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What to Do When You Find Mold in Your California Home
Finding mold in your home is a worrying moment, and the first thing to do is to stay calm. A patch of growth on a wall, a musty smell in a room, or a stain on a ceiling does not need an immediate reaction, and the steps that follow are simple ones: do not disturb a large area, note where the growth is and any moisture source nearby, and call a professional. The found mold in house what to do steps in this guide are those three, explained in plain terms, and they apply whether the patch is small or large, visible or hidden.
- ✓ Written for California homeowners
- ✓ Visit first, then a plan
- ✓ Call to arrange a visit
This guide makes no promise about any particular visit, and it gives no health advice. It describes the steps in general terms, so that a homeowner who has just found mold knows what to do first, what to leave alone, and what to say when calling a professional.
Safety first — do not disturb a large mold area
The first rule after finding mold is simple: do not disturb a large area. Scrubbing, scraping, or cutting into a large patch can spread spores into the air and into the rest of the house, and it can expose the person doing it to a large amount of growth at once. The same applies to opening up a wall or lifting flooring to see how far the growth has gone, because that is a job for someone with the right equipment and a way to check what is behind the surface. A large area is a job for a professional, whatever it turns out to be.
If the growth is linked to a leak or a water loss, and you can shut the water off safely from a dry place, do that, but do not enter a room with standing water or reach through water to get to a valve. If the water may be contaminated, or if it is near electrics, do not touch it and do not enter the room. Keep children and pets away from the area, and do not store belongings against a damp wall. Safety comes before salvage, and the first decisions matter more than the ones that come later.
Note where the mold is and any moisture source in general terms
Once the area is left alone, note where the growth is, how large it is, and whether the surface is damp. Look for a moisture source nearby in general terms: a pipe, a window, a roof line, a shower, a sink, or a bathroom on the other side of the wall. Note whether the growth is growing, whether it has come back after cleaning, and whether there is a musty smell in the room. Take a photo as a record, from a safe distance and without disturbing the area, and note the date you first noticed the sign.
Those notes are useful when you call a professional, because they give a clear picture of what was found and where. They are also useful later, because the details of a first discovery are easy to forget and hard to reconstruct. Keep the notes simple and factual: where the growth is, how large it is, when it appeared, and what moisture source may be feeding it. Do not try to name the type of growth from a photo, because no one can do that from a picture.
Call a professional
Then call a professional and describe what you found in plain terms. A good description covers the growth itself, where it is, how large it is, whether the area is damp, and whether there is a leak or a water loss you know about. Mention whether the growth is hidden, whether it keeps coming back, and whether anyone in the household has noticed a smell. A clear description helps the person on the phone understand what the visit needs to cover, and it helps you too, because it forces you to look at the whole picture rather than the worst corner.
The visit itself usually starts with an inspection, then the work that the inspection shows is needed: containment where that is required, removal of the affected material where that is necessary, cleaning, and drying. The mold remediation services in California cover the inspection and the steps that follow, and the mold inspection and testing page explains what an inspection covers in general terms, so you know what to expect when someone comes to look.
What not to do while you wait
While you wait for help, there are a few things worth avoiding. Do not use household cleaners on a large area, do not open up walls or lift flooring, and do not run fans in a room where water is near outlets or wiring. Do not throw things away in a hurry either: wet belongings, damaged flooring, and soaked plaster may be needed as a record, so keep them until you have been advised otherwise. If you can, note down when the growth was first noticed and what you did in the first minutes, because those notes are easy to forget.
Do not rely on a photo search to name the growth, and do not assume that a patch that looks small is a small problem, because a small patch on a surface can mark a larger area behind it. Homeowners in Los Angeles and across the state can follow the same steps, and the sooner a large area is inspected, the smaller the work that follows tends to be.
Finding mold: the steps in order
The steps to take when you find mold are simple, and the order matters, because safety comes before salvage, and the first decisions matter more than the ones that come later. Do not disturb a large area, because scrubbing, scraping, or cutting into a large patch can spread spores into the air and into the rest of the house, and do not open up a wall or lift flooring to see how far the growth has gone, because that is a job for someone with the right equipment and a way to check what is behind the surface. Note where the growth is, how large it is, and whether the surface is damp, look for a moisture source nearby in general terms, a pipe, a window, a roof line, a shower, a sink, or a bathroom on the other side of the wall, and take a photo as a record, from a safe distance and without disturbing the area, and note the date you first noticed the sign, because those notes are useful when you call a professional, and because the details of a first discovery are easy to forget and hard to reconstruct.
Then call a professional and describe what you found in plain terms, where the growth is, how large it is, whether the area is damp, and whether there is a leak or a water loss you know about, and mention whether the growth is hidden, whether it keeps coming back, and whether anyone in the household has noticed a smell, because a clear description helps the person on the phone understand what the visit needs to cover, and it helps you too, because it forces you to look at the whole picture rather than the worst corner. While you wait for help, do not use household cleaners on a large area, do not run fans in a room where water is near outlets or wiring, and do not throw things away in a hurry, because wet belongings, damaged flooring, and soaked plaster may be needed as a record, so keep them until you have been advised otherwise, and the sooner a large area is inspected, the smaller the work that follows tends to be.
Key Takeaways
- The first rule after finding mold is simple: do not disturb a large area.
- Once the area is left alone, note where the growth is, how large it is, and whether the surface is damp.
- Then call a professional and describe what you found in plain terms.
- While you wait for help, there are a few things worth avoiding.
- The steps to take when you find mold are simple, and the order matters, because safety comes before salvage, and the first decisions matter more than the ones that come later.
Your Next Step
If this guide matches what you found at home, the next step is a visit — not a guess. Call and describe what you found, and the visit is arranged from what you describe. The Mold Removal page explains what that service covers, and the Mold Remediation page explains what that service covers, and the services hub lists every service in one place.
While you wait, do not disturb a large area of visible mold, and keep the room aired where you can.
Keep the guides on this site bookmarked: the first guide, the signs guide, and the preparation guide cover the checks worth repeating — after moving in, and after bringing used fixtures home.
Mold remediation help is available across California. See mold remediation in West San Jose, CA for one local example, or find your town on the service areas page.
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