Mold removal
sarahmatheson
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
I would like to know what the safest most effective product is used to remove mold from wood.
I have mold in my attic and want it out. When hiring a clean up company what questions should I be asking about the method of clean up they employ? My husband wants to clean it, but I think because of the location and extent of the mod,it covers the whole length of the attic roof,I think we should find someone to hire. I have cellulose insulation and I’m debating whether to remove it all and start over? How would I know if the insulation is salvageable?
Thanks,
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Replies
You have a moisture problem. I'll defer to others on the mold removal issue, but the presence of mold under the roof deck indicates far too much moisture up there. Moisture in the attic typically comes from too much air leakage from the conditioned space in the cooler months, and often from a damp basement condition. As part of your remediation effort, you need to determine the source of the moisture, or the mold removal is wasted effort. Either do your homework on sites like this one, using the search engine, or hire a building science specialist to figure it out for you. If you can't satisfactorily address the moisture entry issue, it's possible you could avoid the accumulation/mold problem with improved attic ventilation, meaning adequate ridge and soffit ventilation, coupled with improved air sealing at the attic floor. If you can describe the attic configuration, plus whatever dampness issues you know already exist, posters here may be able to point out what you ought to be looking at.
Sarah,
Concrobium is a great product for mold ... see attached link for dealing with large spaces.
http://www.concrobium.com/products/concrobium-mold-control-fogger/
For cleaning up mold nothing beats plain old 20 Mule Team borax. Mix 1/4 borax 3/4 hot water, then wash it off leaving the surface wet, do NOT rinse. The borax residue will inhibit regrowth.
What Dick Russell said- fix the air leaks (and improve the moisture-purging ventilation if you can) or you'll be repeating the cleanup effort in short years.
If you have a foot of cellulose it's likely that only the upper couple of inches have heavy mold, but odds are you'd have to pull it all out to properly air seal in the first place.
I've posted a photo of my mold situation,the box in the photo is the gable vent,obviously that will need to be addressed. The only ventilation that can be added to this type of roof is the gable, there are no soffits nor area to add soffits. The roof is metal and I have no desire to change it. Up until the cellulose was blown in onto the attic floor there was very little noticeable damage, some staining around nail penetrations though the sheathing. The ventilation doesn't match the increased insulation. I will air seal where I can, the cellulose looks to be in fine condition,it's dry there is no visible mould on the insulation. I would like to work on reducing the humidity levels in my home, and fix the grade around the foundation,because I can't attach gutters I will have to go with a ground gutter... This is all I can do in for now.