The short version: Ann Arbor basements often grow mold in spring because winter and spring team up against them. Winter cracks your foundation with freeze and thaw and traps humidity in a closed-up house. Then the spring thaw and rain push groundwater against your basement walls, while warm spring air hits cold basement surfaces and…
Mold Inspection vs. Mold Testing: What’s the Difference? The short version: A mold inspection and a mold test aren’t the same thing. An inspection is when we come out, find the mold and the moisture causing it, and figure out how bad it is. Testing is when we take air or surface samples and send…
Do You Need a Mold Inspection Before Buying or Selling a Home? The short version: A regular home inspection and a mold inspection aren’t the same thing. A home inspector looks at the whole house and might flag visible mold or moisture, but they usually don’t test for mold or track down hidden growth. A…
Do You Actually Need Professional Mold Help? How to Tell The short version: You can handle small surface mold yourself, like a patch smaller than a square foot on tile or glass. You need professional help when mold covers a large area, grows in porous materials like drywall or wood, keeps coming back, is in…
Found Mold and Not Sure What to Do? Start Here The short version: If you just found mold, take a breath. It’s common, and it’s fixable. Don’t scrub it, spray it, or try to clean it up in a hurry, because disturbing mold spreads its spores around your home. Stop any obvious water or leak…
Quick Question: Can You Remediate Mold Yourself? Short answer: sometimes, but only for small jobs. A little surface mold on a hard, nonporous surface like tile or glass is usually fine to clean yourself. Anything bigger than about a square foot, anything on porous material like drywall or wood, or anything tied to a water…
Why Ann Arbor Homes Are Prone to Mold The short version: Ann Arbor homes get mold for a few reasons that stack up. Our Great Lakes climate keeps the air humid. A lot of homes here are older, with basements and less ventilation. And mold only needs three things to grow. Moisture above 50% relative…
What Happens During a Mold Inspection? (Step by Step) The short version: A mold inspection is simpler and less invasive than most people expect. We talk through what you’re noticing, look over your home inside and out including the spots you can’t easily see, use moisture meters to find dampness behind surfaces, and trace the…
What Kills Mold Permanently? Short answer: no spray or cleaner kills mold permanently on its own. Mold stays gone for good only when you do two things. Remove it at the root, and fix the moisture that let it grow. Skip the moisture part and it always comes back. This trips a lot of people…
Bleach vs. Dry Ice Blasting: What Actually Gets Rid of Mold? The short version: Bleach can make mold look gone, but on most surfaces it doesn’t actually remove it. On porous materials like wood and drywall, bleach lightens the color so the mold looks handled, while the roots underneath stay alive. It also doesn’t fix…