As summer gets underway, you’re probably starting to look forward to evenings around the fire pit with your family, enjoying the company and the warm weather. However, the presence of mold in your firewood can have negative consequences that extend far beyond a single Saturday night around the campfire. In fact, you may end up paying dearly for the mold-containing firewood--in terms of both your cleaning bills and your family’s health. Read on to learn more about why choosing dry, mold-free firewood makes sense for Atlanta-area residents during the humid summer season.
The Risk of Bringing Mold Into Your Home: A Cleaning Nightmare
One of the best places to store firewood is your basement or another storage area in your home. In fact, many people prefer indoor storage to outdoor storage because there is less of a risk of exposure to moisture (which can attract pests) from the ground or from an unexpected rainstorm. However, if there are mold spores in your wood before you bring it into your home for indoor storage, it can quickly become a problem that demands immediate attention.
During humid southern summers, it’s easy for mold to accumulate on the floor and along the walls of your basement. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch the mold from your firewood while it is still in the basement, but there’s a good chance that mold spores will spread to other parts of your home. Mold spores can spread from the basement to main house in the air, on pets, on the soles of your shoes, or even by clinging to moist clothes. In no time at all, you’ll be dealing with a major cleaning job. Not only do you have to remove the firewood from the house and scour the area with mold-killing bleach, but you may also be dealing with the accumulation of mold on your countertops, on the walls of your closets, and in your bathrooms.
If you would rather spend your time enjoying the summer with your friends and family rather than cleaning mold out of your house, choosing kiln-dried firewood simply makes sense. Because there kiln-dried firewood lacks the moisture in which mold spores flourish, you don’t have to worry that indoor storage will force you to give up your well-deserved rest on weekends in order to slave away cleaning up mold from your basement and the rest of your home.
Potential Health Effects of Mold Exposure
Choosing mold-free firewood isn’t just important because it allows you to avoid the challenges of cleanup: it’s also essential for protecting your family’s health. Exposure to mold spores can trigger symptoms in people with allergic rhinitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, and dermatitis, among other allergic diseases. Therefore, even if the mold from your firewood is contained within your basement (or if you choose to store it outside), just getting near it can leave you wheezing, coughing, and dealing with watery eyes or a runny nose. The likelihood that mold will trigger your symptoms increases even more as you start to kindle the fire. You may end up spending what should have been a relaxing and rejuvenating night around the fire feeling stuffed-up and wishing it were easier to breathe.
Exposure to mold in firewood is a particular concern if you have kids. Multiple studies show that there are clear links between mold exposure and childhood asthma and allergies. In fact, some scientists have even suggested a causal relationship, pointing to evidence that ongoing contact with mold makes it more likely that a child will struggle with asthma or allergies, both of which have the potential to last a lifetime. As a parent, you want your campfire nights to be a source of fond memories and to foster a lifelong love of the outdoors--not to be a source of debilitating symptoms or a mediator of a lifelong allergic condition. Therefore, it’s simply safer to choose kiln-dried firewood that is guaranteed free of mold that can threaten your family’s health.
Choosing Mold-Free Kiln-Dried Firewood
There are several types of kiln-dried firewood that are ideal options if you are particularly concerned about the problems associated with mold-containing firewood. Oak firewood is the go-to wood for most families, and there’s no chance of mold in kiln-dried oak. Hickory and cherry are also popular choices. As long as you choose premium kiln-dried firewood from Cutting Edge Firewood, you won’t have to worry about cleaning up mold or dealing with mold-related allergy symptoms. We even offer delivery right to your door, eliminating the chance that the wood will pick up mold spores during the transportation process from the pick-up site to your basement.
In the end, when it comes to the possibility of mold in your firewood, there’s no question about it: it’s simply not worth the risk of ruining your fire pit experience. This summer, choose Cutting Edge Firewood, and remember to tag us on Instagram as you enjoy a happy and healthy summer! Contact us today for more information!
