Attic Mold Issues

At least once a week we get calls about mold in attics. Some people are amazed how the mold got into their attic in the first place. Here are some reasons why mold grows in attics.

Roofs, A Cause For Attic Mold

One of the last homeowners issues that is thought about is the roof. Not to say that homeowners don’t think about the roof, it’s that they don’t think about it on a routine basis ( don’t worry neither do I ). It’s required by your insurance policy to be responsible to inspect your roof to make sure you don’t have issues.

Let’s think about it. Unless you are Mr. Fix it, how many of you are going to walk on to your roof and inspect every 3 to 6 months. I don’t even recommend the average person to walk on their roof unless they are trained, certified and have the correct safety gear.

So as time goes on , roofs will have issues like loss shingles and cracks in the sheathing. When these issues happen even with the most expensive roof systems, there is a good chance that rain water will pour or seep in. The rain water will create moisture pockets that can stay for long periods of time. If you have an attic then roof leaks will let in moisture into the attic.

This is where the problems begin. As you can imagine most people ( I said most people ), do not inspect their attic on a regular basis. Moisture is the main ingredient in creating mold in attics and you will find the mold on sheathing and roof trusses in the attic.

The attic is also hot in the summer and mold being from the plant family, the attic becomes a hot house growing mold. This is not to say you won’t see mold growing in the winter time in attics, it’s the summer heat that creates a bigger chance. When you see mold in attics especially when you are having the house inspected via a realtor, your first reaction is to take a wet cloth and rub it off.

When you disturb mold you release the mold spores from the mold colony and distribute them through the house via the air duct system and small openings in the attic to the remaining parts of the house. When trying to wash the mold off the wood surfaces, will cause the mold which has a root system to be penetrated into the sheathing and attic trusses. Even if you wash the mold off, just like a weed it will come back unless you take out the whole root system.

The correct way to remove mold in the attic is to do the following:

• Seal any holes and passage ways to the remaining areas of the house.
• Create a containment barrier
• Create negative air pressure using a negative air machine with a HEPA filter
• HEPA filter vacuum all areas that show visible signs of mold
• Wire brush off the attic sheathing to remove mold. This will get to the root system
• Bio wash areas effected by the mold
• HEPA filter vacuum again.
• Leave the negative air equipment running for the remainder of the day or until a certified mold tester can come to do the inspection.

If you correctly remove mold issues from the attic, control the humidity and any rain water coming into your home, you should be clear of any future issues of mold in the attic!