What’s that smell in my basement?
Walking into your basement to find an unpleasant, damp odor is the giveaway sign of mold making itself at home. This mold is able to grow because of a moisture problem. Atlanta gets a lot of rainfall, over 47 inches a year, and this makes fighting moisture a challenge. But ignoring the problem risks damaging your health and your home investment. So what should you know, and what are the solutions available?
You Should Know
That basement smell you just experienced means mold spores are in the air. Exposure to mold can harm you, your family, and even your pets. Health effects include stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing or wheezing, burning eyes, and skin rash. People with asthma or who are allergic to mold may have severe reactions. Whatever the type of mold is in your home, even if it’s not Toxic Black Mold, it needs to go. The CDC simply advises that “if you see or smell mold, you should remove it.”
It’s also important to know that just removing the mold isn’t enough. Without fixing the moisture problem at its source, the mold will grow back quickly. This source could be a crack in a wall, an area of the basement floor, condensation from the air, or even multiple different places at once. Wherever it’s coming from, the intrusion of mold and moisture can damage your home. Wood rot, decaying drywall, and stained floors can all happen quickly and hurt your home investment. The solution to your basement smell may be as simple as installing a dehumidifier or sealing a crack.
We can help
Sealing Agents has been in the industry of protecting homes from water intrusion for over 25 years. We take all of the lessons we’ve learned during that time and apply them directly to your home, creating pathways for water to move safely around your home, not into it.