Whether your home has faced a leaky roof, a burst pipe, or flooding, excess water in the home can cause many problems. Your clothing, carpet, and furniture get ruined, appliances and electronics get destroyed, and the integrity of your home gets compromised. As if these problems were not enough, the mess serves as an excellent breeding ground for mould, thereby increasing the damage and making the restoration costlier, harder, and longer.
What is mould? What are the health effects of inhaling mould?
Mould is a type of fungus that consists of small organisms that are found almost anywhere you see. They can be purple, green, orange, white, or black in colour. Outdoors, mould plays a vital role in nature and breaks down dead trees, plants, and leaves. In small amounts, mould spores are usually harmless. However, if you are sensitive to mould or suffer from any other sort of respiratory problem, you could face some health issues.
Mould can often be found in places like bathrooms, crawl spaces, carpets, basements, and attics. Since they are very light and tiny, they become airborne quickly. Additionally, some types of mould produce toxins called mycotoxins, which can cause a variety of health issues.
Some types of illnesses caused by mould include systematic candidiasis (yeast infection), sporotrichosis, paracoccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and many more. Some symptoms for mould-related diseases include sneezing, asthma, sore throats, running nose, watery and itchy eyes.
Signs of mould
As mentioned above, mould can grow on any surface like wet carpets, toilet sink and tubs. Some common signs of mould include:
Smell: Even though you cannot see the mould, it does not mean it is not there. Often, you will be able to smell a damp or musty odour before you can even see it.
Visible signs: At times, mould can be spotted easily. Spots coloured pink, purple, orange, brown, or black are an indication. At times, you might also see your cabinetry or drywall swollen, which also indicates that the area is infected with mould.
How fast can mould start to grow on your wet carpet?
For sure, sudden water damage from your pipeline or a water leak to your carpet needs to be fixed quickly. There is no specific time for mould to grow. However, with long-term issues like ongoing hidden leaks and high humidity problems, the probability of the mould is already high.
Under ideal conditions like high humidity levels and optimal temperatures, it can take between 24 and 48 hours for mould to start germinating and grow. Usually, the spores begin to colonise in 3-12 days, depending on the conditions and becomes visible in about 18-21 days.
The time might vary depending on the conditions in the home like ambient temperatures, amount of moisture, household materials in the affected area, and the type of surface and also the type of the mould. Nevertheless, the chances of mould to develop and spread to other areas of your home increases with time.
How fast does mould spread across your carpet?
Mould starts to spread within a few days. When it lands on organic material, the spores will latch itself on the surface and starts feeding off on the organic substance. In a matter of days, the microorganisms will start spreading to other parts of the moist area, thereby damaging the integrity of the materials they are attached to, for instance, your carpet.
However, the main danger starts when the mould spores get attached to the surface of your home. It then fills the air with more spores that spread throughout the house or building, affecting its structural integrity and affecting more areas with each passing hour and days.
This is the reason why water restoration and carpet cleaning professionals will tell you that the faster the water damage is taken care of, the less likely will the mould spores spread across your house. One primary concern in the minds of all experts is making sure that the damaged area is completely dried to reduce the risk of mould formation.
How to prevent mould from growing on your carpet after water damage?
We know that there is only a 24-48 hour between water damage and the start of mould growth depending on the source of water. This is a concise period where you can only do enough to delay mould growth. It would help if you started by extracting the excess water. Open up your door/window to aid in quick drying. Any lingering moisture left is more than enough to become a breeding ground for moulds.
Wet carpet is the most susceptible to mould growth. In cases like these, it is always better to get in touch with carpet drying experts. Our technicians are highly trained for this service and are available round the clock. We also provide mould remediation services in Melbourne. Get in touch with us today!