Garage Door Maintenance, Spores

If you have a garage door and you find that you have mold in or around it, it is best to take care of it immediately since it can spread quickly and can affect your entire garage. The first thing you may want to do is get rid of the mold spores if you find them in your garage door. Mold spores can form due to dampness and humidity, and since garage doors have a lot of crevices, tracks, and corners, these spores can find a dark spot to form in and can be hard to detect instantly.

If you have spotted mold spores, you want to deal with them as quickly as possible by taking a careful look all around your garage door and your garage to get rid of them. Before we proceed, it is better to be advised against taking it into your own hands if you are unsure of what to do. In such an instance, it is always better to call a garage door service and have their technicians come and take a look and then address the problem.

How Do Mold Spores Develop?

Mold spores, as mentioned above, form in dark, humid, and damp places, which is why garages and garage doors can be a target. Garages are usually not as well ventilated as any other room in the house and they can get damp, depending on the kind of weather you are having. When you remove mold spores, you want to be very thorough with the job since even if you leave a little of it behind, it will spread everywhere all over again. Mold spores thrive in materials that are porous, so materials like wood, plaster, drywall, and concrete are some of the places where spores can be found. A quick and easy fix for mold spores is bleach and water. One-part bleach to four parts water is the ideal solution to use to remove mold spores. Before you use this mixture to get rid of the spores, make sure to put your safety first and put on a pair of gloves for the job. You can use a sponge or a brush to remove the mold spores but you can also put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray it onto the affected areas and clean them up. You want to be thorough since you do not want it to return. Therefore, make sure to not only look at spores in and around the garage door, but also inspect the entire garage thoroughly to make sure that you do not miss any hiding mold spores. Make sure that the door of the garage is open while you clean mold spores since you need proper ventilation when undertaking this task, and additional safety recommends wearing a respirator while you clean out the mold spores. 

Natural Solutions and Chemical Solutions

You can also use a vinegar solution to get rid of these spores. Bleach is strong so it needs to be diluted whereas if you use vinegar, you can use equal parts vinegar and water for a strong cleaning solution. Denatured alcohol is also a good substitute. All you have to do it spray or dab it on. No matter which cleaning method you use for mold spores, make sure to leave the garage door open for the garage to ventilate properly, and, in the winter, you can use a dehumidifier or a space heater so that no moisture remains in the garage.

Once you have gotten rid of the mold spores, you want to make sure that the environment in the garage is not conducive to the formation of mold spores. You want to mold-proof your garage and garage door. If your garage door is made of materials (listed above) that encourage the growth of mold spores – mostly non-metal materials – you will want to ensure that your garage is always ventilated. If you feel like your garage is getting damp, you can use a dehumidifier occasionally to get rid of dampness and humidity. 

Garage door maintenance is a lot easier if the garage door is not made of wood or other porous materials. If aluminum and vinyl are used, even if the garage has mold spores, the door will automatically remain safe since it is not a great host for mold spores.

Mold spores may not necessarily affect your garage door directly but you want to make sure that you mold-proof your garage so that no chances exist of mold spores ever forming. Therefore, to maintain your garage and garage door, look at leaks in or around your garage and fix them immediately. If it rained or you have a leaking pipe near your garage, it would be best to inspect your garage thoroughly to make sure that no water is seeping into the garage and that any repairs that need to be done are taken care of instantly.

If water gets into your garage through your vehicle’s tires, the vehicle itself, or the radiator, clean it up so no water, snow, or any other wetness remains in the garage. Moisture means increased likelihood of mold spores forming and you want to do what you can to prevent that.

Cardboard boxes are often used for storage but are not good news when it comes to mold spores. Try to shift your storage into airtight plastic containers since you want to reduce, as much as you can, the chances of getting mold spores in your garage.

Follow a strict maintenance schedule and you will remain mold spore free. In this manner, you will not only avoid mold spores, you will also save a lot of time and money if you detect mold spores quickly due to regular maintenance and inspection.