Mold is a natural part of the ecosystem. Its job is to eat dead, rotting trees and plants, breaking them down into dirt to fertilize the next generation of growth. However, mold can’t tell the difference between houses and dead trees. This is bad news for homeowners, landlords, and residents. Especially because mold is also potentially harmful to the health of people who live in the home. It likes to settle into any moist surface, whether that’s the space under your sink, a soaked carpet pad, or the structural beams of your house. As a landlord, its your responsibility to clear out mold in your rentals.
It’s important to be an expert in how to handle mold in residential rentals to keep your investment and those renting from you safe. Here are some key facts you should know:
Types of Mold in Residential Rentals
There are hundreds of mold varieties, and dozens that are commonly found in homes across North America. The harmful molds come in three categories. Allergenic molds make you sneeze and give you headaches. Pathogenic molds cause illness or make the body weaker to illness. Toxigenic molds are the most dangerous because they cause direct harm to the body and can result in permanent health damage for those exposed over a long period of time.
Here are the common household molds and where they’re found broken into these three categories.
- Allergenic
- Chaetomium – found in soil, air, and plant debris.
- Alternaria – found on foods
- Ulocladium – found indoors and in damp spaces
- Serpula – found around ventilation shafts
- Mucor – found in soil, food, plants, and decaying organic matter
- Pathogenic
- Aspergillus – found in damp areas of the home
- Cladosporium – found in damp areas of the home
- Cryptococcus – found in soil, decaying wood, and bird droppings
- Toxigenic
- Stachybotrys (aka Black Mold) – found in warm areas that are damp and have poor ventilation
- Trichoderma – found in soil and on wood
- Mucor – found in soil, plants, and decaying organic matter
Causes and How to Prevent Mold in Rental Homes
Mold likes to grow in moisture-soaked materials. Leaks and floods create the greatest risk of mold, but even routine high humidity can foster mold growth. This means that maintenance and proper ventilation are absolutely essential for preventing mold growth in your rental properties.
Causes of Mold in Homes
- Lingering Humidity
- Leaky Pipes
- Dripping Basements
- Flooding
- Roof and Siding Leaks
- Regional Risks
How to Prevent Mold
- Exhaust Fans
- HVAC and Duct Maintenance
- Attentive Plumbing Maintenance
- Roof and Siding Maintenance
- Dehumidifiers
- Periodic Inspections
Signs of Mold in a Rental Property
It is important for landlords and their property managers to be able to swiftly identify mold when it lurks in residential rentals. This is because mold can pose a health risk that landlords may be responsible for. Not to mention the structural damage that mold can cause if it is allowed to eat away at your home’s beams and boards over time.
Know the signs of mold growth:
- Damp or musty smell
- Speckles around the vents
- Discoloration in the bathroom
- Soggy timbers and drywall
- Strong odor from drains or below sinks
- Persistent tenant illness
Mold has a distinct smell that is similar to sour laundry. You can also sometimes see it in plain view as speckles, growing circles and fuzzy spots – but the many varieties of mold look different and are often hidden behind walls or cabinet panels.
Another, more subtle, sign is if your tenants are always ill. Persistent illness, from year-round allergies to increased health problems can be a sign of mold exposure.
How to Get Rid of Mold in Residential Rentals
Discovering mold in your rental property is bad news, as mold often requires renovation-level solutions to fully remove.
- Remove and replace affected materials
- Rapid leak and flood response
- Professional mold remediation services
If you discover a mold-infested cabinet, rebuilding the cabinet boards is the best way to get rid of it. The same is true with carpet pads, furniture, and even sections of drywall.
You can prevent further mold growth by rapidly responding to leaks and floods, not just repairing the damage but also aggressively drying the area and applying fungicide to at-risk surfaces.
You may need to hire the services of a mold remediation team, who specialize in rescuing homes from early to extensive mold infestations.
