Attic mold removal a high headache

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Attic mold removal a high headache

Boston Globe*

By Hotton

February 3, 2008

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2008/02/03/attic_mold_

removal_a_high_headache/?page=1

Q: I am getting a lot of mold in my attic, which contains an air

conditioning unit and hydro air that provides heat and air

conditioning to the house. The mold is extensive, mainly on the roof

sheathing. Two companies have offered to get rid of the mold, one

for $2,000, another for $12,000. One man suggested taking up the

insulation on the floor, which is not moldy. Why would that be

needed, and how in the world could mold removal cost so much and

with such a huge difference? What should I do?

TERRIFIED

more stories like thisA: The $12,000 cost is due to the need to use

protective clothing and taking many precautions while working, plus

the removal of the mold itself, which may be a toxic mold.

See if the $2,000 job will remove the mold, and if so, then you can

do other things. I cannot recommend removing it yourself with bleach

and water if the mold is termed toxic. Even the bleach is toxic. The

man who suggested removing the insulation in the floor may have been

trying to determine if there is a vapor barrier under the

insulation, which would prevent water vapor from going from the

house to the attic.

Make sure there is plenty of ventilation in the attic, which is best

done by installing a ridge vent and soffit vents in the under part

of the roof overhang. If the vents are already there, consider a

power vent to increase the exhausting of water vapor.

But the big culprit, in my opinion, is that air conditioning unit

and hydro air in the attic, which are creating a lot of water vapor,

too much for the venting system to remove, even if they are well

insulated. If this is so, and I think it is, the solution is to

relocate those units to the house with direct venting, or even the

basement, where these things belong. Putting heating and cooling

equipment in attics has become a bad habit of late, and is doing no

one or any house any good at all.

Not long ago I got a call from a homeowner who was having terrible

problems and leaks from ice dams in her brand new house. Her

expensive house was a part of a whole tract of expensive houses, all

with ice dams and leaks. It turned out, after extensive discussion,

that these houses had gas-fired hot air furnaces, well insulated and

vented, in the attics, and were heating up the attic and thus the

roof, creating the ice dams. You can insulate those furnaces but you

cannot insulate against an open gas flame.

Finally, I suggest you call my friend May, who heads up May

Indoor Air Investigations of Tyngsborough, 617-354-1055. He knows a

lot more than I do about mold and other indoor pollutants, and will

have some insight on the mold problem.

[Guest guest]

Nice Jeffery!!

tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote: Home /

Real estate / Real Estate News Handyman on Call

Attic mold removal a high headache

Boston Globe*

By Hotton

February 3, 2008

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2008/02/03/attic_mold_

removal_a_high_headache/?page=1

Q: I am getting a lot of mold in my attic, which contains an air

conditioning unit and hydro air that provides heat and air

conditioning to the house. The mold is extensive, mainly on the roof

sheathing. Two companies have offered to get rid of the mold, one

for $2,000, another for $12,000. One man suggested taking up the

insulation on the floor, which is not moldy. Why would that be

needed, and how in the world could mold removal cost so much and

with such a huge difference? What should I do?

TERRIFIED

more stories like thisA: The $12,000 cost is due to the need to use

protective clothing and taking many precautions while working, plus

the removal of the mold itself, which may be a toxic mold.

See if the $2,000 job will remove the mold, and if so, then you can

do other things. I cannot recommend removing it yourself with bleach

and water if the mold is termed toxic. Even the bleach is toxic. The

man who suggested removing the insulation in the floor may have been

trying to determine if there is a vapor barrier under the

insulation, which would prevent water vapor from going from the

house to the attic.

Make sure there is plenty of ventilation in the attic, which is best

done by installing a ridge vent and soffit vents in the under part

of the roof overhang. If the vents are already there, consider a

power vent to increase the exhausting of water vapor.

But the big culprit, in my opinion, is that air conditioning unit

and hydro air in the attic, which are creating a lot of water vapor,

too much for the venting system to remove, even if they are well

insulated. If this is so, and I think it is, the solution is to

relocate those units to the house with direct venting, or even the

basement, where these things belong. Putting heating and cooling

equipment in attics has become a bad habit of late, and is doing no

one or any house any good at all.

Not long ago I got a call from a homeowner who was having terrible

problems and leaks from ice dams in her brand new house. Her

expensive house was a part of a whole tract of expensive houses, all

with ice dams and leaks. It turned out, after extensive discussion,

that these houses had gas-fired hot air furnaces, well insulated and

vented, in the attics, and were heating up the attic and thus the

roof, creating the ice dams. You can insulate those furnaces but you

cannot insulate against an open gas flame.

Finally, I suggest you call my friend May, who heads up May

Indoor Air Investigations of Tyngsborough, 617-354-1055. He knows a

lot more than I do about mold and other indoor pollutants, and will

have some insight on the mold problem.

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