Is mold a big problem in homes in the States? We only ever had problems in the bathroom, where there are obviously moisture problems which my parents have worked to overcome - this in a climate where the average humidity is very high. And my parents don't heat the house that much, so it doesn't necessarily have to do with heating. Are American houses just that poorly insulated?* **
Here in Germany, the fight against mold seems to be a never-ending battle. We had our first run-in months ago in the bedroom, where we had accidentally stored a bag leaning against the wall. It was a bit icky back there, but we treated the small area with bleach and oxy-clean and scrubbing and a more environmentally friendly mold spray and we appear to have had luck that as unpleasant as it may have initially appeared that it didn't make it's way into the wall. It hasn't returned. (yippee)
So I did some reading online. One must take care that the walls don't get too cold and one should ventilate the rooms at least 3x a day! I have taken to heating the rooms more and ventilating more often (particularly when doing laundry) and was feeling pretty good about myself only to discover a major problem in the kitchen. I had noticed that my salt was wet. This is a bad, bad sign.
We removed the cabinets from the wall, and sure enough, there was mold in the back panneling. We made some initial attempts to clean the pannels, to no avail. We were able to buy new panneling at bauhaus and throw out the old panneling. I cleaned the wall with all the suggested appropriate chemicals, then painted over the area once the wall was dry again. We now have spacer blocks behind the cabinets so that there is more room for air flow. With any luck that, and opening the window every time I cook should resolve that problem.
* In the States, we don't dry the laundry inside. That may also play a role, but my mom doesn't turn on the kitchen vent to boil water for her tea and my parents run a humidifier all winter in the living room.
** My parents run a dehumidifier in the basement all year.
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3 comments:
Andrea recently ran into some mold too: http://sahmmominbonn.blogspot.com/2006/12/ho-dee-hum.html
fingers crossed for you that ventilating more will alleviate the issue.
I noticed this problem too here. The walls are thick concrete and there is NO ventilation in houses. It took me awhile to realize why even in the winter people have their windows open all the time in such a supposedly environmentally friendly society. It's because they have no central air or heating! I'm used to opening the kitchen window when I am cooking, the bathroom window when I am showering and the bedroom window when I'm not sleeping and the rest several times a day. I swear I can detect the humidity level in the house subconciously now.
Why is it that the household posts always get more comments :)?
I am confident that knowing what I know now, we will have fewer problems. We also needn't worry too much about the cabinets because we will move sometime in the not too distant future and then the old cabinets are history.
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