Attic Mold Removal Done Right – Don’t Encapsulate Soda Blast Or Use Dry Ice!
Got Attic Mold? Warning: Never Encapsulate/ Paint Dry Ice Blast Or Soda Blast!
When facing an attic mold problem, many homeowners are confronted with the daunting task mold removal of solving a problem far afield of the typical home improvement job. Getting rid of attic mold is not like remodeling a bathroom or kitchen or painting a house. Mold is both dangerous and alive. And when it comes to getting rid of it there is a ton of conflicting information out there.
Many homeowners never even knew there was a toxic evil dwelling right above their heads in their homes gradually consuming the very decking boards that form the roof. In fact over half of the attic mold problem we routinely encounter were only discovered when the homeowner decided it was time to sell their house.
We have seen many, many, home sales fall completely through just because a home inspector discovered mold hiding in the attic area, feeding on the roofing boards. One of the biggest reasons for this is the color of the most common mold that grows in attics north of the Mason-Dixon line is the dreaded color black. Many potential home buyers are scared away by this black mold pigment, thinking that it is “the toxic black mold” the dreaded stachybotrys chartarum. But in fact this is almost never the case. What makes a black mold black is simply the pigment melanin, a harmless pigment found in our skin to protect us from the harmful UV rays produced by the sun. It serves the same purpose in mold. Attic mold is almost never the more deadly black mold as attic mold almost always grows during the winter time as a result of simple heat loss, coupled with inadequate or improperly designed or installed roofing ventilation.
Ventilation Problems: How The Mold Grows
When it gets freezing cold in the winter we turn on our homes heating system. Naturally heat rises, and when we don’t have adequate insulation or when it is too cold to keep up with heat loss, this hot air makes its way into the attic itself. When a roof is ventilated properly, this hot air is channeled out of the attic through what are called out take air vents. These are in the form of box vents, power vents, gable end vents, or ridge vents. In order for the out take air vents to work properly the roof needs an intake air vent system. These vents allow colder air to move through the attic while the hot air is forced out through the outake air vents.
When this does not happen the hot air becomes trapped in the attic and coalesces against th