How to Get Rid of Mold in the House: A Step by Step Guide

No matter how diligently you clean, you’re sure to miss a spot or two. Over time, these missed spots or neglected areas can build mold on surfaces in your home – something we want to avoid to maintain a clean space. Before you let this mold build up to become a larger problem, it’s important to find the right method for how to treat mold in the house and on your surfaces.

To avoid unwanted rot and pollutants caused by a build-up of mold, our experts at EuroMaids have put together a step-by-step guide for how to get rid of mold on house surfaces, removing the dark stains as well as the health hazard associated with mold.

Ready to have your house mold-free? Let’s explore our key mold-fighting methods.

Can I Get Rid of Mold Myself or Should I Call an Expert?

If you’re wondering if you can handle your mold removal in your home, it comes down to your own time and research capabilities. Removing mold is no easy task, but if you’re willing to take the time to find out the best methods and work to remove the mold, you can do it on your own – it just takes a bit of research and patience!

However, mold can be a hazardous substance, so you’ll not only want to research the proper safety methods when looking into how to kill mold in the house and outside surfaces but ensure that the methods you take are really ridding your home of mold. It’s about much more than a surface deep clean!

When it comes to how to get rid of mold in your house, there’s one true fact – the experts know best. With years of experience, an expert team not only knows how to remove the mold to ensure your home is free of the hazard but has the expertise and tools to keep future mold growth at bay. If you’re worried about handling it on your own, call the experts.

How Do I Know If My House Has Mold?

There are a few ways to determine if your home has mold. Many of the ways to tell are visual, but this can depend on the type of mold you’re experiencing.

For instance, “alternaria” mold is one of the common allergenic molds, meaning you would notice symptoms like coughing or sneezing, like typical allergy symptoms. However, the most common mold in households is “aspergillus”, which you may notice as a dark buildup. Lastly, one of the more harmful forms is “stachybotrys,” also known as black mold, which can go as far as to cause flu-like symptoms.

Before you start researching how to kill mold in the house or outside surfaces, you’ll need to know if you have mold at all. Still debating if you have mold? Look out for these signs and symptoms:

• Visible signs of mold growth: one of the most obvious ways to tell is if you start noticing white, black, gray-brown, or gray-green spots.
• Water leaks and damage: any water damage eventually leads to mold, so it’s a good rule of thumb to handle that kind of situation early, especially if you have an ongoing leak.
• Odor: noticing a musty smell that just won’t go away? This could be mold. Not all mold has a scent, but many do, so if you are already suspicious of mold this can be another signifier.

How to Get Rid of Mold in Your House

Let’s face it – figuring out how to remove mold from house surfaces is a challenging task and time-consuming enough, but the actual cleaning process can take a while, too. There’s a degree of time-required and difficulty in removing mold efficiently, and while a pro can surely take on the task with ease, if you’ve committed to handling it yourself, you’ll need to do the research.

To help you along with the mold-removing process, our team is breaking down the must-know step-by-step method to tackling pesky mold in your home.

Tools and Materials

So, how do you get rid of mold in a house? It starts with the right tools and materials to ensure the task is done right.

For this process, you will need:

• Bleach
• Heavy-duty cleaner
• Painter’s tape
• Plastic garbage bags
• Plastic sheeting
• Oil-based primer or shellac
• Dish soap
• Rubber gloves
• Safety glasses
• Respirators/masks

Mold Removal Safety Precautions

When working through how to get rid of mold in the house naturally, you’ll find that safety precautions are a top priority.

Mold can be a harmful substance, so to ensure your health and safety, we recommend:

• Wearing old clothes you can throw out or deeply wash afterward
• Wear an N-95 respirator as well as gloves and eye goggles
• Wrap and tape moldy carpeting, wrapping it up in plastic, and then double bagging it before throwing it out
• Use an old fan to act as a ventilator while you’re working. You will need to throw this fan out when you’re done to avoid further circulating the mold spores
• Moisten the mold while you work with a sprayer. This will help control airborne spores
• Keep air conditioner and furnace off and cover their ducts

Seal Off The Damaged Area

The key tip when dealing with the question of how do you clean up mold in your house is to contain the spores so that they do not spread while you work. This is easy to overlook, but incredibly important.

To keep the rest of your home safe from the mold you’re working on, we recommend:

• Keeping the room your working on sealed from the rest of the house
• Cover doorways with plastic sheets and tape going from wall to floor
• Cover air ducts with plastic and tape

Prevent Further Mold Spread

Prevention methods are a great way to keep mold at bay, managing both your indoor cleaning methods and addressing how to get rid of mold on the outside of the house.

To prevent more mold, we recommend:

• Clearing gutters and downspouts so water is draining as it should
• Repairing any leaks inside and install exhaust fans
• Before removing mold, be sure to improve ventilation and eliminate moisture
• To keep moisture levels down and avoid further mold growth, keep a dehumidifier running

Remove Mold

If you’re wondering “how do you get rid of mold in your house,” these are our basic tips and tricks:

• Use detergent and water to scrub mold off hard surfaces and then dry completely with a rag
• For faster results, use a mold cleaner with mold-fighting ingredients
• For porous surfaces like drywall, use a rag. For very porous surfaces it’s best to replace them
• To avoid peeling paint, you must remove all mold and let it thoroughly dry
• Use dish soap to remove mold from wood. We recommend then sanding the wood aftward
• When removing mold indoors, you do not need to rinse the surfaces afterward

Remember – when removing mold, you’ll need to take the extra time and care to ensure you’re getting beyond a surface clean to thoroughly remove mold. This can mean more than a deep scrub, too, actually removing walls and covers to find the root of the mold. It’s a hard job, but well worth the results!

Removing Mold Outside

Outdoor mold should be taken just as seriously as indoors as it can affect the stability of your home. For the basics on how to get rid of mold under a house or outside, we recommend:

• For a solution, spray a 1-to-10 mix of bleach and water on the surfaces
• Use a stiff bristle brush and a solution to scrub at surfaces
• Wear gloves and eye protection
• Let the solution sit for about 10 to 20 minutes
• When done, rinse surfaces with a hose

To avoid doing a major mold removal process too frequently, keep an eye on your home’s exterior, cleaning things as you see them to avoid a mold problem getting too out of hand.

Clean Up After Removal

A big part of how to kill mold in your house is the cleanup process afterward, which ensures the mold doesn’t spread throughout the rest of your space.

When it comes to cleanup, we recommend:

• Double bag and seal moldy materials, like carpets
• Bag and seal all rags used for mold removal and throw them away
• Immediately wash hands and skin
• Deeply wash clothes using hot water or dispose of them

Cleanup is all about keeping mold from spreading to the rest of the house, so never skip this step!

Mold Prevention Tips

Now that you’ve dealt with how to get rid of black mold in the house and outside surfaces, it’s time to ensure it doesn’t come back.

Mold thrives in damp environments, so controlling dampness in your home with dehumidifiers can make a world of difference to prevent mold. To further avoid moisture build-up, make sure you route water away from your home’s foundation and address any leaks immediately.

To go the extra mile, we recommend using paints with mildewcide. Many contain this, and it can help keep your more wet rooms, like the bathroom, safe from mold. We also advise you to do frequent bath mold cleaning to prevent any accumulation in these moist environments.

Conclusion

Mold removal is an intricate process, but incredibly important for your health and longevity of your home. Need a refresher on the process? To answer your question of how do you clean up mold in your house, we recommend:

1. Getting the right tools and materials
2. Taking the proper safety precautions
3. Sealing off damaged areas
4. Preventing further mold spread
5. Removing mold both inside and outside
6. Cleaning up after mold removal

With the right methods and materials, you can tackle the cumbersome task of mold removal. An important step in preventing the accumulation of mold in your home is to ensure it is cleaned properly and on a regular basis. To this end, the team at EuroMaids is happy to help. Give us a call at (630) 737-1080, or get a free estimate online today.