Attic mold

1956 Views 81 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Midnight Rider, 3 mo ago

Rollin Hand

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Just found out today that our attic has mold in it. Anyone had to deal with this sparkling, wonderful experience?

I have a feeling that some insulation company is going to put me over the barrel with having the common decency to buy me dinner first.

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Rollin Hand

Discussion Starter · #41 · 3 mo ago

There is ventilation, visible in the picture I posted, but it is not sufficient. Our situation is not anywhere near as bad as the mold infestation in your pictures.

I'll post another for good measure.

Wood Flooring Gas Bedrock Concrete

Wood Wall Tints and shades Landscape Font

Note the visible single-width styrovents in both pics.

As a moderate to severe asthmatic, I am not being cavalier about this. Both Mark Brown and Adcandour have a lot of experience in this, and I do trust their informed opinions.

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Mark Brown

· #42 · 3 mo ago

Not to sound like an idiot either, there are instances in which it is IMPERATIVE to get that shit under control and fast and now and you very far away. It can be a very serious health hazard

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Adcandour

· #43 · 3 mo ago

Steadfastly said:
I was surprised that the picture shows the roof sheathing is OSB (chip board in the Maritimes). I would never build a house with that as it gets soft over time. I wonder if that is more susceptible to mold than plywood.

OSB is waaaay worse since the glue swells and delaminates. the stuff is garbage.

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Adcandour

· #44 · 3 mo ago

Ship of fools said:
View attachment 471683
The very first thing I would extremely recommend is to get your kids somewhere else. I will not comment on some of the stupid posts. But I can tell you that it is black mold that probably caused my Pulmonary Fibrosis.
I can tell you why your attic is like it is I can see no ventilation on the end runs bringing fresh air into the attic so moisture builds up and then the sun cooks the air inside causing those little buggers to grow and they will grow fast and furious without fresh air.
And do not be even slightly surprised that almost all companies are going to recommend a new roof, particle board may not be able to get cleaned from mold and may hold other types of mold that you may not see.
And we haven't heard what might be hiding under the insulation that is there now.
I wish I can give you some comfort in that this is going to be okay but abatement is not a cheap especially in the roof area.
But as I said you need to get your kids out of there mold is a very serious thing and contrary to what was suggested mold will travel to other parts of your home if it is even slightly moved and what house doesn't move, all houses shake to some degree.
View attachment 471685

sorry ship, but your reply is way out there and doesn't apply to this type of issue. misinformation and fear mongering is what allows contractors to take advantage of people.

im only saying this, so you don't spread this information when you're not a professional. you're being way too confident when you shouldn't be while insulting others to make yourself seem more knowledgeable. theres a lot more involved.

also, whoever did your work, didn't do it right.

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Rollin Hand

Discussion Starter · #45 · 3 mo ago

Adcandour said:
OSB is waaaay worse since the glue swells and delaminates. the stuff is garbage.

....but it's used as sheeting in most of the houses made for the last 45 years or so. That means we have to deal with it.

We did a teardown of a buddy's kitchen for a reno. His hose was very old. The exterior sheeting, which was visible because there was no insulation at all, was 1x14 or so lumber. Looooong boards.

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Adcandour

· #46 · 3 mo ago

Rollin Hand said:
If killing the mold is needed, I don't mind fogging -- again, since the mold apparently doesn't come in, the dead particles should get launched out the roof vents.

Have fun at Spaceman. They often have some cool stuff.

just don't pay for fogging. it just doesn't do what people think it does
I used it for very specific things and didn't charge anyone for it.

Adcandour

· #47 · 3 mo ago

Rollin Hand said:
....but it's used as sheeting in most of the houses made for the last 45 years or so. That means we have to deal with it.

We did a teardown of a buddy's kitchen for a reno. His hose was very old. The exterior sheeting, which was visible because there was no insulation at all, was 1x14 or so lumber. Looooong boards.

yeah, definitely. at least it isn't tintest, lol. thats a shitshow

Steadfastly

· #48 · 3 mo ago

Adcandour said:
OSB is waaaay worse since the glue swells and delaminates. the stuff is garbage.

I am surprised the building code allows it. If I was looking ata house to buy and it had OSB anywhere, I wouldn't buy it unless the price was dropped in the amount it would take to replace it.

It not only delaminates and gets soft but if you ever got raccoons in your attic and it does happen. they will eat it as they like the glue. Someone built an outhouse at our old hunting camp out of OSB and the racoons ate it.

Mark Brown

· #49 · 3 mo ago

Steadfastly said:
I am surprised the building code allows it. If I was looking ata house to buy and it had OSB anywhere, I wouldn't buy it unless the price was dropped in the amount it would take to replace it.

It not only delaminates and gets soft but if you ever got raccoons in your attic and it does happen. they will eat it as they like the glue. Someone built an outhouse at our old hunting camp out of OSB and the racoons ate it.

I hate to break it to you man, but just about every house since 1970 odd something has osb everywhere. It is a perfectly fine building material. It is no more prone to issues than Plywood.

The irony in your statement is that osb will not and cannot delaminate, it is not possible. It will swell, but it is rated and reacts the same in the sense of structural loss to moisture as plywood does. Plywood will swell and delaminate when exposed to extreme moisture conditions, where as at least OSB will remain structurally sound, even if it does lose a lot of its holding power.

I hate osb too, but for no good reason. It is in every way (technically speaking) a better material than plywood for sheathing.

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JBFairthorne

· #50 · 3 mo ago

Mark Brown said:
I hate to break it to you man, but just about every house since 1970 odd something has osb everywhere. It is a perfectly fine building material. It is no more prone to issues than Plywood.

The irony in your statement is that osb will not and cannot delaminate, it is not possible. It will swell, but it is rated and reacts the same in the sense of structural loss to moisture as plywood does. Plywood will swell and delaminate when exposed to extreme moisture conditions, where as at least OSB will remain structurally sound, even if it does lose a lot of its holding power.

I hate osb too, but for no good reason. It is in every way (technically speaking) a better material than plywood for sheathing.

With respect, regarding OSB being the same as plywood in a roof sheeting application…you don’t know wtf you’re talking about. I’ve been on roofs for 30 years and made the repairs. Roofs leak eventually, particularly at any vent, flashing, valley or roof/wall transition, and osb becomes porous, rots and leaks 3-4 times faster than plywood. It literally starts to turn into powder/sawdust. It’s garbage disguised as wood. I would only use it in a project that I didn’t t give a damn about quality and just wanted to minimize costs….the kind of project I would garbologize half the materials to save as much as possible.

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Mark Brown

· #51 · 3 mo ago

JBFairthorne said:
With respect, regarding OSB being the same as plywood in a roof sheeting application…you don’t know wtf you’re talking about. I’ve been on roofs for 30 years and made the repairs. Roofs leak eventually, particularly at any vent, flashing, valley or roof/wall transition, and osb becomes porous, rots and leaks 3-4 times faster than plywood. It literally starts to turn into powder/sawdust. It’s garbage disguised as wood. I would only use it in a project that I didn’t t give a damn about quality and just wanted to minimize costs….the kind of project I would garbologize half the materials to save as much as possible.

Thank you for educating me on a building material I utilize every day. I appreciate your approach too that is directed at the fact that I do not know what I am talking about. Maybe some time we could talk about my qualifications

Neither exterior rated plywood or osb will withstand being subjected to continuous and repeated moisture, they fail at about the same rate too.

See, the difference between us is that my information is not anecdotal

Choosing Between Oriented Strandboard and Plywood - Building and Construction Technology - UMass Amherst

Please note: This older article by our former faculty member remains available on our site for archival purposes. Some information contained in it may be outdated. Manufacturers of oriented strandboard and plywood claim both products work well. But using panels made of wood chips makes some...

bct.eco.umass.edu

.

And if you really want to get deep into the weeds, I suggest getting educated from the available material from the APA.

Home - APA – The Engineered Wood Association

APA: The leading resource for information about engineered wood products and their applications

www.apawood.org

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JBFairthorne

· #52 · 3 mo ago

No offence intended, but I’ve stripped the shingles and crumbled the rotten osb in my hands.

Adcandour

· #53 · 3 mo ago

gotta admit thats pretty surprising. obviously, my experience doesn't allow for side by side comparison, but thats shocking. I would swear that I can put my hand through OSB, but never be able to put it through a piece of water damaged plywood. but, I have no way of.knowing exactly how much water the materials were subjected to.

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Mark Brown

· #54 · 3 mo ago

and I have removed entire interior plywood floors of peoples houses because they have been exposed to water and have rotted, same with osb.

Neither material is intended to withstand extended periods of moisture or being "wet" they will both fail at the same rate. The one difference is that plywood will appear to be structurally sound because it is a continuous layer however when subjected to stress it will deteriorate the same.

If we are being honest, I hate osb too... but only because I am a stubborn old grump and have experienced the same conditions you have where people use the incorrect material in the incorrect application and leave behind nothing but their mess. Exposure rated panels will perform the same in either material. It is like hating Solid State amps "just because".

I wouldn't be extremely surprised if the panels you encounter that have that much rot are either improperly classified, outside classification or are simply just beyond their lifespan.

Not to mention there have been some extreme examples of poor material controls existent on OSB panels in the past. I would never buy a panel that was not listed and stamped as APA Exterior class for a roof, in my experience that would be stupid, but the same can be said of a plywood panel. Building code requires Class 1 exposure rated panels if I am not mistaken for all sheathing, but on a roof, forget that. Minimums exist for a reason. There is no maximum.

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Mark Brown

· #55 · 3 mo ago

Here are some shining examples of the difference from around my own property. Full disclosure, the shed roof is done in exterior grade plywood 🤣

Leaf Wood Road surface Grass Asphalt

That right there is the open edge of a 28.5mm osb panel I use for my generator hut, hut is being polite. It is nothing more than 3 leaky walls, non sealing doors and is wet any time there is rain. More often than not the doors "protecting" that edge are blown wide open because of the wind and rain pisses in there non stop. That sheet is over 8 years old. It is exterior exposure rated. Note that it is slightly disformed but not really and you can see the slightest of voids more or less centre frame where moisture has causes some material compromise. Also of note is the mold present on the facing piece of lumber. This is a good indication of the amount of wet and humidity it is exposed to.

Brown Wood Flooring Art Pattern

That is from the interior of my shed. It is an uncontrolled space as far as climate is concerned, but it is protected from the elements so those panels look the same as the day I nailed them up. Exposure I rating. Nothing to see here.

Now this, this is a real shocker.

Brown Wood Rectangle Beige Wood stain

Those are garbage panels of Exposure I panels that I put on the side of my shed where I house fire wood. They were placed there also 8 years ago with the intention of having to replace them soon enough, but they would protect the sheathing behind the moisture barrier and not have me clad a structure in expensive cedar, seen to the left, that was designed to have firewood piled and thrown at it all year long. You can see in the image the white board, and to the left of it the cedar siding. These panels get soaked, there is a roof that ends just at that timber line. They are softening, I will say that, but they have been exposed to rain, heat, rain, more rain, some water, rain, wood, rain and baked all summer long. Now, if I hung a plywood panel there, I suspect it would perform just about the same, but no better. In fact, I would expect it would be delaminating from the extreme heat that structure gets in the summer.

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JBFairthorne

· #56 · 3 mo ago

BIG difference between walls and a roof. As I specified in my original comment, I was strictly discussing its use in a roof sheeting application. Also, a huge factor is the difference in the weather associated with our VERY different climates. You’re in BC right?

Mark Brown

· #57 · 3 mo ago

JBFairthorne said:
BIG difference between walls and a roof. As I specified in my original comment, I was strictly discussing its use in a roof sheeting application. Also, a huge factor is the difference in the weather associated with our VERY different climates. You’re in BC right?

you mean where it is wet 110% of the time? Yes. I have spent extensive time in Calgary, Saskatoon, Halifax..... the statement still stays the same.

I would also point out that while there are extreme differences in a roof and a wall, there is no difference in a floor and a roof when exposed outside, beyond their elevation and that exposed edge panel is in pristine condition. There is only one excuse for that.

JBFairthorne

· #58 · 3 mo ago

I could point out the differences between a floor application and a roof sheeting application but there’s no point in trying to continue to compare apples and oranges. At the end of the day I’ll stick with my lifetime of experience in pretty much the only job I’ve ever had, regarding my one small part of all the possible applications for this product. I know what I’m using for any roof I deal with. You do you buddy. No hard feelings. Sincerely.

Mark Brown

· #59 · 3 mo ago

JBFairthorne said:
I could point out the differences between a floor application and a roof sheeting application but there’s no point in trying to continue to compare apples and oranges. At the end of the day I’ll stick with my lifetime of experience in pretty much the only job I’ve ever had, regarding my one small part of all the possible applications for this product. I know what I’m using for any roof I deal with. You do you buddy. No hard feelings. Sincerely.

Oh there is plywood on my roof too.

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Steadfastly

· #60 · 3 mo ago

Mark Brown said:
Neither exterior rated plywood or osb will withstand being subjected to continuous and repeated moisture, they fail at about the same rate too.

You can give me whatever numbers you want on OSB but for roofs and floors it is highly inferior. It is strong standing vertically but not horizontally. Plywood totally outperforms it in those situations.

My wife and I looked at buying a house a month or so ago in northern Ontario. The owner did some nice looking renovations but had no idea about building things properly. He use OSB on the floor which wasn't that old and was already going soft. I've used it on a shed I built several years ago because I just wanted something cheap at the time and in no time the floor was sagging as I knew it would. Just lifting it with a guy on each end and you can see it doesn't have the strength of plywood.

Use it for wall sheathing but keep it off the roof and floor.

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