Mold Vs. Mildew: What's the Difference

10/23/2020 (Permalink)

Mold and Mildew growing on a pumpkin. SERVPRO of Lakewood Ken-Caryl can help eliminate mold in your home or office.

Mold Vs. Mildew: The difference

Home is where the heart is, and where the health should be too.  After a long day at the office, on errands, or out on vacation, coming home to our own clean, comforting, healthy environment can’t be beat.  The last thing we want to worry about is mold in the home negatively affecting our wellbeing.  This is especially true the more time we spend in our homes, working, social distancing, and the like.  Even if you are not a home body, we spend about 8 hours sleeping in our homes each night.  That amount of time adds up fast over the weeks, months, and years.  If there is mold in the home, you are exposing yourself to that mold every minute you are at home. It is important to identify if there is mold in your home, office, or anywhere you spend a significant amount of time.  So, that brings us to telling the difference between mold and mildew. 

Mildew is a relatively harmless substance that grows on plants and wet materials such as leather or wood.  It is white or light gray in color distinguishing it from its harmful relative mold.  Typically, mold is black, pink, green, blue, yellow, or essentially any color but that mildew white.  

Types of Common Household Molds

Now that you can tell what is mold and what is mildew, it's time to pick out the different molds that may be growing in the home. While there are more than 10,000 different types of molds, here are our top 5 to spot in your Lakewood Ken-Caryl home. 

Alternaria: This type of mold can be found both indoors and outdoors.  It's commonly in damp areas like sinks, showers, tubs, and in dark damp areas outside the home.  

Aureobasidium: This mold can be found around windows, in caulk, wooden furniture and surfaces, and painted or wallpapered walls.  

Chaetomium: This mold is very common to see in our line of work.  It shows up in drywall after a water loss has occurred.  

Penicillium: A mold found in insulation, furnishings, furniture that has been damaged by water, carpeting, and more.  It is particularly known for spreading quickly throughout the home.

Stachybotrys Chartarum or “Black Mold”: One of the most dangerous household molds due to its extreme toxicity. It can be found in crawl spaces, air ducts, and basements. It is known for its color (black) and its earthy, musty odor.

Removing Mildew

Removing mildew from your home does not require professional help.  It can easily be eliminated using a cleaning solution such as vinegar, and a scrubber.  However, mold should be handled by a restoration professional since it is a trickier substance to get rid of and the spores spread easily without proper care.  Containment methods are vital to put in place so that millions of airborne particles do not spread from the growing mold. 

Our 7 Step Process for removing Mold in your Foothills Home

Step 1: Emergency Contact (303) 279-8055

The mold cleanup and restoration process begins when you call our 24-hour team. Our specialist will ask a series of questions to help us determine the necessary equipment, resources, and personnel.

Step 2: Inspection and Mold Damage Assessment

Our Technicians at SERVPRO of Lakewood Ken-Caryl will carefully inspect your property for signs of mold. Mold feeds on cellulose and water and can be hidden from plain view. They use various technologies to detect mold and hidden water sources.  

Step 3: Mold Containment

They use various containment procedures to prevent the spread of mold. They may use advanced containment procedures like negative air chambers to isolate the contaminated area with physical barriers and negative air pressure to keep the mold spores from spreading during the cleanup process. All fans and heating and cooling systems will be turned off to prevent the spread of mold.

Step 4: Air Filtration

Their specialized filtration equipment allows their Professionals to capture microscopic mold spores out of the air. They utilize powerful “air scrubbers” and HEPA vacuums to prevent the spread of these mold spores while the mold remediation is in process.

Step 5: Removing Mold and Mold-Infested Materials

The mold remediation process depends on the amount of mold growth and the types of surfaces on which the mold appears. We use antifungal and antimicrobial treatments to eliminate mold colonies and to help prevent new colonies from forming. Removing and disposing of mold-infested porous materials, like drywall and carpeting, may be necessary to remediate heavy mold growth.

Step 6: Cleaning Contents and Belongings

SERVPRO cleans your furniture, decorative items, curtains, clothing, and other restorable items affected by mold. They use a variety of cleaning techniques to clean and sanitize your belongings. They’re also trained to remove odors and deodorization using fogging equipment.

Step 7: Restoration

Depending on the level of mold damage, drywall, subfloors, and other building materials may be removed. Restoration may involve minor repairs, such as replacing drywall, painting, and installing new carpet; or it may entail major repairs such as the reconstruction of various areas or rooms in a home or business.

Why Choose SERVPRO of Lakewood/ Ken-Caryl

            SERVPRO is an industry leader in fire restoration. We use advanced equipment and techniques to remediate the damage quickly and efficiently. We are a locally owned and operated family business, so customer care is our number one goal.  We live where we serve!  Heck, we might even be your neighbor. 

            We provide extensive training to our employees and are highly specialized in fire damage restoration putting great emphasis on monitoring and documenting the entire process until completion.

            We are a preferred vendor to many national and local insurance companies making the claims process easy and painless for the homeowner.

            Please give us a call for any of your home restoration needs! (303) 973-4664

Or visit our website at  https://www.SERVPROlakewoodkencaryl.com