Attic Mold

Glad you are getting it figured out with your lanlord. But, yes the trees probalby don't help either to keep it dried out.

Also, I believe some shingle warranties require proper ventilation under the roof.

Just a couple more cents worth... amazing you have a landlord that's willing to make repairs. I spent 4 days fixing the flat roof here and it was like pulling teeth just to get my landlord to pay for the materials. I'm glad it's holding so far and my shop does not smell musty anymore.

Watching This Old House I learned that gable vents can be ineffective, but I guess it's better to let some cross ventilation go through than nothing. Ideal setup , as already mentioned here, is to get the airflow from soffit vents evenly up to the ridge vent. Also saw mold remediation using dry ice blasting on that show!

If you were not getting a new roof, I would recommend using a pump sprayer to kill the mold. Anything with ammonium chloride works great. I got a product called Odo-Ban at Home Depot; also have a professional product called Milgo Plus.

Good luck!

It all depends on what type of venting you have in the attic, if you have different vents (ridge, gable, turbines, soffit, fan, etc..), they can actually counter act each other and you won't get the proper ventilation.

It can come in the gable and go right out the ridge or other vents and NOT pull the proper airflow up and out from the soffits.

I saw that episode about the Dry Ice at high pressure to remove the mold and not cause any damage....

Dann757 wrote:Just a couple more cents worth... amazing you have a landlord that's willing to make repairs. I spent 4 days fixing the flat roof here and it was like pulling teeth just to get my landlord to pay for the materials. I'm glad it's holding so far and my shop does not smell musty anymore.

Watching This Old House I learned that gable vents can be ineffective, but I guess it's better to let some cross ventilation go through than nothing. Ideal setup , as already mentioned here, is to get the airflow from soffit vents evenly up to the ridge vent. Also saw mold remediation using dry ice blasting on that show!

If you were not getting a new roof, I would recommend using a pump sprayer to kill the mold. Anything with ammonium chloride works great. I got a product called Odo-Ban at Home Depot; also have a professional product called Milgo Plus.

Good luck!

I'm EXTREMELY blessed to have a great landlord. He's actually Amish and has his own construction business, so putting on a roof is not an issue for him. He and I have had a great relationship over the years because I have always treated this house as if it was my very own. We make repairs on anything $100.00 or less. In exchange for that, I get to pay a really low monthly rent and I get to use the outbuildings, have my garden, raise chickens, etc.
I'm sure that he'll do a good job with the roof. I'm also going to recommend to him that he take out at least one of those trees in the front of the house. I think that would make a difference to some degree.

Hope everyone's having a great week. Only two more days to go!!

Sounds like a good relationship you have with him. And yes, losing some of that tree coverage will help 100%

I understand the roof may need repairs, but lets consider the reason moisture is forming. The same principle happens on a single pane window, cold air on one side and warm air on the other.....bamm condensation. Put a piece of foil or plastic against a wall that is not insulated and has no VAPOR barrier, and water will condense on the foil or plastic. The moisture is air born when warm and gets heavy and forms on the surface when cooled, so the towel you are using really isn't stopping much. Plastic sheeting will do a much better job and the ceilings may need to be dropped and a vapor barrier installed on the warm sides of the ceilings, meaning the living sides of the rafters and the same principles aply for any walls that need the same. If the ceilings can't be dropped you may be able to install foil faced rigid foam between the joists in the attic and seal the edges with either expanding foam or a sliconized caulking and add 12-18 inches of blown in insulation or criss cross a couple layers of r-19 insulation. good luck friend.

I ran into this about 30 years ago, bear with me.
we had a similar situation with condensate building up on the underside of the roof so badly it was raining in the attic. The problem is that you did not install a vapor barrier between the heated section and the insulation. The attic is colder now due to the insulation which is why you are getting condensate and mold.

Rake up the insulation, roll out some 6 mil polyethylene sheeting, and push the insulation back over top of the poly. No more condensate, no moisture = no mold. The poly will hold the moisture down, and the insulation will keep the poly from getting cold enough to create condensate, and the attic will be dry enough to dehydrate the mold.

Good luck, feel free to Email me if you need to.

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