We are fortunate to live in a fantastic part of the world. I love Brisbane and have lived here my whole life. One thing we do have in Brisbane is high humidity and it is important to manage this in your home or you could have a mould problem. Let’s look at how we can prevent mould in your Brisbane home or building.
Let's Get to Basics
If we want to prevent mould, we need to understand why it grows in the first place. For mould to grow you only need 2 things:
- A Food Source — organic materials such as wood and plasterboard
- Moisture
We need to control these factors if you want to prevent mould in your home. The food source is difficult to control because we cannot remove the timber or the plasterboard out of the home. However, we can control the moisture.
How to Control Moisture and Prevent Mould
Dry Water Damage
One of the leading causes of moisture problems in the home is water damage. Maybe you have had a water damage event sometime in the last year. If the water damage was not dried out properly, you risk mould growth. Water damage tends to produce dangerous types of mould which can off-gas and cause all sorts of health issues. If you have past water damage in your home you should have a mould inspection completed by a professional, who will write a scope on what needs to be done to dry out the affected area properly.
Sunlight
We live in the sunshine state. Try to let as much of that lovely sunshine into your house. People usually say that mould likes to grow in dark spaces. The reason is not because of the lack of light but because dark places such as cupboards (wet clothes) usually have high levels of moisture.
So try to let more sunlight into your house to dry that moisture out.
Use a HEPA Filter
If you live in an area with a high amount of mould and it is nearly impossible for you to control humidity, you may need to look at controlling the mould spores entering your home. This is where a HEPA filtration unit can come in handy to filter out the air.
This is a Dri-eaz Defendair HEPA 500. This is the unit which we use as a Hepa filter to manage mould spores in homes and buildings.
Control Humidity
We have found in many properties that mould can grow based on high humidity alone. This can certainly be a problem if you live in an area of Brisbane which has a high amount of mould in the ambient air. Mould spores can easily float inside the property through air currents. When the humidity is high inside the property, you are at risk of creating an environment with elevated mould growth. What are some ways we can control humidity:
- Ventilation — Try to open windows during the day to air out the house.
- Control Humidity in the Bathroom and Kitchen — Humidity is usually higher in these areas, so ensure there is adequate ventilation in these areas. Just remember, if you are installing an exhaust fan in your home, it should be vented outside.
- Dehumidifier — If all else fails, you can use a dehumidifier or air conditioners to control the humidity in the home.
Sub Floor Ventilation
Have a look under your house and ensure there are no pools of water underneath the house. Try to correct this through adequate drainage. If you still have problems you might want to look into subfloor ventilation fans that turn on when the relative humidity goes above a preassigned value.
Sub Floor Ventilation
Trim Outdoor Foliage
There are several mouldy properties that we have inspected with outdoor foliage out of control. it is highly suggested that the gardens are regularly trimmed on the exterior of the property.
Prevent Condensation
Condensation occurs when humid warm air comes in contact with cool surfaces. This is because the cooler air on the surfaces cannot hold as much air as warmer air. Condensation usually appears on cold surfaces such as windows but it can also appear inside the ceiling space especially on metal framing. Here are a few ways to prevent condensation:
- Use Exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans
- Purchase an inexpensive Hygrometer in your home and maintain a relative humidity of under 55%
- Remove indoor plants — They produce moisture and can add to condensation
- Open Windows and maintain circulation throughout the house
- Install Insulation — Insulation will help keep your property warmer and reduce the occurrence of these cold surfaces which cause condensation.
This is an inexpensive hygrometer installed in my home which tells me the temperature and relative humidity.
Clean Your Air Conditioning System
Your air conditioner is continually circulating air throughout the property. If there are any mould spores inside the air conditioner, you could be contributing and spreading mould spores throughout the property. I produced a video about how to clean an air conditioner in Brisbane here: