely while you’re cleaning it, because mold spore can spread into the air. Whether the job is undertaken by professional or yourself, intensive care has to be taken to avoid personal exposure to microscopic mold spores and the spread of spores within the house. Once the work of removing the mould is completed, your efforts should turn to preventing it from reappearing. As a result, you won’t need to spend more expense of maintenance and repairing it.
