Have You Ever Peeked Behind Your Drywall? Five Signs It Has Water Damage or Mold

The drywall in our homes can feel like a mystery. Unfortunately, the thin and porous nature of standard drywall allows it to soak up moisture like a sponge. That means that mold and moisture issues could be hiding just out of sight behind your walls. Most people don't realize that there's a moisture issue with their drywall until the situation is out of control. For people in places like Florida and the rest of the Southeast, high humidity and routine flooding during storm seasons can put drywall at higher risk for mold damage. However, anyone in a low-lying or flood-prone area could have drywall that's keeping some pretty nasty secrets. How do you know if your home has water damage or mold? There are some telltale signs that could indicate that something bad is happening right under your nose. Check out five "red flag" signs your home's drywall is hiding mold or water damage.

1. You've Noticed Peeling Wallpaper or Bubbling Paint

People who purchase or inherit older homes often think that peeling wallpaper is normal. They assume that wallpaper simply starts to disintegrate after a while. In reality, this is a clue that there's a moisture event happening on the other side of that drywall. Be careful with this one. Attempting to peel away the remaining wallpaper could release plumes of mold spores. Paint will also sometimes bubble, peel, or crack when there's moisture inside your walls. Seek out proper remediation if your wallpaper or painted walls look suspicious.

2. You Can See Visible Condensation on Your Walls

If you can see moisture gathering on your wall, this is only the tip of the iceberg. There could actually be a substantial amount of water inside your drywall. Any kind of staining or presentation of dark spots on your interior walls or crown molding indicates moisture and old.

3. You're Noticing a Musty Odor in Your House

Have you been chasing down an odd odor in your home? You may have vacuumed the carpets, aired out the drapes, and cleared out drawers trying to eliminate the source of a vague and strange odor that is permeating your house. It could be that the reason you haven't found it yet is because it's out of sight. Yes, it's probably mold.

A musty mold odor will often have an earthy spell. It can mimic the odor you experience when you step outside or go into the woods on a damp or rainy day. It can be hard to know exactly where a mold odor is coming from in a home with many walls. One trick for narrowing down the general vicinity of the mold is to sniff around your electrical outlets. Odor often seeps through outlets. You can also sniff around under your baseboards. From there, you may be able to follow the path of the odor to identify the wall that is hiding mold.

4. You're Suffering From a Constant Cough or Runny Nose With No Explanation

One of the reasons why moisture in your drywall is such a major issue is that mold can make your family sick! Many people don't realize that a "cold" that just won't go away is actually mold poisoning. Living with mold can make you feel like you're allergic to your house with no explanation. Here are some telltale signs that moisture and mold hiding in your drywall could be making you sick:

• Constant sneezing and runny nose

• Ongoing nasal congestion

• Coughing and wheezing

• Itchy, red eyes

• Mysterious skin rashes

• Dry, scaly skin

• Ongoing low-grade fever

• Headaches

• Fatigue

• Lung infections

People with asthma or mold allergies often experience exacerbated symptoms when exposed to mold. Mold can trigger severe asthma attacks. Sufferers may also experience chest tightness and shortness of breath whenever they are in the home.

5. You Have Buckling Walls

This is one of the more dramatic signs your drywall has water damage. Buckling drywall can look wavy. You may notice lumpiness, unevenness, or a general look of your wall being uneven. This odd look is caused by pressure inside your wall. Buckling is a sign that moisture has pushed your drywall "outward."

What to Do If You Have Moldy Drywall

First, it's important to ventilate the area to try to mitigate the damage that mold is doing to your home and health. This is a situation where contacting local mold remediation experts is crucial. In addition, your walls will need to go. Yes, drywall that has become wet needs to be cut out and replaced. Following flooding events, homeowners generally remove the bottom half of their drywall. While the process is disruptive and expensive, it is the only way to make a home habitable again.

At EnduraFlood, we've seen the burden that replacing wet drywall creates for homeowners after their walls have sustained water damage. That's why we created the first waterproof drywall product. Our waterproof drywall lets you open up your walls after water enters your home to clean the area out. That means you get to keep your walls instead of pulling out drywall. The best part is that you can open up your walls to check for any signs of moisture or mold whenever you want without actually tearing your walls apart. Following major flooding events, homeowners can actually get back to normal in a matter of days instead of enduring months of construction to get their walls back in place.

What's happening inside your walls doesn't have to be a mystery any longer! Our waterproof walls empower homeowners to protect their homes and health. Learn more about the attractive, convenient EnduraFlood waterproof drywall system.