Mold - how long does it take to grow?

2/12/2021 (Permalink)

Mold developed from a leak in the air ducts

A leaking pipe, a damp wall, or even just moist air – all of these can cause mold in your home.

Excess water in your home can be a huge problem. Not only does it ruin furnishings and leave your home smelling musty and stale, but it can also lead to mold.

Mold thrives in damp areas and water can help it to grow. It doesn’t show up straight away though, so how long does it take for mold to grow if you’ve got a damp problem?

How Long Does Black Mold Take to Form?

If you’ve had a leak of water or even a flood in your home, you’ll first be occupied with fixing the problem and clearing the mess. After that’s sorted, you should be asking yourself how long does it take for black mold to form?

This doesn’t mean until it appears on your walls or surfaces, but how long until it takes holds in your home. At first, you won’t actually see the mold latching onto your walls, but it’ll be there. Within just 24-48 hours of damp exposure, mold will start to germinate.

If you think mold is forming, you can wipe over the area with a diluted bleach solution. This won’t always kill 100% of the bacteria, but it’s a good start.

How Long Does it Take for Mold to Grow?

Now you know how long it takes to form, let’s look at how long does it take black mold to grow? 

After 24 hours, your mold spores are likely to be germinating on your surfaces, but this can take up to 3 days. By 12 days, the mold should be present on your damp walls, floors, and surfaces, although you still might not be able to see it with your eyes.

It’ll actually take around 18 days for the mold growing in your home to be visible to your eyes. That’s quite shocking! So, even if you think you’ve solved the problem of a burst pipe or leaking roof, you might have some more cleaning up to do weeks down the line.

Once the mold has become visible to the eye, cleaning it properly will be harder. Mold tends to stick heavily to surfaces and, even if it looks like you’ve washed it off, the spores may still be there.

How Fast Does Mold Spread?

Now we’ve answered how long does black mold take to grow? its time to talk about it spreading. Mold is unlikely to stay in one spot if it remains untreated, so catching it early is essential to stop it taking over your walls.

When mold is germinating, it’s quite contained and is unlikely to spread. It’s only around 12 days when the mold colony is more stable that it’ll begin to move and grow. This is something you definitely don’t want, which is why catching mold early is so important.

Get the Right Help

So, how long does it take for mold to grow? That all depends on your situation and we can only estimate, but it’ll be germinate almost instantly after a leak and will appear visibly after around 18 days.