Re: Mold and Building Materials

[Guest guest]

Joe,

Thanks for posting the link to this article " The Material View of

Mold " - IT IS A MUST READ FOR ALL OF YOU.

<yes, I'm shouting and it is intentional>

Although written by one of the leading building scientists in the

country it is easily readable and very humorous (often sarcastic)

on a serious topic - moisture and mold in buildings. Joe Lstiburek

(pronounced STEE brook) is one of the bright lights who

continues to give me hope that things are changing for the better.

Another article " Lost in the Funhouse " is about Joe Lstiburek's

opinions on a couple of buildings, including this succint

conclusion, " This was incredibly dumb. "

http://www.fastcompany.com/node/641146/print

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

-----

> This short article http://tinyurl.com/63mwzd tells you everything you always

wanted to know about mold and building materials. It was published in the

journal of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning

Engineers, Inc.

> If you are the type of person who likes " happy endings " , don't read it. If

you want to know the truth, you should read it.

>

>

[Guest guest]

This is a great paper..

This ph W. Lstiburek guy has written MORE clearly written, practical

information to help people prevent mold in buildings than ANYBODY else I can

think of..

I totally agree with Carl, this is a MUST READ..

But God..please.. it begs a big question..

It's VERY good that after so many years we are FINALLY realizing that a

substantial percentage of the huge amounts of money we have been saving

since World War II by using these " was wood " and " dry wall " inexpensive

building materials

MUST BE APPLIED TO PROTECTING THEM FROM HUMIDITY AND MOISTURE OR THEY BECOME

DANGEROUS.

But that kind of logic can only be applied to present and future

situations..

As Mr. Lstiburek says:

* " What has been happening over the last

half-century in the construction industry?

As we have moved down the process

stream from timber, board lumber, plywood,

OSB, hardboard, particleboard,

to paper laminates, each step of the

processing has made the products more

water and mold sensitive. Will we stop

this trend? What are the odds of going

back and building out of 1,000-year-old

trees and rocks? Not likely. We have to

come to terms with the fact that the building

materials we use today are far more

mold and water sensitive and are likely to

remain so for the foreseeable future.

Engineered wood products, such as OSB

and I-joists and other composites, are here

to stay. In fact, they are more desirable; as I

believe, they are signifi cantly more environmentally

responsible. We will see a transition

from a hydrocarbon-based economy

to a carbohydrate-based economy. We are

seeing this in the energy sector and I think

we will see this in the materials sector.

Getting our cellulose fi bers in Iowa,

Mississippi and Georgia on plantations

makes a lot more sense than getting them

from the old growth forests in the mountains

of Oregon and Washington. Managed

forests and plantations are the way to go.

However, there are problems with these

cellulose based engineered materials as

the preceding discussion shows.

We must be more careful in how we

use them. They have to be protected better

during the construction process and

the building assemblies these products

are used in must be designed differently.

The microclimates these materials are

exposed to must be different from the microclimates

traditional building materials

were exposed to if they are expected to

last the service life of the building. And,

if they become wet and damaged and

moldy, then soap and water or painting

them over will not do the trick. They

probably must be removed (and removed

carefully), then discarded. The old days of

soap and water are probably gone where

the new stuff is concerned.

The trends are already obvious. Every

window and door opening will have a pan

fl ashing because incidental water is no

longer tolerable with engineered materials.

(Photographs 4 and 5). We have committees

and manufacturers going crazy fi guring

out the best installation practices for

windows and doors. No double vapor barriers

are allowed.† Crawlspaces will need to

be constructed " conditioned " (Photograph

6), or will need to use rigid insulation to

protect OSB-based I-joists and OSB-based

subfl oor sheathing from exterior moisture

(Figure 1). Greenboard in wet areas has

just been banned in the model codes. We

will need to back vent our cabinetry. And,

this is only the beginning.

There will be more. I just don't know

what it will be, but there is always more.

However, if we watch the trends, we

can catch things early. So let's be careful

out there as we move down the road

to sustainability and energy security.

What has sustainability and energy security

got to do with this? Sustainability

means more engineered materials and

more engineering materials will be celluostic-

based, creating more of a mold

risk. Sustainability and energy security

together will mean higher levels of insulation,

and higher levels of insulation mean

lower drying potentials, creating more

of a mold risk. The days of uninsulated

buildings constructed out of 1,000-yearold

trees and rocks are over. " *

........

That is the word on NEW construction..

The trillion dollar question is *-what are we going to DO NOW to RETROFIT

the millions of buildings that ALREADY use " was wood " and " dry wall " in

construction that, for one reason or another, or - as we all know all too

well, because of lapses in maintenance, has not been adequately protected

from moisture?

*

This is a SERIOUS problem! And there isn't any easy solution..

[Guest guest]

I am glad I cought this and that you shouted Carl. I must have missed Joes

original post.

 

Thanks

From: Carl E. Grimes <grimes@...>

Subject: Re: [] Mold and Building Materials

Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008, 5:37 PM

Joe,

Thanks for posting the link to this article " The Material View of

Mold " - IT IS A MUST READ FOR ALL OF YOU.

<yes, I'm shouting and it is intentional>

Although written by one of the leading building scientists in the

country it is easily readable and very humorous (often sarcastic)

on a serious topic - moisture and mold in buildings. Joe Lstiburek

(pronounced STEE brook) is one of the bright lights who

continues to give me hope that things are changing for the better.

Another article " Lost in the Funhouse " is about Joe Lstiburek's

opinions on a couple of buildings, including this succint

conclusion, " This was incredibly dumb. "

http://www.fastcomp any.com/node/ 641146/print

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

-----

> This short article http://tinyurl. com/63mwzd tells you everything you always

wanted to know about mold and building materials. It was published in the

journal of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning

Engineers, Inc.

> If you are the type of person who likes " happy endings " , don't read it. If

you want to know the truth, you should read it.

>

>