Why Mold Grew in Garages, Entryways, and Transition Spaces
The spaces between indoors and outdoors held more influence than I realized.
I never thought much about the spaces people pass through.
Garages, entryways, mudrooms, and hallways felt temporary — places you move through, not places you live in.
By this point, I already understood where mold hid in my home, how it followed daily moisture in kitchens and food storage areas, and how it settled along windows, doors, and framing gaps. Transition spaces showed me what happens when conditions constantly change but never fully stabilize.
Nothing stayed long — except the conditions themselves.
Spaces that bridge environments often hold the most instability.
Why Garages and Entryways Behave Differently
These spaces are exposed to the outside more than we realize.
Cold air enters. Warm air escapes. Moisture comes in on shoes, tires, tools, and clothing.
Because they’re not fully conditioned like living spaces, they rarely dry or balance the way other rooms do.
Partial exposure creates ongoing adjustment, not resolution.
I assumed “unfinished” meant unaffected — it didn’t.
The Transition Areas I Never Thought to Question
The pattern showed up in everyday places.
Garages attached to living space. Mudrooms beside kitchens. Entry closets sharing exterior walls. Hallways acting as air corridors.
Many of these overlapped with what I had already seen along exterior walls and cold boundary surfaces, just influenced more directly by outdoor conditions.
Mold followed the edges where environments met.
How These Spaces Affected the Rest of the House
I didn’t notice the garage itself feeling wrong.
I noticed how nearby rooms felt different after weather changes, rainy days, or temperature swings.
That pattern echoed what I had already experienced when I realized how air pathways could move conditions through the home.
My body reacted to instability, not a single source.
The discomfort followed the shifts, not the space.
What Shifted When I Stopped Ignoring In-Between Spaces
I stopped treating garages and entryways as background noise.
I started noticing how often they changed — and how rarely they fully reset.
This understanding built naturally on what I had already learned about hidden layers holding conditions long after surfaces looked fine.
Awareness came from paying attention to transitions, not just destinations.