Old mold...new mold

jackbonham

I am considering the purchase of an old frame home (1912) that the inspection report says has mold on some of the floor joists over a crawl. The house sat for some time without heat or A/C and there is no vapor barrier in the crawl. The house has been totally brought up to snuff and is in great condition expect for this aspect and a few others. I believe, now that the downspouts are working properly, the HVAC is on, and with the addition of vapor barrier and perhaps a dehumidifier that the mold problem should be alleviated.

Question - although I'm comfortable that I can kill the mold with a bleach solution, I'm worried that I will have trouble actually removing it from the old rough joists so that when I sell the house in a few years, the inspector will be able to tell that it is dead. Does this make sense? Can you tell old dead mold from new live mold??

Thanks.
Jack

itsreallyconc

an ' old frame home ' is expected to have developed a few blemishes over the years just as we humans do,,, if it were mine, i wouldn't create/conjure problems where none exist.

Just Bill

I would tend to agree, mold can be be a problem, but mold spores are everywhere and there is nothing we can do about that. Reducing the conditions that allow it to grow can go a long way to getting rid ot it. Lay 6 mil poly in that crawl space, including up the side walls, will reduce the problem considerably. That is something that should have been done regardless of other conditions.