Got Attic Mold? Warning: Never Encapsulate/ Paint Dry Ice Blast Or Soda Blast!
If they are confronted with an issue with mould in the attic, homeowners are often faced with the difficult task of tackling an issue that is far from the usual home improvement tasks. Eliminating attic mould isn’t like renovating a kitchen or bathroom or painting a home. Mould can be dangerous as well as the living. In terms of eliminating it, there is a lot of contradicting information available.
Many homeowners did not even realize there was a deadly bad-smelling living space above their heads within their homes that was slowly eating the decking boards that make up the roof. The majority of the issues with attic mould that we see every day were discovered by the homeowner when they realized it was time to sell their home.
We’ve seen numerous home sales fail completely simply because a home inspection found mould growing in the attic space that was feeding on roofing boards. One of the primary reasons for this is the hue of the common mould that is found in attics just north of the Mason Dixon line. It is the well-known colour black. A lot of potential buyers are intimidated by this dark mould colour and believe it’s “the toxic black mould” in the Stachybotrys chart scrum, which is the most feared of all. However, it is rarely the situation. The thing that makes a moulded black is melanin, the pigment that is an innocuous pigment that is found in our skins to guard us against harmful UV rays created by the sun. It is the same reason for the mould. Attic mould is rarely the dangerous black mould since attic mould is almost always growing in winter because of heat loss, paired with inadequate or poorly designed roof ventilation.
Ventilation Problems: How The Mold Grows
When temperatures drop to freezing in winter, we turn on the home heating system. Naturally, the temperature rises. When we do not have sufficient insulation, or when it’s too cold to keep pace with the loss of heat, the hot air can make its way to the attic. If a roof is properly ventilated, this hot air gets directed out of the attic via what is known as outtake air vents. They are made up of vents for boxes and power systems, Gable end vents as well as ridge vents. To enable the outtake air vents to function properly, the roof must have an air intake system. Vents like these let colder airflow through the attic while hot air is pushed out by the outtake air vents.
If this doesn’t happen, the hot air is locked in an attic and forms a coalescence against the cold, freezing roofing boards. The hot air mass meets the cold surface of condensation, referred to as dewpoint, which usually produces droplets of frost or water. The moisture initiates the process of growth of mould that eventually can lead to the development of attic mould.
Attic mould generally only appears during winter unless it’s caused by the occasional roof leak or the crawlspace or basement that is wet, sending water up. The reason it is only growing in the five to six weeks of winter is that during the remainder of the year, the temperatures attics reach are way too hot, allowing for the rapid growth of mould.
The Solution:
In the process of deciding on what steps to take to resolve the issue of attic crawlspace mould, homeowners are puzzled. Why? In obtaining multiple estimates for cleaning up, they are often faced with completely different options of local experts who all claim their approach is “best” or “right”. We’ve met with people who’ve received 5-6 estimates that included five to six different “solutions” that left the homeowners in a tizzy over what they should do; they are looking for the permanent elimination. The reason there are numerous different approaches to cleaning up mould is due to those mould-training authorities, certification bodies or schools that do not actually define what products to use. The average contractor also has limited or no knowledge of the actual processes of mould and the actual microbiological processes it goes through.
Fix The Ventilation/Leaks:
To resolve every issue with mould, it is necessary to get rid of the cause of the moisture. This requires addressing the problems with ventilation. The most popular method is to set up the ridge vent; we have found that they rarely air as well as they claim to. We suggest that box vents be placed at the same distance from the top as possible. They almost never leak or block and are extremely efficient even though they have gone out of fashion. Then, ensure that there is enough intake air through the soffit vent. There’s no such thing as too much soffit airflow.
Killing The Mold Means Killing The Roots:
A major and often thought about and misunderstood element of permanent mould elimination and removal is the killing of the mould’s roots. When people think about mould, they often think of cheese or bread that is mouldy. The brain loves to store memories through association, and we often think of the fuzzy thing that we see at the top of the problem with mould as the actual mould. WRONG! The fuzzy material is actually the fruit body or the reproductive component that moulds. It’s the seed. It’s not the apple but the tree! If we are looking to eliminate mould for good, we must eliminate the roots that are the body that mould has. They are inaccessible to the uninitiated eye since they grow beneath the surface, just like the tap-root of dandelions develops underneath the surface of Earth. Similar to the dandelion, we must destroy the roots to eliminate the organism.
The most popular methods for removing mould always fail to solve this problem. Many mould removal companies do awful work because they fail to comprehend this fundamental principle. To get rid of the mould, you have to eliminate the roots. What can these firms do? There are a variety of strategies that are commonly employed, and they’re all unsuitable. The majority of companies begin with the application of biocide. It is normal to find this mentioned in every mould-related protocol. The contractor rarely mentions that 95 per cent of these biocides don’t eliminate spores or kill them. They also do not kill roots. Many also contain a type of carcinogen, which may cause cancer in laboratory animals! Then they apply an encapsulant, which actually is to paint the wood. This is a trap that is waiting to explode because the paint will create an encapsulation of vapours and then fall off. Since the paint is poisonous in it, it may be a potential hazard in the future, similar to lead paint. It’s also a sure sign during a home inspection to discover that there is an issue with the attic. Attics are only allowed to be painted when there’s an outbreak of mould or fire in the house. This technique also leaves the mouldy roots alive, just waiting to get moisture. There are various methods for sanding, including hand sanding, dry ice blasting or soda. The companies offering these techniques will inform you that they’re sanding away the mould’s roots. This is not accurate! The mould’s roots grow deeply into the wood for at minimum 3/16’s of an inch. If you were to sand the wood this deeply, you’d cause roofing damage that is structural. What is the reason they do this? They strip the layer of pigment using these methods and then make the mould appear to disappear while keeping the roots in place and waiting for an opportunity to drink. Sanding firms typically charge an arm and leg to accomplish this since it’s a labour-intensive process. It’s a good strategy to remove a stain. However, it’s not an all-time solution to mould removal.
The Ideal Attic Mold Removal System:
The best solution for removing mould from your attic uses ventilation correction to get rid of the water source. It requires the use of a biocide, which is 100% natural, and also a sporicide that is rated for porous substrates to kill mould. It also works on removing the stains and eliminating the tome evidence so that the prospective homebuyer does not become frightened by the idea that mould has existed. The focus should be on killing the roots and preventing mould from coming back. The ideal method to accomplish this is to fill the decking or wood boards with safe mineral salt that is non-toxic so that the existing roots soak into the salt, then end up dying, and the new spores never have a chance to begin developing. Additionally, you should use an inhibitor within the insulation to keep dust out of the area that is accumulated from the growth of mould. In addition, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory proved that it is also necessary to utilize gas extraction. This is done by filling the area with a chemical that can be absorbed into the small spaces of the attic where mould spores are likely to be hidden and then completely destroy the spores.
There’s a nationwide mould business that has employed this approach for more than 14 years and has achieved 100 per cent satisfaction! Their customers are spread across the entire continent of North America and have discovered the only method to get rid of attic mould once and for all, without the use of poisonous chemicals. Click here for more details and to find out how you can receive a no-cost estimate. For the daring, they offer a full DIY mould removal service to give you professional results and not break your bank account. Contact us today to get a no-cost estimate.