New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Wooden porches and decks are playgrounds for unhealthy molds, mildews, bacteria, and other microorganisms. Molds live everywhere, producing microscopic spores that constantly reproduce. When you open the door, molds can waft right into your home, and as soon as a mold spore touches any amount of moisture in your home, it starts growing. Mold quickly and easily grows on carpet, foods, and paper once inside of your home.
Molds are essential for the environment because they breakdown dead plant matter, but they can also adversely impact indoor air quality and pose a variety of human health risks, such as headaches, eye irritation, respiratory problems, allergic skin reactions, and even liver cancer. So don’t let that black or green stuff build-up on your porch!
You may have heard that it’s a good idea to clean your porch with bleach or oxalic acid, but these substances aren’t good for your health or the local environment. Oxalic acid is a toxin that is corrosive to skin and eyes and damaging to the respiratory system. Bleach leaches unhealthy phosphates into the soil, everything living in your soil, and your water system, which can harm plants and cause serious health problems. Plus, while bleach does kill surface mold, it doesn’t kill mold below the surface or in the pores of wood.
To regularly clean your porch, use a more environmentally friendly solution of vinegar and water, which kills 82% of molds and bacterias. For even better mold-killing action, add a few drops of essential tea-tree oil to the vinegar and water solution. Tea-tree oil has natural inhibitory effects on a wide-spectrum of molds, bacteria, and microorganisms.
What about your roof? Ever wonder what’s lurking up there—and periodically seeping into your house? Just as it does on cars, pollen piles up on your roof, which increases mold growths and negative health reactions. All sorts of other bacterias will wind-up on your roof, and if you leave them there too long, they can also cause a host of unfriendly growths inside of your home.
When pollution reacts with the atmosphere and forms compounds, acid rain falls to the earth—and onto your roof! Roofs become vulnerable to these acidic compounds over time, and they can deteriorate the composition of roofing materials and the aesthetic appearance of your roof.
Bird droppings may pose additional problems for your roof. While these tiny pellets may seem harmless, they are in fact extremely acidic. They eat away at your roof and can eventually cause leaks. Bird droppings can even lead to home invasions of parasites that bite you!
It’s very important to get these molds, acidic compounds, pollens, and poo off your roof and porch! To ensure that you, your indoor air quality, and your house stays in great shape for years to come, thoroughly clean your roof and porch at least twice per year. Pressure-washing works great but can be difficult to do yourself, especially on your roof! Consider hiring local New Bedford professionals like New England Roof Cleaners, an award-winning roof cleaning company that offers a $25 senior discount and uses Eco-friendly products!
