Fighting fungus adds to life's pains

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http://www.leadertelegram.com/story.asp?id=15793

9/29/2002 12:43:24 PM

Breaking the mold

Fighting fungus adds to life's pains

Barber

Leader-Telegram Staff

To that already-long list of things you worry about -- terrorism, mosquitoes

and your child's spelling test -- add this four-letter word: mold.

Families at Prescott Middle School know what I mean. Earlier this month mold

problems forced the school to close, and classes have shifted to neighboring

Ellsworth's old junior high.

Do they have room for me and my family? We have mold. And I'm not talking

that shower curtain crud, although we occasionally have cultivated that too.

No, this mold creeps along our window frames, especially where the bottom of

the pane of glass meets the wood. It's been growing -- in that quiet,

incessant way mold has -- for the last few years.

No orange state of alert

Like most energy-efficient homes, our 6-year-old model is so airtight that

moisture inside can't escape. We ran a dehumidifier for a while (until that

was recalled, along with our microwave, I might add), but it was too little

too late.

Always ready to shop, I wanted to spend thousands of dollars on new windows;

my husband got out the 79-cent gallon of chlorine bleach.

He did the right thing, said Dianne Weber, family living educator for the

Eau County UW-Extension office. Weber, a great source for recipes,

even had one for this: 1 cup of chlorine bleach to a gallon of water. She

suggested avoiding cleaners that contain residues, such as phosphates, that

can provide nutrients for the mold.

Weber referred me to Merrill, UW-Extension housing specialist at

UW-Madison, a position he formerly held at UW-Stout in Menomonie. Merrill,

who gave me more mold advice than I can fit in this story, also warned me

not to be alarmist.

" People have had mold on their windows ever since there have been windows, "

Merrill said in a calm voice that sounded vaguely familiar. (Yup, he's a

guest on Larry Meiller's Wisconsin Public Radio show every second Thursday

of the month.) " We don't have to go into an orange state of alert for mold. "

That said, mold -- along with the moisture that causes it -- needs to be

addressed. Mold is linked to respiratory problems. Because my son and I have

asthma, and my husband and I have allergies, I worried the mold was causing

more problems than the slight discoloration of our windows.

Water, water everywhere

If you haven't seen a little black rain cloud in your house and are

wondering where the moisture is coming from, well, culprits are

everywhere -- the aforementioned shower, that load of firewood and your

breathing, which generates three pints of moisture a day, Merrill said.

Short of asking the kids to keep their mouths shut -- which I'm not above on

some days -- we have to implement some of these tips:

n Buy a humidity gauge. A home's humidity should be between 30 and 50

percent.

n Fix leaks. Luckily we didn't have that problem.

n Improve ventilation. Run a kitchen range fan or bathroom vent fan -- if

they exit outside and not back into the house. Some vent and range fans are

controlled by humidistats that kick in when humidity is too high.

Merrill advised opening a window on the other side of the house while

running the fan. To get air to vent out, some has to come in. Opening a

window also helps avoid backdrafting -- drawing vented gases from

combustible appliances into the home.

Minnesota requires air-to-air heat exchangers in new homes. These cost about

$2,000, said Merrill, who testified in favor of them to the state Building

Code Commission 10 years ago. Wisconsin eventually will require them, or

liability will force builders to use them, he predicted.

n Run a dehumidifier. (Note: Some people run humidifiers all winter long,

something not needed in new houses.)

n Assess window coverings. At our house bedroom blinds exacerbate

condensation that sits on the wooden window frames. Merrill suggested

covering windows with plastic or window blankets. Airtight installation is

key.

Last month we began tackling our mold. We bleached and then sanded, stained

and applied several coats of boat-quality varnish.

Merrill said our process was adequate but also said detergent would clean

the area, and wood bleach would remove discoloration. Before applying a

polyurethane, he suggested using a water-repellent preservative with

dissolved wax to fill the wood pores.

Warning: Have good ventilation -- outside air, not just a fan -- when doing

all of this.

Merrill also recommended sanding when the surface was wet to prevent

airborne mold. " Getting rid of it creates problems too, " he said.

Great. Something else for me to worry about.

Barber, a Leader-Telegram staff reporter, can be reached at 833-9213, (800)

236-7077 or susan.barber@....