Attic Mould

The Latest ‘Silver Bullet’ Solution for Your Attic Mould:

The mould remediation industry is filled with new and inexpensive ways to treat your attic mould. There are dozens do-it-yourself products on the market and at your local big-box store. The manufacturers of these products insist that they will work wonders.

Products that promise to remove mould instantly. Some that are touted as being environmentally friendly. Others that promise to crush mould spores at the roots, and many more new and wonderful products that appear on a regular basis. These latest “silver bullet” products tell you that your troubles are now over.

Do These Products Save You From Mould?

A lot of these methods fail because they treat the symptoms, not the problem.

I have had homeowners ask me “can you guarantee the mould won’t come back?” Well, the answer in most cases would be “no”. The reason behind this is that if someone does not identify the reason that you have a mould problem and put in place a plan to deal with the root cause, not the symptoms, then the mould will come back no matter how many gallons of the product you buy.

Imagine that you are allergic to cats. All five of them that you have in your home. You often have difficulty breathing. So what do you do? You go to your family doctor who gives you a prescription for two types of puffers to clear up your airways. Can you seriously expect the doctor to guarantee you won’t have any breathing problems? We both know the answer to this question. The answer is “no”. No one can guarantee that you won’t have breathing issues until you get rid of your five cats.

Mould remediation is much the same. Until you deal with the cause of your symptoms, your problem will keep coming back, to the joy of the company selling you the “silver bullet” products.

How it Should be Done

The recommended protocols in all cases are physical removal of the mould growth. This includes: wire brushing, HEPA sanding, dry ice blasting, HEPA vacuuming, and damp wiping. There is a lot of physical work and or equipment requirements. Only after the mould is removed should any type of topical compound be applied. This process is never cheap and out of the skill and/or equipment set of the average home owner.

Using the dry-ice blasting technique is a fast and effective way to ensure that all the mould growth is removed. Although the costs are not minimal it reduces the labour and the time to process the job. Additionally it can be done in the summertime as the frozen carbon dioxide reduces the air temperature inside the attic during the process. Attic temperatures during the summer time can reach between 150 degrees and 160 degrees F. At these temperatures there is an extreme risk to the health and safety of workers, especially considering that they have to be in protective clothing, impermeable gloves and wear face masks. The breaks between uptime become greater as the attic temperature rises, therefore extending the labour costs of the job.

What About the Root Cause?

Even removing mould according to the proper procedures will not guarantee that the mould will not come back. This is why it is even more important to find out the root cause and deal with that in conjunction with the mould removal.

If I had to sort these two individual components in order of priority I would put root cause analysis and correction first and remediation second. Here is why I take that position.

If you take care of the root cause and put in place corrective action, the humidity in the attic will no longer be a problem, the existing mould will run out of moisture will either go dormant and die, or will go into hibernation. No new mould growth will occur.

However if you remove the mould only, you have not dealt with the root cause. This means that even though the mould that you saw is gone, new mould spores will find an environment that suits their needs for germination and will start growing, re-seeding, and spreading.

Ideally I would perform mould remediation in conjunction with the root cause analysis/corrective action, for a complete job, however if I had to pick one over the other I would say the cause is more important than the symptoms.

The other reason I say this, especially with regards to an attic environment is that it is open to the outside and usually closed to the inside which means the air in your attic, along with the mould spores, gets exhausted outside. This means that it does not usually impact the indoor air quality as it is growing outside of the living envelope.

Things to Watch Out For

There are a number of mould remediation contractors who focus on treating or removing the mould. But of course, this is worthless without addressing the underlying cause.

One of the places that this occurs frequently is in attic mould remediation scenarios. The homeowner is told that the contractor will apply magic potion #10 on the attic sheathing and the mould will go away. Yes, magically the mould seems to disappear.

What you need to know is that a lot of these spray-on solutions are either bleach or peroxide based products which “bleach” the colour out of the mould and make it look like it disappeared. If you put peroxide on your hair, is it going to disappear or will you end up being a blonde? See the similarity here?

So you sign a contract for what appears to be a really good price for your mould remediation; the contractor goes up in the attic with his sprayer and extension cord, then comes down 1 hour later and tells you that within a few hours all the mould will be gone.

There are two problems with this method.

Firstly the mould is still there. Yes some if it might have died, but all the parts of the mould roots, stems and spores are there.

Secondly, the contractor did not look for the cause of the mould in order to address the mould on a more permanent basis.

A good contractor will spend the time on investigative and analysis work, including checking humidity levels, proper ventilation provisions, proper vapour barrier installation and proper kitchen, bathroom and laundry venting provisions in order to be able to address the cause.

A good contractor knows that if he or she does not get to the root cause, you will just be throwing your money away, again, and again, and again.

The Right Way to Treat Attic Mould

Identify the moisture problem. That is paramount. The cause of the excessive moisture and/or humidity must be clearly identified. In most cases, this is due to one or more of the following factors:

• Poorly connected exhaust fan

• Blocked soffits
• Blocked roof vents
• Unbalanced roof and soffit vent setups
• Poor vapour blocking from home to attic
• Leaking roof
• Ice damming
• Pot lights improperly installed

Remediate the mould properly in accordance with the appropriate mould remediation protocols and guidelines as well as correcting the root cause of the mould problem at the same time, before, or immediately after.

You end up with the mould being gone, with little to no risk of a reoccurance.

If you wish some information or assistance with your attic mould problem, contact MouldMedic® today.