What Causes Mold Growth?

The primary cause of mold growth is water. Mold does need food such as paper, building products, paper, boxes, fabrics etc. but mold can also grow and feed on dust. Because of this mold can grow in an empty basement where there is only cinder blocks as in the images below.

This most important factor in mold growth though is water alone. This is because mold can grow on, yep, mold! If you remove the water supply the mold will die rather quickly, but if you remove the food (drywall, cellulose, fabrics etc.) the mold will still grow in the residual mold. This is but one of the reasons that mold remediation begins with treating the water intrusion.