For most individuals, your home is your largest long-term investment.  Did you know there could be serious structural damage occuring that could drastically reduce the value of your investment?  Many homes suffer from unrecognized moisture damage that, if unchecked, can lead to mold, rotting and termites.  Moisture-related problems can eat and rot away the structural components of your largest investment.    Modern home construction practices that emphasize energy-efficiency air leakage techniques can often lead to excessive moisture being trapped in the house.  In cold winter climates, high levels of indoor humidity caused by human activity can lead to serious moisture problems in windows and walls.  Even cold air during rainy weather brings mold condusive moisture into your crawlspace.  In warm humid climates, problems result from moist, humid outside air entering the home.  Damp crawl spaces or leaky roofs can cause additional moisture control issues.

One of the most serious threats to the value of your home is what is commonly referred to as "wood rot".  Many people use the misnomer "dry rot" to describe wood rot.  Wood does not rot when it is dry, it rots when it is moist.  The decaying of wood, or wood rot, is brought about by microscopic fungi that feed on natural substances such as wood.  Millions of tiny spores are scattered by the wind and they eventually settle down and colonize on a suitable surface.  This surface requires temperatures between 40-100 degrees and sufficient moisture.  These fungi, once attached, secrete enzymes that break down the wood so it can be used as food.  This process begins whenever water gets into cracks or penetrates a wood finish and is unable to dry.  Wood with a moisture content of 20% and above is susceptible to decay.  When wood is rotting, it has a molted, dark to grayish-white appearance.Identifying early home moisture damage and its sources requires knowing what to look for a where.  Some potential trouble spots for water damage include:

• roofing
• plumbing
• HVAC systems
• door & window seals
• gutters & downspouts
• landscape grade changes
• standing water in basements and crawlspaces 

If you suspect you have a moisture problem in your home, you should be on the lookout for:

• condensation on windows and/or water pipes
• wet stains on walls and ceilings
• peeling or blistering of exterior paint
• rusting metals
• musty smells
• white spots on leather items such as shoes and coats
• deterioration of insulation

Another hazard your home may face without adequate moisture control is pests like wood borers and termites.  Just the mention of termites can strike fear into a homeowner.  There are many different varieties of wood-eating beetles described as borers.  These beetles cause damage by laying their eggs in moist wood and when the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the wood.  Although wood borers present problems, it is termites that cause the most destruction.  Termites cause billions of dollars in property damage every year.  There are over 2,000 species of termites throughout the world.  The natural food of termites is cellulose, the major component of the cell walls of trees.  Many times, there will be no visible evidence of termite infestation in a home.  Termites are cryptic creatures and their presence can go undetected for years.  Warm, moist, humid environments provide the optimum living conditions for wood eating pests.  Tell-tale signs of termite infestation include:

• wings or sawdust near windows, door frames, foundations or garages     
• buckling paint or tiny holes in wood
• mud tunnels along the foundation of the house – mud tunnels typically are about the diameter of a pencil 

Another place in your home with the potential for moisture problems is the crawlspace.  Crawl spaces are found in many regions of the United States, but are particularly evident along coastal areas.  Many times this is because high water tables prohibit the building of basements.  It is estimated that 25% of all new home construction in the southern United States are built on crawlspaces.  One of the biggest problems with crawl spaces in southern climates is that high humidity levels contribute to mold growth and wood decay.    Crawl space moisture problems usually begin because of improper grading and/or drainage around the house that lead to wet soil or puddled water.  When this moisture evaporates, it can increase the relative humidity that in turn increases the moisture content of the wood framing and floors.  This additional moisture often wafts upwards into the home, increasing indoor humidity levels.  There has been a consensus for decades that ground covers in crawlspaces effectively reduce moisture and humidity in the crawl space and in the building.  A number of studies, from the 1940’s-1990’s have determined that using a crawl space dehumidifiers eliminates the possibility of mold on the plastic ground cover by producing an unfavorable environment for mold growth.    One of the surest ways to combat excessive moisture in your home is to build a vapor barrier in your crawl space equipped with a quality dehumidifier.  In upcoming blogs we will show you how to build a vapor barrier and how to choose the correct crawlspace dehumidifier.

Many homes, especially in the southeastern United States, have crawl spaces that can lead to moisture control issues. Mold and other organisms such as bacteria, fungi, dust mites and insects thrive in and under buildings with excessive moisture. Of these organisms, mold is usally the most prevalent and problematic. Mold has been linked to a myriad of health problems; some are well documented and others are still unproven. According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic study, nearly all chronic sinus infections are a result of mold. The terms mold and mildew are often used interchangeably. Molds and mildews are types of fungi that grow on the surfaces of objects and in deteriorated materials. Mold and dust mites flourlish in moist, humid environments that have a constant moisture supply. Molds reproduce by spores and mold begins to grow when the spores land on damp indoor surfaces. They are visible to the naked eye when they start forming colonies.

Mold is ubiquitous in our natural environment. There are over 100,000 different types of mold, with only a handful being dangerous. In fact, there are some molds that have proven beneficial, such as penicillin. Although most of us have dealt with mold in our lives as mostly a nuisance, further examination revels that mold in your home can have serious health consequences for you and your family.

Biological airborne contaminants such as mold, pollen spores and dust mites are classified as "bioaerosols". These bioaerosols are extremely tiny living organisms suspended in the air. Bioaerosols can cause many health problems; from the severe, like bacteria and viruses that cause infection, to mild cases of allergies. Bioaerosols may also cause allergic reactions in the respiratory tract or on the skin. Common allergic reactions include: rashes, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, watery eyes and running noses. Mold related illnesses could result from both high level/short-term exposures and low level/long-term exposures.

Another health problem brought about by mold is hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This disease causes the air sacs of the lungs to become inflamed when certain mold spores are inhaled by individuals who are sensitive or allergic to the spores. Mold spores can deposit on the lining of the nose and cause hay fever symptoms. They can also reach the lungs, causing breathing difficulties for those with asthma. Some mold spores are able to grow for years after they are produced. The allergens in and on them remain allergenic for years, whether the spores are alive or not. Among the most harmful types of indoor molds are stachybotrys, alternaria, mucor, chaetomium, cladosporium and fusarium.

How your health is affected by mold is dependant on the amount of exposure and your individual susceptibility. People most vulnerable are those with allergies, asthmatics, the elderly, infants and children, those with existing respiratory problems and individuals with weakened immune systems. Controlling the moisture in your environment is the key to successful mold remediation.

Even through mold is a nasty substance to have invade your home, you can usually see it or smell it when it becomes problematic. This is not the case with an even more disgusting pest, the dust mite. Dust mites are microscopic organisms that feed on human and animal dander and are the most common allergen found in indoor air. Dust mites are found in carpets, mattresses, sheets, pillows and upholstered furniture. They feed on dander, which is skin and hair particles shed by humans and animals. We provide dust mites quite a feast as the average person sheds nearly 7 million skin cells per minute.

Dust mites belong to the same arachnid family as spiders. They thrive when the humidity is between 70-80% and the temperature between 75-80 degrees. Dust mites cannot survive if the humidity is below 40%. Even though you can’t see dust mites, there can be as many as 30,000 of these minute creatures in one ounce of dust. As disgusting as it seems, the average bed may house over 1.5 million dust mites! Dust mites themselves are not allergenic, but their waste products and disintegrating body parts cause problems. Research shows that feces deposited on our skin by dust mites may make the skin more susceptible to allergens and irritants. The mites shed enzymes in their feces that are used to break down the human skin cells they feed on. These emitted molecules can cause dramatic allergic reactions in some people. Dust mites are among the most common causes of asthma.

Whether the problem in your home is mold, mildew, dust mites, or all three, the underlying reason they exist is excessive moisture somewhere in your home. Besides preventing allergen issues, excessive moisture can also aggravate arthritis and rheumatism conditions. Moisture control can be achieved by constructing a vapor barrier in your crawlspace and by using a quality crawl space dehumidifier. Our expert dehumidifier team at OscarAir, Inc. has developed what we consider to be the best value available in crawlspace dehumidification.  Go to our Home page and find out why no other unit on the market can match its value.