I thought once school was out we would be able to head up to our lake house and enjoy a little R&R. Little did I know that the baseball season was just beginning so our mini-vacation had to be pushed back for another month.

Once we finally arrived with kids, toys and pets in tow we were greeted by an unwelcome musty odor as soon as we opened the door. With some fans, refreshing air spray and a nice breeze off the lake we were able to get it under control and begin enjoying our vacation home.

We have Internet access so I did a little investigating on how we can prevent this from happening in the future.  What I found is that too much moisture can wreak havoc on the interior of a home. Some things we can do to prevent moisture build-up are to take shorter, cooler showers and make sure the exhaust fan is on in the bathroom so steam doesn’t build up. Once we get out of the shower or off the lake we should hang our damp towels on the line outside and leave them there until they are completely dry. We rarely cook inside but when we do, lids should be placed on all pots and pans to avoid adding additional moisture in the air.

When packing up to head back home a couple of tips I found are to place trays of kitty litter over the air vents to absorb moisture. Also, once the refrigerator and freezer are empty and unplugged we usually just cracked the door but another great tip is to place wads of newspaper in both sections to keep mustiness from settling in these damp areas.

It is great to get away and hopefully with the tips I’ve researched we can avoid being greeted with the musty, moldy smell. I really hate to leave our lake house but hopefully it won’t be empty for long!