Mold malady miffs reader
Q. We bought an older Cape Cod brick home with a finished basement, which appeared dry. Not one inspection revealed water, but within a week of moving in, we spotted water in the basement from the front corner of the house. During rain last April, it literally poured down the walls on the north side of the house. We have since put up new gutters and leaders and graded the foundation with dirt, large rocks and plants. The water seems to begin in the front corner of the house. This past weekend, we had a heavy storm, and the water came in from that front corner and ran to the left and right of the corner. I decided to get a plumber and have a sump pump installed. Upon his inspection, he found mold behind the wall. What do we do now? Will the sump pump even solve the problem? I contacted SERVPRO, and the cleanup would be thousands of dollars that we don't have. What do we do? Please help, as teachers we don't have the money. We also have two young children - are they in any danger from this?
A. Did the plumber open up that wall, or is it accessible from the back? He or she did you a favor, as extensive mold can be a health hazard. Calling a firm that specializes in cleaning mold is likely to result in a high-priced self-recommendation. It is best to have someone who doesn't promote their services advise you - like your health department or an environmental engineering firm. If the mold is not too extensive, it may simply be possible to get rid of it by washing the affected area with bleach or Oxi-Boost, a sodium percarbonate that is harmless to use and to the environment and very effective. You can buy it from Natural Choices, (866) 699-2667. Don't take any chances with the health of your two young children. Although, if they haven't experienced any symptoms, they may either not be sensitive to it, or the mold may not be a serious problem.
When you write that no inspection revealed water, do you mean you had a professional inspection done and the inspector didn't see any sign of past leakage? If so, either he or she didn't do a thorough job or the sellers recently painted to hide the problem. If you did not have a professional inspection done by a person certified by a credible national association, let that be a lesson for the future. You should have been given a property disclosure form when you bought the house, and if that document doesn't mention that there had been leakage in the past, you have a case against the sellers. If you bought the house through a real-estate broker, call him or her and discuss your options; he or she should be most willing to help you, as the sellers may have also deceived the broker. You may be able to recover the cost of remediation from the sellers.
Q. I recently built a house using closed-cell, spray-foam insulation. I have a space over the garage that has this insulation, and I want to use it for an exercise room. Can I leave the insulation as is? Or should I paint it, cover it with Sheetrock? I am more concerned about health while using the room.
A. Once it has cured, closed-cell polyurethane insulation should not present a health hazard, but how long this curing takes is a question I can't answer. However, you should cover it for fire protection.
Q. We have a house in Vermont on Lake Champlain built in 1995 with plantation mahogany wood clapboard siding. We have noticed areas on the exterior walls (mostly north facing or shaded) developing black spots and discoloration, which we presume to be mildew or mold. The house was stained about four or five years ago with a Cabot semitransparent product. Except for these spots, it seems to be in very good shape with color and coverage. What is the best way to remove these spots in an environmentally safe fashion? Do you recommend a chlorine-bleach solution? I have read about "oxygen bleach" (sodium percarbonate, I believe) and wondered about your opinion. Thank you very much for any advice you might be able to give us.
A. Sodium percarbonate is an excellent choice for cleaning siding and decks. It is harmless as it breaks down into natural sodium ash or borax after the oxygen is released. Oxi-Boost, marketed by Natural Choices (866) 699-2667, is an ultra-concentrated form of sodium percarbonate, as is Shout Oxy Power, marketed by SC Johnson. Oxiclean by Orange Glo International, (800) 781-7529, or Clorox Oxygen Action by the Clorox Corp. are concentrated oxygen bleaches, and less effective.
Q. I look forward to reading your column in the Sunday edition of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review each week. I have a ranch - built in 1979 - with two adjacent bathrooms. The main bathroom has a fiberglass tub/shower in it, and the master bathroom has a shower. Both units are fitted with a fiberglass cap and a recessed light in each. The area above the caps is open to the attic with the standard insulation rolled over and attached to the ceiling joists, which are about 1-1/2 feet above the caps. The underside of the roofing plywood and rafters directly above the bathrooms is a discolored black. My guess is that it is from the moisture escaping into the attic area and/or condensation from the warm caps meeting cold attic air. It accumulates there providing a breeding ground for mildew. How do I stop this?
My original idea was to extend the plasterboard ceiling over top of the caps, since the bathroom ceiling stops at the tub and shower unit. Would moisture be trapped in this space, creating another problem? Would this cause the recessed lights to overheat? Should I reinforce and increase the fiberglass insulation that runs over the caps? The recessed lights use incandescent bulbs and have a textured glass cover held by a trim bezel. Would insulating this assembly to make it more moisture-proof help? Short of ripping the shower and bath units out and starting over, what would you recommend?
A. You are right. Moisture bypasses the caps and the plasterboard ceiling since it is not continuous over the caps. What I am not clear about is where is the plasterboard ceiling? Is it fastened to the ceiling joists that are 11/2 feet above the caps, or is it fastened to some lower framing and does it butt against the caps? In the latter situation, you could try caulking the joints of the drywall ceiling and the caps, using a nondrying caulk such as Sikaflex-1a. Do not caulk the bezel of the light fixtures, as you would not be able to remove it without causing irreparable damage. If it's possible without preventing it from fitting tightly against the fiberglass ceiling, try putting backer rod behind it. You can get Sikaflex-1a and backer-rod material from any of the A.H. Harris stores. Unfortunately, they do not have stores in Pennsylvania, but you can find the closest one on their Web site, www.ahharris.com, and call to order the material you need. If the drywall is fastened to the ceiling joists, the best way to deal with this problem is to carry the drywall over the caps, tape and paint it with B-I-N as a vapor retarder - if, as you indicate, it is possible to do so. If I misunderstood the setup, and you care to discuss it in greater details, please write again.
• Henri de Marne's column appears Sundays. He was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via e-mail at henridemarne@gmavt.net.
© 2009, United Feature Syndicate Inc.