Mold in the US.

January 15, 2008 1:59 PM

I have a two part question, about mold in the US, in buildings and the like. I'm thinking of moving, and I'm also allergic to mold. So this is a huge concern for me. a. What parts of the US is mold rare? and b. What parts of the US is mold commonplace?

I'm not talking about situations where there's shoddy workmanship, a leak, Hurricane Katrina and the like, where mold will grow no matter what.

Instead, I'm interested in the parts of the country where it's rare, and the parts of the country where it's ubiquitous, *under normal living conditions*. 10 years ago, I moved from Madison, Wisconsin, where I never had a problem, to Seattle, where it's cool and rainy climate seems to be a perfect incubator for the stuff. As a result, it's made me ill.

For a myriad of reasons, including mold exposure, I'm thinking of moving out of the Seattle area. While this will not (obviously) be the only determining factor, I'd rather not relocate to another city (like Portland, OR) just to realize that mold is prevalent there as well.

So, I'd like to hear what's out there. Many thanks!

posted by spinifex23 to home & garden (18 comments total)

I would really think that moist climes would host the worst mold problems. Therefore, I'd aim for the drier places - Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and steer clear of places like Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, where it can be warm and moist. I may be wrong. I'm not an expert.
posted by Sassyfras at 2:05 PM on January 15

If you really want to get away from mold you need to move somewhere where it doesn't get all that warm or somewhere dry. The easiest course would probably be somewhere in the soutwhest. San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Santa Fe, and so on.
posted by Justinian at 2:33 PM on January 15

Texas is not uniformly dry - El Paso probably is, Houston has the approximate climate of Satan's armpit. (And I hear plenty of scare stories about mold, living in Austin.)
posted by restless_nomad at 2:35 PM on January 15

I love the Pacific Northwest very very much but in a mild damp climate there are sometimes mold issues. There is nothing compared to the southeast which is a warm sort of damp, especially in coastal areas. Both places are likely problematic. However, the northeast has it in fits and starts thanks to ancient houses and wet (formerly snowy) winters. Southwest is definitely your best bet.
posted by jessamyn at 2:57 PM on January 15

Mold is often found where there's a lot of water, so it's understandable if people are recommending places that might be desert if not for the fact that people are tapping into the somewhat-non-renewable water supply far beneath the soil. If you want to avoid areas where the water supply is more certain and less contested/problematic than in most of the (admittedly dry and not moldy) southwest, you might want to look for mountainous locations. Or cooler locations, like Maine, Vermont, NYC. Mountainous would include the oft-mentioned but admittedly expensive Asheville NC. Avoid the NC Triangle region - Raleigh/Durham - since a lot of people experience allergies when they move here. I did. Mine was to mold.)

If I am wrong about the Southwest -- if there are places with plenty of water for the population for years to come, and still no mold -- I'd really love it if someone could correct me.
posted by amtho at 3:09 PM on January 15

I've lived in Florida and GA. In both states, I have been required to sign papers at new apartment buildings stating that as the resident, I am responsible for the removal of any mold that grows during my lease. Mold is a big problem, it flourishes in the humid conditions. I'm not sure about the coastal areas.
posted by studentbaker at 3:23 PM on January 15

In my experience*, the common factor in really horrible mold cases is not the climate, it's the building. New house construction (especially those cookie-cutter mcMansions) tends to be so tight that mold can form in walls and never ever get out. Older houses, which can breathe, tend to be much better for the mold sufferer than those new ones.

*legal, not medical
posted by norm at 3:26 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

What norm said. Air conditioners can create mold, too, so if you move to Phoenix because it's dry there, you might still end up in a building with an air conditioning system that breeds - and distributes - mold.
posted by rtha at 3:33 PM on January 15

One other thing I forgot. Places like Denver and Phoenix used to be recommended for people with bad allergies, but there is now so much non-native ground cover used for decoration and lawns and the like that they are as bad or worse for those allergic people. When you add in the massive population growth and the quickly/shoddily/over-insulated buildings springing up, I'd wager there are more drawbacks to moving to one of those places than, say, back to Madison.
posted by norm at 3:47 PM on January 15

Norm,

That makes sense.

That also may have contributed to the issues I've had in Seattle. In Wisconsin, the buildings I lived in tended to be older. The Seattle buildings have all been built in the past 20-40 years.

So far, the Southwest seems to be winning out, but I also am looking at places like Chicago and Boston.
posted by spinifex23 at 3:47 PM on January 15

Don't move to St. Louis. The mold's terrible here in River City...
posted by limeonaire at 4:04 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

If you can, go somewhere that freezes. Outdoor mold where I live in NJ is pretty much zero from first hard frost mid october, to april. Indoor mold can be managed anywhere by air filters, and cleaning -- assuming your house/apt is not leaking or structurally allowing damp and water in.

Anywhere you move, ask for an indoor mold test every year if you are renting.

My sharp plasmacluster filters keep the house totally mold-less during mold season. I lived in virginia once, that was really bad for me. Also, you may only be allergic to certain strains (I know I am) maybe you should get tested?

best,
-janice
posted by janicea at 4:10 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

You're right about Seattle, but I moved here after spending most of my life in the Denver-Boulder-Colorado Springs area.

I never really knew what mold even was there. You'd be lucky to grow mold there if it was your grade school science project. I think its a combination of really dry freezing cold in the winters and pretty dry moderate summers to boot. I think the thinner air could have played a role too. Thin air means mold spores settle out much sooner and mold cannot then spread as easily-- oh, also the thin air means quite a bit more UV in the sunlight, and that's just deadly for mold, and everyone used to say there are 330 sunny days a year. But you would have to be willing to trade the 200 shades of green you can see on a ten minute walk in Seattle for 100 shades of brown and 50 shades of gray. That would be hard for me.

Before you decide on the southwest, bone up on valley fever, a dangerous endemic fungal disease which blows in out of the desert, as I recall.
posted by jamjam at 5:15 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

The National Weather Service issues warnings for specific cities and areas when mold spore counts are high. However, I couldn't find any historical data on their site that might help you make comparisons. But maybe you or someone can find something useful there.

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology also publishes mold spore count data for specific cities.

I live outside of Chicago. My mold allergy only really bothers me for a few weeks in the spring (the wet ground from melting snow) and again in the fall (wet leaves on the ground during fall rains).
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:14 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

There's also eastern Washington and Oregon which is much drier than the west side of Cascades.
posted by ShooBoo at 7:01 PM on January 15

An older cousin and I both lived in central Indiana, 10-15 years apart. The mold made us both miserable. It actually became life-threatening for him, a mere plague for me.
posted by bryon at 9:05 PM on January 15

Wherever you move, watch out for a place with any carpeting. That catches way too much mold, dust, bacteria, etc.

I was living in an apartment for a while where, I swear to God, the dirty industrial-looking looking carpeting always felt wet for some reason. There was even carpeting in the bathroom. And my roommate insisted on running a humifider. Even though there were no plumbing leaks, the building was structurally sound, etc. I think the fact that the carpet was always trapping some kind of moisture made our apartment insanely humid. Even in the summer, with the humidifier turned off, bread would go bad in a day or two.

(We lived in Jersey City, BTW.)
posted by twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious at 10:07 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

Thanks all - I have a lot to research and ponder, and also have options (like Denver, Colorado) that I never even considered before.
posted by spinifex23 at 9:36 AM on January 16