Mold Remediation Damascus

Despite the encroaching urban growth from nearby Washington, D.C., Damascus, the town at the intersection of Ridge Road and Damascus Road, retains its small town feel. With many of the area homes still sitting on large lots, a rarity in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., you can still see the remnants of the old farming community.

Damascus is also the highest point in Montgomery, with an elevation of 866 feet above sea level. The good news for area homes is that there likely isn’t a lot of subsurface water finding its way into the basements of those homes.

Unfortunately, like much of Montgomery County, Damascus is still subject to the hot, humid summers, and unpredictable hurricanes, blizzards, and thunderstorms throughout the year that can cause basements to flood, or at least stay damp throughout much of the year.

With all that moisture in your basement, you run the risk of developing mold and mildew growth. If your basement has been damp for a while, mold and mildew may have already set in, and your best bet would be to get professional mold remediation Damascus.

How Is Water Getting Into My Basement?

Due to Damascus’ high elevation, it’s unlikely that ground water is finding its way into your basement, but that doesn’t meant that there aren’t plenty of other sources of excess moisture. The most common one is just plain, old condensation.

Especially in the sweltering Damascus summers, hot, humid air can easily find its way into your cool basement. When that air meets the cool surfaces in your basement, condensation forms, leaving pools of water in your basement that encourage the growth of mold and mildew.

Another concern in places like Damascus with older homes, is leaky pipes. Pipes were designed to last, but even the best ones eventually succumb to decades of wear and tear, especially if the water pressure in your home is on the high side.

Pipe leaks are particularly bad because they can drip moisture in your basement behind walls, where molds can grow unchecked for a long time before anyone even notices. By the time the smell is bad enough for you to notice, it may have already caused extensive damage to your home.

Finally, even though ground water is not a problem, cracks and gaps in your foundation, which naturally develop over time, can let runoff into your basement after a storm before it has a chance to drain away from your property.

Regardless of the cause, water makes your already cool, dark basement into the perfect place for mold to set up shop.

Why Is Mold So Bad?

Humans often have a visceral reaction to mold. That’s because mold represents decay and decomposition. It’s a sign that something has gone bad, and it certainly produces the smell to prove it.

But mold is also responsible for very real health problems in people that are exposed to too much of it. The most dangerous types of molds produce mycotoxins, which have been associated with neurological damage, compromised immune systems, serious respiratory disorders, and even death.

Even molds that don’t produce mycotoxins can cause severe allergic reactions in humans with symptoms such as nasal and sinus congestion, skin and eye irritation, and upper respiratory obstructions that can cause significant, and often debilitating discomfort.

Mold also begins to decay anything made of organic matter in the basement. That means that wooden frames, drywall, carpet, insulation, wallpaper, furniture, cardboard boxes, and their contents are all at risk of being irreparably destroyed if mold is left unchecked for too long.

Professional Mold Remediation Damascus

If you suspect that you have a mold problem, you should get professional mold remediation in Damascus right away. You can try to clean up mold yourself, but you are just likely to spread the problem or deal only with parts of it. A company specializing in mold remediation in Damascus will most importantly isolate and prevent the spread of mold in your home while they remove and clean infected surfaces and items.

Professionals can also identify infected areas that may not necessarily be visible to the untrained eye, ensuring that all traces of dangerous mold are removed from your home. Finally, professionals can address the source of the mold problem—moisture—to ensure that the problem does not reoccur.