Winter fatigue is going to hit this month. With the recent heavy snowfalls in mid and late February, what everyone is looking for is a break in the weather.

What you don’t want to look for (and find) is mold or mildew in your attic, basement, or other spaces.

While you may think that mildew and mold take a break in the winter months, the fact is that these are actually the months they like best.

It might be bone-chilling cold outside, but you’ve got the furnace running to stay warm and comfortable, right?

If you remember your high school science class, cold on the outside and warm moist air on the inside creates condensation. Condensation that does not dry or evaporates is the perfect breeding ground for disease and allergy-causing mold and mildew.

How do you avoid this scenario? Insulation is the answer, but not just any type of insulation.

Let’s look at how you can best avoid condensation, mold and mildew in your home.

Home Ventilation 101

The relative humidity inside your home is increased in a variety of ways, including showers/ steam showers, bathtubs, humidifiers, indoor hot tubs, cooking, even just breathing can add a great deal of moisture into the air.

Moisture also enters our homes from the outside. Whenever you open a door or window, you allow moisture from outside to take a step inside your house.

While older homes might have a type of “natural” ventilation system, such as cracks around windows, chimneys, and other building flaws, this isn’t desirable either, at least as far as your heating and cooling bills are concerned. Let’s face it, if you have ever sat in a warm room with a draft from old leaky windows, you know how uncomfortable that room becomes.

The room will not only be uncomfortable, but it also is an open source for moisture to enter and grow black mold and mildew.

Vapor Barriers and Air Retarders

So, while air is leaking into your home via duct systems, attics, around the windows, and even electrical outlets, some contractors believed that a good way to fight moisture is to apply a vapor barrier paint on the inside the walls of a room.

A vapor barrier is any type of material that one might use to prevent moisture from moving through the walls.   While this might sound great, the fact is that, in practice, it doesn’t work. Vapor barriers will only provide a surface for condensation to occur as the warm interior air hits the freezing outside air.

Air barriers are far superior to vapor barriers in that it prevents air from moving between your interior heated space and the freezing space outside.

Spray foam is one of the best air barriers in the world. Spray foam will fill all cracks and crevices. It is extremely sticky, if you will, and has no problem adhering to all types of building materials.

While spray foam will make an air barrier that cannot be penetrated, your home does still some ventilation.

The Air Barrier/Ventilation Equation

The solution to this dilemma is to make your home as airtight as possible while taking full control over the movement of fresh air.

This is accomplished by using spray foam in all required areas, such as walls, attics, crawlspaces, and basements. Fresh air ventilation is controlled through mechanical ventilation.

Each home and building is different so the mechanical ventilation will vary, but some examples are a fresh air intake that works with your heating system, powered fans or blowers in strategic areas, and supply ventilation, which is the most common.  (Energy Recovery Ventilators/ or Heat Recovery Ventilators, among many other options for those of you who really want more info on this very nerdy but important topic!)