With all that extra moisture from melting snow and heavy rain worming its way into the crevices of your house, winter is prime mold season. Keeping mold from invading your house is extremely important for your and your family's health, as toxic mold spores have been shown to lead to debilitating symptoms like headaches, nausea and even cognitive effects like disorientation. This is doubly important if your family includes children or anyone with asthma. Here are some steps you can take to protect your home from invading spores this winter:

• Check on your plumbing system. Make sure there are no leaks that could be causing moisture problems in the walls, and make sure the water flow to any damaged or nonfunctional appliances is turned off.
• Heat the house. Briefly turning up the heat extra high can dry out moisture in the structure of the building. After the heat blast, open doors and windows or use a fan to get rid of any moist air.
• Keep everything clean. Remove extra moisture and keep areas that are susceptible to excessive humidity, like bathrooms and basements, extra clean. 
• Make sure the air circulation is good. Mold and mildew form especially easily in stagnant, humid air. Make sure to use an exhaust fan, if you have one, while showering, cooking or doing any activity that involves releasing a lot of water vapor into the air.
• Use a dehumidifier: This one device can go a long way in making sure that mold doesn't have the favorable growing conditions it needs. Use it wherever moisture tends to accumulate in the house.

If you believe that you might have a problem with mold in your home, our professional home inspectors can help. Call Alban today for mold testing and inspection.