How to get rid of attic mold and prevent it's re-growth: this article gives advice on how to find and deal with mold in building attics and roof cavities.

This procedure helps identify the presence of or locate the probable sources of mold reservoirs in buildings, and helps decide which of these need more invasive, exhaustive inspection and testing.

ATTIC MOLD When to Media Blast and Use Encapsulants in Attics

Is there ever a time when the fungicide, blasting, encapsulation method should not be used?

Toxic attic mold: The photo at the left was identified as a toxic mold that probably should be removed, although the ease of movement of mold spores from an attic down into a living area varies widely from building to building.

Uncertain attic mold: The photo at the very top of this page shows where you may find mold growing on the attic side of ceiling drywall, particularly below roof leaks or in areas of ice dam leaks at a building eaves.

In addition to testing to see what this material is (presuming there is a large area of it), we'd also evaluate the chances of particle movement between the attic and the living space before deciding on an appropriate approach to this moldy attic.

Using media blasting and encapsulants to remove mold in an attic are mold remediation methods which are probably inappropriate for small areas, say less than 30 sq.ft. of contiguous mold, and would otherwise certainly not be used without very good particle and dust containment measures.

If we had a moldy attic area where containment were impossible or impractical, other measures may be needed such as careful piece-meal demolition using negative air conditions in the attic and without passing moldy demolition materials unprotected through other building areas (double bagging, exit through a containment door, or disposal through an opening in a roof or attic gable end wall for example).

If a large area of toxic or allergenic attic mold is found on attic surfaces such as roof sheathing and or rafters, or on the surfaces of the attic floor or floor joists, media blasting may be a rapid and economical cleaning method to remove problem mold provided:

• Proper particle and dust containment can be set up to protect the rest of the building from cross contamination during the media blasting cleaning process
• Insulation that has been exposed to mold or which would be exposed to dust from media blasting has been removed.
• Be sure to review INSULATION MOLD CONTAMINATION TEST.

This article is part of our series: MOLD in BUILDINGS which describes how to find mold and test for mold in buildings including building attics or other building roof cavities.

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Continue reading at ATTIC MOLD or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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• ATTIC MOLD, HARMLESS COSMETIC?
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• ATTIC MOLD ENCAPSULANTS
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ATTIC MOLD ENCAPSULANTS at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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