The air in your home can directly affect your and your family’s health. There are a number of different reasons why your home may have a musty smell. The first step that you need to do is to identify why your home is smelling musty and then you can take the steps to address it.
Address Things That Are Causing the Smell
Your home may smell musty because it is holding onto old cooking odors or there may be issues with having a pet. If this is the case, you will need to address the issues by addressing the smells. Cleaning your home thoroughly can help. Be sure to wash your dishes right away and to wipe down the counters and stove food. Taking out the trash can help. If you have issues due to having pets in your home, you can address this in a few different ways. You may need to bathe your pet more often and be sure to wash any bedding they sleep in on a regular basis. You may want to have the carpets cleaned more regularly. If you are a smoker, you may be facing issues with this smell. Make sure your home can air out, and try to smoke next to an open window. Cleaning your furniture and your drapes can also help with this.
Look for Other Issues
If you have a strong mildew or mold smell in your home, you will need to look for what may be causing this smell. You should begin by looking in your crawlspace or basement for issues. Check to see if there is moisture in this area. You should look for signs of mold growth on the wood or insulation. If the area is damp, you need to address this because it can lead to mold growing and the air in your crawlspace does affect the overall air quality of your home. This may need to be addressed by a professional that can encapsulate or seal off your crawlspace. This will address any mold issues and help with your heating and cooling bills too.
Find Trouble Spots
You may find that there is one room in your home where the smell is stronger than others. If you have an issue with a bathroom that is always smelly, you may need to have the plumbing checked to make sure that the pipes are vented properly and that there isn’t anything trapped or any clogs. You should make sure that the ventilation system in your bathroom works properly as well as that there is no mold in the bathrooms. This should help overall.
Image courtesy of shister via Flickr CC by 2.0Living in a humid home can be frustrating. It allows mold to grow on your walls. It can cause issues with your comfort level and make your heating or air conditioning systems to work harder. There are a few areas that you need to consider and possible solutions to address your home if it is humid.
Use Your Ventilation Fans
Turning on the fans in your bathroom and over your stove can help remove the humid air from your home. This will protect those rooms from possible mold growth. It is a simple solution for areas that are often temporarily humid from hot water running.
Examine Your Crawlspace
Your crawlspace may be contributing to your home’s humidity, especially if water is draining into it after a storm and it does not have a place to go. It is important to address this by encapsulating your crawlspace to prevent other complications like mold growth or wood rot. If you hate going into your crawlspace because it is also humid and hot, it is a sign that you need to address this.
Address Your Basement
If you have a basement instead of a crawlspace, it may also be an issue. You will need to make sure that the area is completely sealed off. The outside of your basement needs to be waterproofed. You will need to repair any cracks in your foundation. You may need to install a French drain or a sump pump to help with drainage during a bad rainstorm.
Consider a Dehumidifier
Another option to help with humidity is install a dehumidifier. This machine will take the moisture out of the air of your home. You may consider installing one that will help with your entire house. You may also consider putting one in your crawlspace if that is an area that seems to always be humid even after you have encapsulated your crawlspace.
Wrap Your Pipes
Wrapping your pipes can stop the air from condensing on colder pipes or air conditioning vents. This can make a big different in how much moisture collects in these areas which can also help prevent mold from growing in your home, as well as prevent wood rot. Wrapping your water heater can also help, and it can also help to lower your electric bill.
Run Your Air Conditioner
If you live in a naturally humid area, there may be days in the spring and fall where you do not need to run your HVAC system, but if you keep it on, it will work to draw the humidity out of the air. If you just have it cycle a few times during the day it should make a different in your home’s overall humidity level.
The air in your home can directly affect your and your family’s health. There are a number of different reasons why your home may have a musty smell. The first step that you need to do is to identify why your home is smelling musty and then you can take the steps to address it. 
