| p>Question: | | | | So your first job is to figure out how moist air is |
| My wife and I are in dire need of your advice | | | | infiltrating the attic. The most common sources of |
| about killing a mold problem in our home. | | | | moist house air are bathrooms and dryers that |
| In short, coffee-colored blotches began appearing | | | | are venting into the attic (or soffit), air leaks |
| and spreading on our four-year-old son's bedroom | | | | around attic hatches and pull-down stairs, and air |
| ceiling approximately four months ago. Concerned | | | | leakage from recessed fixtures. Leaky duct work |
| that there was moisture and possibly mold | | | | in an attic can also be a source of moisture, |
| permeating from the attic above, we called in | | | | especially if you use a humidifier with your hot-air |
| several companies that specialized in removing | | | | furnace. |
| mold and were informed that we did indeed have | | | | Is the sheathing in your attic all black and moldy? |
| mold growing on the drywall, insulation and wood | | | | Then you have a bigger mold cleanup job, |
| above our son's room. However, each contractor | | | | because all of the sheathing will have to be |
| suggested a different method and product to kill | | | | remediated. If you have an older shingled roof, |
| the mold (ammonia versus hydrogen peroxide | | | | the cheapest approach is to have all of the |
| versus biocide). Costs also ranged from $3,000 to | | | | roofing and sheathing replaced. At the same time, |
| $7,000. | | | | you can have the moldy insulation and drywall |
| Confused by the conflicting information we | | | | removed and replaced; this is not really a mold |
| received, we called in an independent mold | | | | remediation, however. |
| inspector to assess the situation and provide | | | | Jeff also warns that if there is mold on the |
| expert advisement. For $900, the mold inspector | | | | bedroom ceiling, your son should not be sleeping |
| visually inspected the attic and performed both | | | | there. Take everything out of the room and |
| swab and air-quality tests. The swab tests were | | | | thoroughly clean all dust from the items. |
| sent to a laboratory, which confirmed that that | | | | Surprisingly, Jeff and I worked on a home with a |
| there were two types of mold growing in our | | | | very similar situation for a television show I was |
| son's room (green and white, also known as | | | | involved with. It turned out that the insulation was |
| Cladosporium and Penicillium), and the air-quality | | | | full of Aspergillus mold and removing mold |
| tests done in the attic and our son's bedroom | | | | required us to the insulation be replaced, as well |
| came back extremely poor. The inspector then | | | | as all the framing cleaned. |
| recommended a mold remediation contractor who | | | | Another key to help preventing mold from |
| again provided conflicting information on how to | | | | forming in the attic space above is to make sure |
| fix the problem. | | | | the attic is well ventilated. In the 20 years I spent |
| We are very concerned about the health of our | | | | as a professional home inspector, I rarely saw an |
| family and want to properly remediate and | | | | attic that was ventilated enough to truly do a |
| remove the mold situation as soon as possible. | | | | good job preventing moisture build up, and the |
| Answer: | | | | mold that can result. Truth is that killing mold |
| The presence of mold is a potentially serious | | | | becomes a non-issue when the moisture in the |
| problem due to the impact it can have on your | | | | wood is kept low enough. No moisture = no mold. |
| son's health, so killing the mold and preventing its | | | | It is as simple as that. For most homes, the best |
| return is critical. For some tips on this exact | | | | attic ventilation method is a combination of |
| situation, I turned to my trusted friend Jeff May, | | | | continuous ridge and soffit vents. These work |
| a certified air quality professional and author of | | | | together preventing and killing mold by flushing |
| several books on mold and mold remediation. | | | | moisture out of the attic in the cooler months |
| Jeff warns that killing and removing the mold | | | | when mold is more likely to form, as well as flush |
| alone will not solve this problem. You could spend | | | | heat out in the summer to help keep cooling bills |
| thousands on remediation and unless the source | | | | low. |
| of moisture is eliminated, the problem will reoccur. | | | | |