Killing Mold - Tips For Mold extraction and prevention

Question:

My wife and I are in dire need of your advice about killing a mold problem in our home.

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In short, coffee-colored blotches began appearing and spreading on our four-year-old son's bedroom ceiling almost four months ago. Concerned that there was moisture and possibly mold permeating from the attic above, we called in some companies that specialized in removing mold and were informed that we did as a matter of fact have mold growing on the drywall, insulation and wood above our son's room. However, each undertaker of a package deal suggested a distinct formula and stock to kill the mold (ammonia versus hydrogen peroxide versus biocide). Costs also ranged from ,000 to ,000.

Confused by the conflicting data we received, we called in an independent mold inspector to collate the situation and provide specialist advisement. For 0, the mold inspector visually inspected the attic and performed both swab and air-quality tests. The swab tests were sent to a laboratory, which confirmed that that there were two types of mold growing in our son's room (green and white, also known as Cladosporium and Penicillium), and the air-quality tests done in the attic and our son's bedroom came back highly poor. The inspector then recommended a mold remediation undertaker of a package deal who again in case,granted conflicting data on how to fix the problem.

We are very Concerned about the condition of our house and want to properly remediate and remove the mold situation as soon as possible.

Answer:

The nearnessy of mold is a potentially serious problem due to the impact it can have on your son's health, so killing the mold and preventing its return is critical. For some tips on this exact situation, I turned to my trusted friend Jeff May, a certified air capability pro and author of some books on mold and mold remediation.

Jeff warns that killing and removing the mold alone will not solve this problem. You could spend thousands on remediation and unless the source of moisture is eliminated, the problem will reoccur.

So your first job is to shape out how moist air is infiltrating the attic. The most tasteless sources of moist house air are bathrooms and dryers that are venting into the attic (or soffit), air leaks around attic hatches and pull-down stairs, and air leakage from recessed fixtures. Leaky duct work in an attic can also be a source of moisture, especially if you use a humidifier with your hot-air furnace.

Is the sheathing in your attic all black and moldy? Then you have a bigger mold cleanup job, because all of the sheathing will have to be remediated. If you have an older shingled roof, the cheapest approach is to have all of the roofing and sheathing replaced. At the same time, you can have the moldy insulation and drywall removed and replaced; this is not as a matter of fact a mold remediation, however.

Jeff also warns that if there is mold on the bedroom ceiling, your son should not be sleeping there. Take everything out of the room and completely clean all dust from the items.

Surprisingly, Jeff and I worked on a home with a very similar situation for a television show I was involved with. It turned out that the insulation was full of Aspergillus mold and removing mold required us to the insulation be replaced, as well as all the framing cleaned.

Another key to help preventing mold from forming in the attic space above is to make sure the attic is well ventilated. In the 20 years I spent as a pro home inspector, I rarely saw an attic that was ventilated sufficient to truly do a good job preventing moisture build up, and the mold that can result. Truth is that killing mold becomes a non-issue when the moisture in the wood is kept low enough. No moisture = no mold. It is as uncomplicated as that. For most homes, the best attic ventilation formula is a blend of continuous ridge and soffit vents. These work together preventing and killing mold by flushing moisture out of the attic in the cooler months when mold is more likely to form, as well as flush heat out in the summer to help keep cooling bills low.

Killing Mold - Tips For Mold extraction and prevention