Toxic mold. Big, black stains on the surface of your walls, your celling or even your floors. That's what it looks like, but the truth is that if you can see it, it's probably already too late to do anything.

Mold, and especially, toxic mold grows and develops underneath your paint. Even under the plaster that covers your walls, so in most cases you can't even see it.

How do you spot it then?

There was a case of a family in Virginia that spent nearly $1,000,000 for their new home, and a few months after they moved in, they started feeling dizzy, their younger daughter had frequent nosebleeds and the mother developed very severe head aches.

She said she felt so bad that she thought she's suffered from brain tumor. Can you imagine waking up each day with a headache? No wonder she felt sick. After she went in to see a doc, she was told that there is a whole lot of poison in her and they probably had to detox her. Terrible story.

That company is now trying to get almost five million dollars in compensation from the construction company, but that's a totally different story.

What's important to you in that story is the symptoms that the family experienced. If you're starting to suddenly feel discomfort or nausea, if your nose bleeds randomly and you feel tired all the time, if you or your family members have developed asthma, chances are that you're living in a home infected by toxic mold.

How does it develop?

As all mold, toxic mold needs a specific environment in order to develop. Mold usually grows in moist, warm and dark places, so inside your walls is just perfect for it. Generally speaking what you learnt at school about mold, is true about toxic mold as well, so try to remember as much as you can... just joking! I am trying to cover the most important info here and remember you can always ask professor Google a question.

The mold in the house of the Virginian family I mentioned before was developed because the constructors did not wait for the timber to dry after it rained and instead they just decided to continue building on wet timber. Of course that timber started growing mold that turned out to be harmful for the family.

How do you make sure this does not happen to you?

There are companies out there that will test your house for mold for a few hundred bucks which is definitely worth it you want to make sure you're safe.

Toxic mold can be a serious issue and dealing with it can be a challenge, but if you make sure that you take all the necessary precautions, you'll be fine and dandy.