Attic Mold, any suggestions welcome

[bears12th]

Hey all,

Has anyone had any attic mold issues due to ventilation, not moisture (leakage) before on the underside of their roofs and joists? I am thinking about getting some quotes and having it professionally taken care of (I am guessing 2K for a cleaning and layer of mold resistant paint-like material). I am also thinking about doing it myself, of course, more hours but less money. I need to have this done right the first time, no questions, which is why I am considering doing this on my own.

Anybody with experience with this, who wants to to give me the basics of what they went through, would they do it again themselves, and what materials have been used in the past with performance reviews of those products, would be much appreciated. On top of the mold removal issue, I will be installing attic fans as well, not a big deal and fixing the bathroom ventilation system that was improperly installed from previous owner (I think this is what caused the issue). Any suggestions on the mold removal would be very helpful and much appreciated.

Thanks all, so looking forward to cool air outside and warmth and mold-free attic inside. I need November in the worst way. Ha.


Thanks,

Bears12th

 

[bears12th]

I guess that brings up a 2nd question...

Who recommends mold removal before attic fans and bathroom venting solutions implemented. I was thinking mold first then fans, but what was mentioned by Sawdust makes sense.

Thanks Saw.

B12

 

[bostonbaked]

You can use a pump up garden sprayer. Mix water and bleach I ( think) 1 part bleach to 5 parts water is the right ratio. But you can find that out easy enough. Spray lightly and wipe it down, it will kill the mold. Lay down cheep tarps to protect your insulation from getting wet. Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate is the fix. If bath fan is dumping in the attic that's more than likely the cause as already stated. Home Depot and Lowes sell soffet vents you can install with a hole saw in the soffet one centered in between each set of roof rafters. Done from outside the house They come in different diameters in a multi-pack.

 

[taxidermist]

I had the same problem from bathroom fans and all I did was spray it with bleach and water and wipe it clean. Messy but well worth it when they wanted to rip my roof off and soda blast everything to a toon of 25 thousand dollars. Wear old clothes and a mask and get to work.


Rob

 

[Highbeam]

I just did a lot of attic work including putting in new bathroom fans, changed my range hood fan from dumping into the attic to dumping to the outside, added insulation baffles to each soffit to allow a free path for ventilation from the soffit vents to the new ridge vent, and then I replaced every one of the soffit vents with new coarser screens to replace the fine and plugged up old ones, and finally I air sealed every silly little hole where wiring or a light fixture could allow heated air into the attic.

I didn't have a mold problem but I don't want one either. My improvements were to prepare for a new thick layer of insulation to be blown in and since it would be much harder to fix these things with 18" of fluff in there.

Due to the relative simplicity of properly venting out the attic and fixing the bathroom fan I would start there. Really that is causing the mold so start with the cause. Seems silly to remove the mold when you still have a mold causing environment.

Then for good measure, dose the mold with bleach. I don't think I would bother with trying to wipe it clean or remove it but just kill it with a chemical and it will go away.

I hope to be the guy with the house that has snow on his roof long after everyone else's has melted off. Good ventilation and good insulation will be the path. I've got a continuous ridge vent, gable vents on every gable, and boxed in soffit with soffit vents. I don't see a need for forced ventilation of the attic space and neither do the building codes.