Black mold on underside of plywood in addition....

Nailbags

Every home built has mold in it period. Ever frame up a house an it rained and got the wood wet? Well guess what that house now has mold in it. people over react to mold to much.

Scottphys

IMO they're not much of an authority on anything. Point well made Maintenance 6.
Regardless, I've found their mold info helpful.

rusty baker

Just like asbestos and lead danger. Overblown.

__________________
"I'm twisted, not sick. Sick implies, I'll get better"
Semi-Retired Installer
Installing since 1973

jasin

This is totally false!

Nailbags

If your going to quote me you better do it in full context and with formidable information. because During the farming job before it is dried in it will rain the wood will get wet. And it will cause mold to grow. Also all wood was a living organism and once it was felled it will start to rot Doug Fir and Hemlock have fungus naturally in the wood fibers that when wet will start the mold to activate. the sap in the wood has sugars in it that help break down the wood when the molds hit it. Would you like more scientific information or are you just going to miss quote me? Now unless you live in the dessert and have zero chances of precipitation then all the home built will have some form of mold in them. I have built homes in the driving rain and having to drill holes in the sub floor to let the water drain out. And I have gone back ad have seen the mold stains in the studs. It is not a problem just people over react to the "mold" it there and there is nothing to worry about.

Scottphys

I've read the same thing; that mold is everywhere. Even if it didn't rain on the construction, mold spores float around outside and could come inside. That's why when you do mold tests, they prefer an indoor sample and an outdoor sample as well.

The key to keep mold growth "at bay" is to maintain less than 55% relative humidity where mold won't be able to survive.

Like everything Preventative Maintenance is important.

Gary in WA

I've been researching bleach/mold. A few points:

Bleach will kill surface mold, but not ingrain mold in lumber because it is organic which inactivates bleach. http://www.toxic-black-mold-info.com/disinfectant.htm

http://www.spore-tech.com/viewCatego...?idCategory=78

Has anyone found any articles to show otherwise? I,d be interested in finding more information on the high-lighted comments above, Thanks, Gary

__________________

jasin

This is Correct.

Maintenance 6

The info in the toxic black mold info link is pretty accurate, but you need to understand what "inactivated by organic matter" means. It means that as the compound does it's job it becomes weaker until it is ineffective. It has little residual "killing power". Would you really want a chemical residue to remain active after it's job is complete? I'm really surprised that alcohol is on the list, since it is never used as a remediation product. In fact alcohol is a by-product of the metabolism of more than one mold specie.

The Spore Tech site is another of the "Mold is Gold" sites out there. A grain of truth, but a lot of BS in between. Example: "OSHA is the first federal agency to announce a departure from the use of chlorine bleach in mold remediation." What does OSHA know or care about killing mold? Their interest is in NOT killing workers. (See previous post).

Here are some links from more reputable sources

http://accessscience.com/studycenter...uestionID=4918

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0...083-1/abstract


Let me also add that unless you are totally familiar with them, you should NEVER use Glutaraldehydes for remediation.

If one reads the fine print on the mold remediation products sold, you'll find that all of them include disclaimers about deep seated mold in porous materials and that they offer no guarentees about their effectiveness. That includes some of the best fungicides out there.

Is bleach the absolute best product out there? No. Do I use it on remediation jobs? Somtimes. Depending on conditions. In highly sensitive places? Yes. It leaves very little in long term chemical residuals.

It is easy to use. Readily available and as effective as most other products. Everybody has a bottle in their laundry room. It is also easy to mis-use. Never exceed 10%.

Maintenance 6

I totally agree with that. If you know where to look, you will find mold. Practically all mold on framing goes dormant after the structure is dried in and never resurfaces as a problem. There is also a ton of misleading information out there about "toxic mold". There is also a lot of misconceptions about mold spores. Mold spores are everywhere. Unless you are living in a clean room, the last breath you took included more than a few. I once saw a worker screw up an air clearance sample when he ate his lunch on a jobsite. He sprinkled ranch dressing on a salad near an air pump and drove the spore counts up. Want a real dose of spores, open a loaf of moldy bread in your kitchen. And bread molds produce some of the nastiest by-products. I never once heard of anyone who died from breathing moldy bread. That's not to say that it's safe to be exposed to overwhelming spore loads or mycotoxins, or to say that some molds don't produce really nasty things. After all, Anthrax is a mold by-product. Common molds in buildings don't make anything close to that.

jasin

There is no reason a new house should have mold in it unless its built wrong. The fact that New products off the shelf do not have mold on them is proof of that. Lowes, home depot, etc. cannot purposely sell stuff with mold on it. It would be a liability and they would lose business.

Maintenance 6

I can pretty much guaranty that I could find mold somewhere in practically any house. It's a fact of life. Most of it can be there for years and never cause any problem, but it's still there. The first place I would look is under the kitchen sink, then in the vanity and after that, the laundry room. And that's not taking into consideration anything that happened during construction and left some dormant colonies however small.

jasin

This is good info

jasin

I am glad I do not live where you work because the contractor who's building and/or remolding these houses is clearly not doing it right.