Most people associate mold with spring or summer, but the winter months bring their own unique complications that cause mold growth. The winter season is one of the best times for mold to grow and expand from below, above, and inside your home.

Below your home, rapidly melting snow can start mold growth by drenching your house in water just like a summer flood. For example, if you have three feet of snow piled up against the sides of your house and the sun suddenly shows up, it’s going to allow all that water to seep into the soil before it can dry. Water can seep further through the soil and dampen basements and other underground areas of your home. Make sure you have a well-maintained sump pump so this doesn’t become a major problem.

You can have a similar problem above your home. Snow can pile up on your roof, allowing water to leak into your house as the snow melts. When combined with the regular winter damage from things like sleet and ice to a roof, water may find an easy passage through new cracks and weak areas in your roofing. Make sure your roof is prepared for hard winters before they hit, and check your attic often for mold growth.

You may think a warm, toasty home is free from mold growth in the winter – but, depending on your heat source, you may need to think again. If you heat your home with fossil fuels then you should know that water is a byproduct of burning natural gases. The water evaporates into the air and condenses again when it touches cold surfaces like windows. Window condensation may not seem like much water, but over an entire winter it’s the same as dumping gallons of water on your windows and surrounding walls. This is especially a problem with new homes that are designed to conserve energy because the water vapor does not have a chance to escape outdoors. If you use heat, you need to have a way for the water vapor to ventilate outside. Also, if you use a furnace, make sure it is clean before you start using it. Often fungal growth can form in furnaces during the summer that is released into the air when used.

If you smell mold in your home during the spring and summer, don’t think it has gone away during the winter months because you no longer smell it. During the winter season that same household mold may go dormant and the smell won’t be so bad. But it will come right back in the spring.

Don’t allow the winter months to cause you to hibernate when it comes to preventing and checking for mold growth. To keep your home clean, healthy, and in good shape, you must remain vigilant against mold.

Tagged as: fungal growth, household mold, mold, mold growth, roof water, summer flood, water vapor, winter damage, winter season