Re: Consequences of Vinyl siding; New England Housing

[Guest guest]

My guess is that pvc is very safe except during manufacture and

burning as you stated, and I would add for those that cut it and glue

pipes together. Very important though, if anyone ever does any work on

your plumbing that involves cutting and gluing pvc you want to run the

water a long time to flush out all the contaminants before you

consider drinking it. This would especially be true with new homes.

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:22:14 -0000, you wrote:

>Hi,

>

>Is anyone familar with the types of toxicants which enter homes

>following installation of vinyl siding? PVC has a number of different

>emissions but many of the commonly known ones are a result of

>manufacturing and burning - what about during the time of use?

>

>I am also in search of decent, low mold, rental housing in New

>England, preferably in Vermont. Anyone familar with the area?

>

>Thanks,

>

>Barbara

[Guest guest]

I have wondered about vinyl siding and if moisture gets behind it, can

it rot the exterior wood of your house, i.e. cause mold between

outside frame of house and vinyl siding. Is this possible?

One of my neighbors took his vinyl siding off and either put some

other material on house or just painted it. Whichever it was, looks

so much better than old vinyl siding did.

>

> Hi,

>

> Is anyone familar with the types of toxicants which enter homes

> following installation of vinyl siding?

[Guest guest]

I would think anytime you put unnecessary layers of material on your

house your asking for trouble. One they hide whatever might be behind

them, and also they reduce air movement that encourages mold growth.

But they are much lower maintenance. I believe for the most part they

do allow enough air circulation to prevent mold growth and aren't a

concern for healthy people.

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:56:00 -0000, you wrote:

>I have wondered about vinyl siding and if moisture gets behind it, can

>it rot the exterior wood of your house, i.e. cause mold between

>outside frame of house and vinyl siding. Is this possible?

>

>One of my neighbors took his vinyl siding off and either put some

>other material on house or just painted it. Whichever it was, looks

>so much better than old vinyl siding did.

[Guest guest]

--- In , Christ <antares@...>

wrote:

>

> My guess is that pvc is very safe except during manufacture and

> burning as you stated, and I would add for those that cut it and

glue

> pipes together.

----------------------------------------------------

>Hi ,

I did not state that PVC is safe except during manufacture and

burning. I said that the toxicants exuded by it were mainly

identified during those processes. We know that PVC is toxic in its

usable states as well, hence the banning of PVC toys mouthed by

infants in some areas and the identification of leakage of pthalates

from IV bags etc. used medically.

Vinyl siding does produce hazardous fumes. I am asking about

specific forms of plasticizers etc. that one can test for - testing

labs generally want you to tell them what you are looking for

instead of recommending particular tests.

However, your advice is very sound regarding plumbing and other

renovation projects etc. Thanks for responding.

Barbara

[Guest guest]

On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:38:30 -0000, you wrote:

>

>I did not state that PVC is safe except during manufacture and

>burning. I said that the toxicants exuded by it were mainly

>identified during those processes. We know that PVC is toxic in its

>usable states as well, hence the banning of PVC toys mouthed by

>infants in some areas and the identification of leakage of pthalates

>from IV bags etc. used medically.

>

>Vinyl siding does produce hazardous fumes. I am asking about

>specific forms of plasticizers etc. that one can test for - testing

>labs generally want you to tell them what you are looking for

>instead of recommending particular tests.

>

>However, your advice is very sound regarding plumbing and other

>renovation projects etc. Thanks for responding.

>

>Barbara

Barbara,

that was pretty dumb of me to say " very safe " I do think PVC is

relatively safe though. I think I read somewhere that PVC gives off

dioxin which is very deadly when it's burned. I assumed under normal

conditions it gives off very low emissions. Maybe I based this on the

fact that while you can smell other types of plastics relatively easy

PVC pipe doesn't seem to give off any odor. I am sure their are

different grades and classes of PVC just like their are food grade

plastics and non food grade plastics. You wouldn't want to make wine

in a rubber trash can, but they make plastic buckets for this purpose.

Siding on the outside of your house I would think would be low on the

list of worry's as far as voc's go. I would be more concerned with

things inside the house.

Although myself I focus on mold more than voc's. Not saying they

don't have long term negative effects one should be concerned about,

just compared to mold they are very low on the list of worry's for me.

[Guest guest]

Barb,

I think it was last year sometime my sister was considering putting

vinyl siding on her home, before they sold it. She spoke with a

contractor and because of what were are dealing with here she was

concerned about possible mold growth behind it. She couldn't believe

his response, he said wait another 5-10 years and you'll see alot of

this being removed because of mold. He mentioned aspergillus. She

was shocked. I don't know what the reason is for the moisture, a

manufactor defect or shoddy installation, but either way it doesn't

seem the way to go. I was considering this myself, not anymore.

Hopefully someone may have some answers or theories as far as the

moisture getting behind the siding. Is it just condensation?

KC

> >

> > Hi,

> >

> > Is anyone familar with the types of toxicants which enter homes

> > following installation of vinyl siding?

>

[Guest guest]

KC, I don't know if there is a problem behind siding or not. I was

just thinking that it would be an area vulnerable to mold if moisture

got behind it with no air circulating to dry it out. Actual I realize

I have aluminum siding on house but I think that could be vulnerable

also to moisture getting behind it.

[Guest guest]

At the risk of being wrong here, I will share that one of our air

quality experts told us that vinyl siding is the best choice in today's

construction for mold prevention. I believe that the vinyl siding has

holes for drainage at the bottom of each panel. We were told that brick

and other veneers are more vulnerable to mold. I assume that is because

water tends to accumulate behind them. Another thing which we were

advised to do is to have a system installed which brings " fresh "

outside air into the house. Ours replaces all the air every 3 hours. It

seems to me that this air movement would help to dry out any materials

that became wet.

-

>

> Hi,

>

> Is anyone familar with the types of toxicants which enter homes

> following installation of vinyl siding?

[Guest guest]

I believe the reason you want to bring in some fresh outside air is to

create a positive air situation inside your house as opposed to

neutral or even worse negative. That way not only do you have air

movement though your walls which is critical in preventing mold

growth, but also any voc's or mold spores, or bacterial problems

behind your drywall is expelled outdoors and can't get the chance to

build up to dangerous levels inside of your living environment.

I would tend to lean towards the idea that because siding is outdoors

the wind and relatively higher and lower temperatures and the wilder

swings in between the two will create air movement in between the wall

and the siding preventing the conditions for condensation formation

and thus making the opportunity for mold to grow less likely. This is

just my speculation. I am no expert here. Further I would assume the

manufactures make reasonable efforts to encourage air movement and

discourage mold growth.

The siding which is impermeable to moisture will also prevent direct

contact with rain and high humidity which will tend to wick into wood

as well as cement, stucco, or cinder block, creating a more humid

environment inside your walls their could be factors though that are

quite the opposite of what I am speculating, barring that what shelly

is saying makes good sense to me.

In my very limited experience I have never heard of mold growing

behind siding.

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 05:38:15 -0000, you wrote:

>

>At the risk of being wrong here, I will share that one of our air

>quality experts told us that vinyl siding is the best choice in today's

>construction for mold prevention. I believe that the vinyl siding has

>holes for drainage at the bottom of each panel. We were told that brick

>and other veneers are more vulnerable to mold. I assume that is because

>water tends to accumulate behind them. Another thing which we were

>advised to do is to have a system installed which brings " fresh "

>outside air into the house. Ours replaces all the air every 3 hours. It

>seems to me that this air movement would help to dry out any materials

>that became wet.