Mold, mildew and various types of bacteria tend to love warm, wet or damp, dark places. Unfortunately, your favourite warm shower or hot relaxing bubble bath—combined with a lack of ventilation or air circulation—can often make your cherished bathroom the ideal breeding site for these types of unhealthy organisms to set up shop.

Looking for some handy tips to help prevent mold, mildew and other types of bacteria in your bath?

Here are five of our top tips!

1. Help the humidity get outside.
   

Hot baths and showers generate an intense amount of humidity, or water vapour in the air. So the first step is to give the extra humidity that has accumulated during bathtime the boot! Do whatever you can, as often as you can, to help the room return to being dry and moisture-free, and as quickly as possible.

You want the humidity to be cycled outside rather than inside so a properly installed bathroom exhaust fan is a must.

Bathroom exhaust fans are the norm but in some houses, especially older ones, building codes at the time dictated that the bathroom needed only either a window or a fan. An exhaust fan is a better bet, especially in winter, so consider having one professionally installed if you don’t already have one.

Experts recommend running bathroom exhaust fans for at least 30 minutes to help the warm air escape to the outside. Bonus tip: If you notice moisture on your bathroom walls or mirror, the fan hasn’t run long enough. Keep it going!

If you’re a busy professional or part of a busy family, you might enjoy the convenience of a bathroom timer. This simple investment makes it easy to run the bathroom timer while on a busy schedule—just set it and forget it! You can head out the door without worrying that the fan is going to run needlessly all day.

2. Eliminate all accumulated water.

Mold and mildew can’t thrive in areas that don’t provide it with a ready and regular source of water. So the next step is to eliminate any water that accumulated during your bath or shower… and if you’re anything like most people, that can be a lot!

Water on the floors, countertops, glass or plastic shower enclosures, and especially on your shower curtain needs to be eliminated to help prevent mildew or mold from forming.

After every bath or shower, wipe up excess water on floors, countertops or other surfaces, and wipe down your glass shower enclosure or plastic shower curtain. You might also like to store your wet towels in another room or on a heated tower rack to help them dry faster.

3. Stop all leaks.

In addition to the water that may accumulate during showers and baths, water can also be introduced through old fixtures, such as leaky toilets, taps or pipes. Have them professionally inspected and repaired to reduce additional water from being introduced and accumulating.

4. Seal and caulk your tiled tub and shower surrounds.

It’s a common misconception that the grout between your bathroom tiles, under your toilet, or inside your tiled tub or shower surround is waterproof. In fact, it’s actually porous so it will absorb any accumulated water, which can then potentially cause damage to the subfloor or other structures.

In potentially humid areas like bathrooms, we highly recommend applying a grout sealant to newly tiled areas such as showers. In addition, you should caulk all corners, crevices and the bottom row of tiles where they meet the bathtub with a specialized bathroom caulk designed for the job.

5. Inspect, clean and store children’s toys appropriately.

A common and yet not well-known source of mildew and mold in bathrooms is children’s toys. You know, those plastic tub toys that kids love to play with, drink water from, or put in or on their mouths during bathtime?

Yeah, those ones!

Sadly, even those beloved tub toys, when exposed to water and humidity, can become a serious harbinger of different bacteria, mildew and mold when not cared for correctly.

We recommend checking all your children’s toys on a regular basis. You can clean plastic toys with soap (unless the mold has infiltrated the plastic, in which case throw it out and buy a new one) and launder fabric or terrycloth toys in the washing machine.

That said, storing children’s toys properly is key to help prevent mildew and mold from forming and growing in the first place.

This means allowing the waterlogged toys to drain properly, either hanging up, stashed in a ventilated basket or nestled in a mesh bag. Don’t use baskets or bags where water can collect and be careful not to overload them. Aim to have 360° ventilation around the toys in your chosen storage solution.

Stuck for toy storage ideas? Check out Pinterest for a variety of effective and stylish storage solutions.

Do you suspect mold, mildew or other bacteria in your Toronto area home or workplace? Give us a call and our GTA-based mold testing professionals can perform an assessment to locate, identify and remedy any potential mold issues that may be present in your bath or other rooms. Free phone consultations. Contact us today!

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is – that’s the saying, and when it comes to buying a home, the majority of buyers know enough to get suspicious when the price is lower than market value and previous owners seem overly eager to close the deal. But a higher price and seemingly good condition don’t always guarantee a better deal.

Boxing legend Mohammad Ali and his wife are suing the previous owners of the home they bought for a cool $1.87 million about five years ago. The lawsuit alleges that the home presented with a number of serious problems they claim were covered up and misrepresented by the original owners, including roof and chimney leaks, defective waterline connections and – not at all surprisingly given those issues – mold.

Relatively new homes can also be subject to mold infestation, even toxic black mold. Kim Daniello of Flint Michigan thought she’d found the house of her dreams. It featured brand new flooring, a completely finished basement and even a newly renovated kitchen. Once she and her daughter moved in, however, they began to experience alarming mold symptoms like difficulty breathing and sinus headaches. She pulled up the carpet in the basement and sadly her suspicions were confirmed – she found mold.

Any home that has experienced flooding, and even newer homes that have been empty for periods of time and/or subject to dampness, can host mold. Both the boxing legend and the single mother from Michigan could have saved themselves the frustration , not to say health-related consequences, with proper testing and inspection of their prospective homes by an expert.

Mold inspections will detect the problem before you buy and find that your dream has turned into a nightmare. Let Mold Inspections give you peace of mind before you sign on the dotted line.

MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.

When it comes to mold inspection, it never pays to go halfway.

A few weeks ago, we discussed the danger of a non-invasive home inspection. Home owners worried about having their dwellings take too much damage opt for an inspection that doesn’t overturn every stone. As a result, problems like toxic mold are missed. They save money in the short term but, down the road, they pay more for major renovations.

In that case, the lazy, penny-pinching home owner is the problem. But sometimes the home inspection itself can be the problem.

You may take the responsible route and request a thorough home inspection. But does that mean you’ll get one? A growing problem in Toronto mold testing and various other inspections is that the people hired to do the work simply don’t do it right.

If your inspector isn’t properly educated or certified, he or she may not search in the right places for mold, such as under floor tiles or behind drywall. Bad inspectors may also take the lazy route, refusing to go the extra mile or put themselves in harm’s way by, say, inspecting roofing. Worse yet, certain inspectors will purposely leave some work to be done, swindling you so that your mold problem will return down the road. Remember, if you don’t undergo a complete mold removal and any traces are left, the spores will multiply and the mold will return.

The best way to avoid the potentially expensive problem of a poor inspection? Put the effort into your search for an inspector. Find a company with (a) lots of customer reviews and (b) primarily positive reviews. Make sure any company you hired is fully certified. A strong, public testimonial in the media for a business is always a good sign, too.

MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.

Last week, we discussed the danger of jumping into a home purchase – even a new one – without properly educating yourself on the building’s condition. We recommended talking to previous tenants and hiring experts like a mold inspection company to ensure you’re not buying damaged goods.

But the pitfalls of buying a home go further than that. Sometimes, even a home inspection won’t protect you from disaster. The growing problem today is that too many inspectors commit to “non-invasive” jobs.

So what would qualify as a non-invasive inspection job? Traditionally, it’s a money-saving tactic for a new or prospective home owner. That person doesn’t want his or her home to suffer the inconvenience or damage of, say, drilling into drywall or tearing up carpet to look for toxic mold, as it could be expensive. Also, with the market for homes hot, people don’t want to wait the precious extra days or weeks that could be caused by an invasive inspection.

What those people don’t realize, however, is that they’re costing themselves more money by not being thorough. You may think you’re saving money by avoiding an inspection or having a second-rate inspector quickly gloss over your new home, but the cost of fixing major mold damage later is far greater.

It’s worth spending the extra money and time in the short term to have a mold inspection company check your entire home, leaving no stone unturned. Better yet, if you hire the right type of company, a trusted group of experts, the job won’t even be as inconvenient. A good mold testing company will do the job without causing too much damage, will repair any damage caused and will offer warranties on all work.

If you’re lazy with your new home, you’ll pay for it eventually. Be diligent about your mold inspection.

MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free buildings, condominiums, homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and Global TV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a quote at (416) 575-6111.