"Mold"

Mold / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Basements improvements

Basement full of water? How to start fixing the damage from a basement flood

...mold here : How to rebuild a basement after a flood to be resistant to water damage Should you buy a home with a finished basement? Why are basements moldy? How to fix and prevent mold in homes Preventing mold when you insulate your basement 'Smart' sewage backup flood prevention devices & Alarms Fin...

Basements

Should you buy a home with a finished basement?

...mold since it is still full of water. If you have an older unfinished basement that seems dry and you put wood, insulation against it and a sheet of poly you should still expect mold, as it almost certainly has a footing sitting in wet ground sucking up moisture that will migrate all the way up the wall. In case it isn...

Healthy indoor air quality

Buying guide for home air filters in furnaces - HEPA, SMART or Regular?

...mold. • Air filters with a MERV rating of 11 are capable of catching pet dander, smoke, and smog. One thing to bear in mind to assist with flu and virus transmission prevention is to install a MERV 13 rated air or furnace filter in your home or business. MERV 13 filters capture airborne viruses and bacteria from co...

Walls and Roofs

Condensation on windows is a pain but is it a problem & how to stop it?

...mold and that may become a big issue.. Condensation, humidity, mold and health Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects, (or none at all). Put simply, some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, molds can cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, ey...

Foundations and Basements

Slab on grade or crawlspaces, which is better?

What is the difference between a slab on grade & a crawl space? A slab on grade, or ‘frost protected shallow foundation’ is exactly that, a slab of concrete on the ground. There’s more to it of course, but let’s start with a ‘win’ in the comprehension department shall we? A slab on grade rests directly on the gro...

Healthy indoor air quality

Why you should Never Install Air-Con in a Home with a Vapor Barrier

...mold. With recent 'improvements' to construction in North America, we now use standard code compliant paper-faced drywall which can start to develop mold at about 80% RH. As we insulate and make homes airtight, they don't dry as easily, and common building practices trap moisture inside wall assemblies. Be careful not ...

Basements improvements

Why are basements moldy? How to fix or Prevent a Moldy Basement

...mold formation. They most certainly are not based on the laws of physics,that is the one thing we know for sure. 3) The cheapest way to insulate a basement is on the inside, and using finishing materials that are moisture and therefore mold formation sensitive. This is a big problem, given the potential for mold proble...

Wood and organic materials

Hemp building supplies

...mold for our US readers), mildew and pest infestations in hemp board. The safer manufacturing process of hemp building materials not only reduces the risk of exposure to VOCs in the home, it amounts to a reduction in the manufacturing of toxic synthetic materials, thus protecting global air quality and waterways. Appl...

Concept and design

Do Earthships work in cold climates?

...mold exposure, which is a common problem with poorly-insulated homes, particularly poorly-insulated basements with high-humidity that have not been designed to manage moisture properly. This is pretty much the definition of an Earthship in the way it would perform in Canada. Growing food in a cold-climate greenhouse cr...

Healthy indoor air quality

A Comprehensive Guide to Air Cleaning and Filtration in Homes

Indoor air quality is often worse inside homes than outside Indoor air quality is a critical concern for homeowners across North America, particularly as environmental issues like wildfires, pollution, viruses and allergens like mold spores and pollen occur more frequently. This guide provides an extensive overview of ...

Healthy indoor air quality

Maintaining healthy indoor air quality

Mold in homes is a bad sign so how to get rid of it or prevent mold in drywall? Mold and mildew in homes develops in conditions of high humidity, most often in bathrooms, kitchens and basements, unless caused by roof leaks and other building envelope failures. Along with affecting the durability of your home, mold and ...