Moldy moderns Newer, poorly constructed homes more likely to harbor fungus

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Moldy moderns Newer, poorly constructed homes more likely to harbor fungus

Sunday, December 12, 2010 03:01 AM

By Jim Weiker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

_http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/home_garden/stories/2010/12/12/moldy-m

oderns.html_

(http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/home_garden/stories/2010/12/12/moldy-moder\

ns.html)

" When Lori and Nate Lee moved from land to Center five years

ago, they bought the perfect home for their growing family: 2,800 square feet,

four bedrooms and a basement they immediately finished....

....Every home will build up mildew and mold in moist areas such as

bathrooms. Much of it is harmless if regularly cleaned. But some types of mold,

such as stachybotrys, can be serious, especially to children and those with

allergies or respiratory problems such as asthma...

....The clearest evidence of mold is seeing it. Other clues that your home

might have a hidden mold problem include:

• Moisture routinely appears on inside walls or windows.

• Dark water streaks appear on the outside walls of the home, suggesting

black mold behind the wall.

• Screws, electrical receptacles or other metal pieces in the wall are

rusty.

• The home has a musty smell.

• Floors under carpet along exterior walls are damp.

• The home's residents have coughs, watery eyes or sore throats they can't

shake.

Steps to take

• Monitor indoor humidity with a hygrometer. Readings should be below 50

percent in the summer and below 35 percent in the winter.

• Place a dehumidifier in damp areas such as basements.

• Open windows or use exhaust fans when producing moisture in the bathroom

or kitchen.

• Remove carpet in damp areas such as basements.

• Contact a mold inspector or other specialist if mold is visible on

drywall, wood floors or other organic surfaces. Such inspectors aren't

licensed,

so consumers should check their credentials and ask how long they've been

in business and how they've been trained and certified.

• Contact a lawyer if you think you have a legal case against the builder,

but expect to spend in the five figures if you sue....

... " I kept cutting and cutting and cutting, " said Reichman, who has spent

the past month repairing the damage....

....For Reichman, the discovery was all too familiar. He and other builders

and experts say mold plagues some newer central Ohio homes, especially

those built during the housing boom of 1999 to 2006.

" I'm seeing this over and over, " Reichman said. " The time frame when those

homes were built, in that period, five to seven years, will have those

issues. " ...

.... " I've seen it from several builders, " Reichman said. " It's sad to say

that homes built 100 years ago are holding up better, which is upsetting

because we have so much better technology and materials today if we used

them. "

Others agree that mold has become a familiar problem in new homes,

especially those with stucco siding.

" There were not problems like this 35 or 40 years ago, " said Jerry Warner,

the city of Delaware's chief building inspector who helped a Delaware

couple negotiate a mold problem with Dominion Homes.

..... " If I built a house 80 or 100 years ago, I was a true craftsman, " said

Stubbs, who lived in central Ohio before becoming director of facilities

planning and construction for e County Schools in Georgia. " I'd build

one house a year. ... We don't build like that today. We take shortcuts. "

Other explanations for the rise of mold problems in newer homes include:

• Oriented strand board, which became a common sheathing material for

homes about 20 years ago, absorbs and transfers water more readily than

plywood, which was the sheathing of choice for older homes. Even when plywood

is

used today, it is more likely to be three-ply plywood instead of the four-

or five-ply used in earlier homes.

• Stucco is thinner than it used to be, with less cement, and is

frequently poorly installed, with two thin coats instead of three thick ones.

• Many homes built during the housing boom used a paper vapor barrier,

which can be difficult to properly install, instead of Tyvek or other wraps

commonly used in the past few years.

• Newer homes are typically built in empty fields, offering no protection

from wind, rain and sun - especially a problem on western exposures.

• Homes built in the past 20 years tend to be tighter than older homes and

therefore more likely to trap moisture inside if not properly ventilated,

creating what Tom Flood, the president of Air Technology in Hilliard, calls

a " giant petri dish. " This was especially a problem in the 1980s and '90s,

when builders commonly put plastic between the studs and drywall as a

moisture barrier.

.....During the housing boom, homes didn't receive the attention from

swamped inspectors that they might have otherwise. " ....