January 16th, 2025 Update:  

Ice Dams, Water Intrusion in Walls & Attic Ceiling Mold Growth

When there is an unusually cold winter and frequent heavy snow falls many homes will get severe ice build-up on their roofs. When the snow on our roof melts, or if it rains, water will dam-up above the ice build-up along the gutters. If the roof doesn't have a good quality ice-damming membrane material installed under the shingles this water will penetrate to the roofing sheathing below and also pool inside the soffits. The water will then run down inside your walls and ceilings. This water intrusion damages wall and ceiling materials and also leads to aspergillus, chaetomium, penicillium and stachybotrys mold growth inside our walls and on our ceilings. Also, wet attic ceiling sheathing commonly leads to attic ceiling mold. There are certain mold types that can grow on very cold wet attic ceiling sheathing and ceiling joists. These mold types can look white, gray or black.

If you have water intrusion into your ceilings or walls you should have a certified mold inspector check the wall and ceiling areas with a specialized moisture meter to see the extent of the moisture intrusion. These areas of water intrusion will usually need to be removed and mold remediation cleaning performed inside.

We have many years of experience in dealing with water damage & mold growth caused from ice-dams. We are certified in both mold testing and in mold remediation.

Specializing in Attics, Basements and Foreclosed Mold Problem Homes ::

 

BASEMENTS:

If you have noticed a musty, moldy odor from your basement or another area inside your home this smell could be from mold growth. This is especially of concern if the basement has a high humidity level during the spring or summer, has ever gotten wet from heavy rains, has had recurrent water leaks or got wet from a leaky or burst pipe. Most molds only need a humidity level around 60% to start mold growth on most cellulose materials. These include basement walls, drop ceilings, fixed wooden ceiling joists, sills, sub-flooring and stored items (especially cardboard and varnished furniture items). Once rugs or sheetrock walls have gotten wet, toxic molds start growing on them within 48 hours. * Exterior basement sheetrock walls with insulation behind them are very difficult to dry. Even if you had them professionally dried, its common for aspergillus and even stackybotrys molds to have already spread throughout the lower wall materials, insulation and into the wall studs.

  

        ATTICS:

Have you noticed dark discolorations on your attic ceiling joists or sheathing. There are multiple types of toxic molds that will grow on attic ceiling sheathing and ceiling joists. All it takes for the mold to start growing on the attic ceiling or sidewalls is for the ceiling to get damp or wet, either during the spring-summer seasons or during the winter. Some molds are a light gray to dark gray colored (especially on the ceiling joists). Others molds are dark colored or blackish and usually found growing on the attic ceiling sheathing. The most common cause for attic ceiling mold growth is from moisture in the rising warm household air condensing on the cold exterior attic ceilings and side-walls. This occurs during the winter. A common source of additional attic moisture is a bathroom ceiling fan venting into the attic instead of to the outside. Ice-dams are another common moisture source. There are also multiple other problems that can cause high moisture levels in attics. When excessive attic moisture is combined with limited attic venting, mold growth is all but guaranteed. We'll check your level of attic ventilation & other possible moisture issues inside your home during our inspection.

Mold Inspection - Detection ::

Finding The Mold: 

The first step, as part of our specialized on-site service, includes a visual inspection for black mold or any other type of mold growing on interior surfaces of your home. If during our visual mold inspection, we detect mold growing in an area, we can take a direct sample from the area or object and have it tested for toxic mold spores. If you suspect hidden mold in your home or a home you are buying, we can perform environmental air sampling. Note: Air testing for hidden mold is one of the best methods used for detection of hidden mold. Our air quality testing method is used to locate and identify the presence of toxic molds, fungi, and pathogenic bacteria. Mold testing samples will then be taken and are each encoded with a unique number  sequence for later test result confirmation. 

Mold Testing &  Laboratory Analysis ::    

Is it toxic?   Air testing and direct sample cultures are sent out to a certified third party laboratory in MA qualified to process viable and non-viable fungi cultures. Mold testing air samples are analyzed for the presence of over 50 different types of molds. If a risk is identified, a mold abatement plan is then discussed with the client.

Mold Remediation ::

 

We contain the work area, remove and dispose of all contaminated materials. Then, our Mold Remediation Technology is performed by trained, professional technicians. (See Remediation Page)

Post - Mold Testing ::

Is it gone?   How do I know?   After a mold remediation job has been completed, our company can perform additional mold testing to the treated areas in the environment where the risks were identified and a mold removal procedure was performed. These can be either indoor air testing or direct sample re-testing. Data analysis from these new culture surveys is made available to the client on a confidential basis. At that point we can provide a scientific-based before and after evaluation of our work to demonstrate and to provide assurance that the building is safe.

Mold Prevention ::

 

How can I stop mold from returning after I have had a mold remediation treatment performed? 

Find the moisture or water intrusion source(s) and correct them.

          

            If the mold problem was in the basement:

Make sure gutters take roof water at least 10 ft. away from exterior foundation
Seal any foundation or basement floor cracks
Install vapor barriers in crawlspaces
After remediation, run a self-draining de-humidifier

 

If the mold problem was in the attic:

 

Prevent Winter ice dams on the roof - properly install an ice dam membrane
Make sure the upstairs bathroom fan is venting outside - not inside the attic
Check the attic soffit vents - make sure they are not covered with insulation
Homes should have ridge vents with functional soffit vents
If soffit venting isn't possible - powered side gable venting is an option

3/9/2019 Attic Ceiling Mold Update: The winter of 2018 - 2019 didn't have much snow, but was cold right up into March. This created ideal conditions for condensation and mold to form on attic ceilings. Many homes with limited attic ventilation grew either whitish or dark colored mold this winter on the attic ceilings. There are many types of black mold that can grow on attic ceiling sheathing.

Note: Out of the 50 types of mold growth we test for, the most commonly found mold types in attics are aspergillus, penicillium and cladosporium.

Notes for Attics:  The winter of 2024 was one of the coldest winters in recent memory. If your attic didn't have proper ventilation frost would develop on your attic ceilings. The repeated frosting and thawing would cause the attic ceiling sheathing to get wet and create a perfect environment for mold growth.  The first indicator of this happening is when homeowners notice frost on the roofing nails.
The mold usually looks whitish grey on the ceiling rafters and dark grey to black on the exterior ceiling sheathing. The mold usually starts growing on the north side lower attic sheathing and spreads from there. 

Notes for Basements:  If your basement took in water after heavy rain and the basement sheetrock walls got wet and stayed wet for 3 days or more black stachybotrys or aspergillus/penicillium mold growth usually developed. Also, due to the elevated basement humidity level aspergillus mold could of started to grow on the basement ceilings. This mold usually looks like a gray film on the ceiling joists.

Much of this mold growth is usually hidden on the backsides of the basement walls. When the basements finally dry, the mold doesn't die. The mold spores just became dorment. The spores still exist and are still viable. The spores can live and be still viable for up to 10 years without moisture. If the foundation walls get damp from high spring or summer humidity, or wet again from any heavy downpours or melting winter snow, the dormant mold spores will quickly start growing new mold.  A mold smell is often detected when the moisture rises high enough again for dorment mold spores to reproduce.  The smell often fades away again when the wall, and or, ceiling materials dry out again. Dorment mold spores still cause health problems (mycotoxin production), but the health problems are much worse when the humidity rises above 70%. This is when new mold growth occurs producing more mold spores and much more mycotoxins.

3/9/2023 Basement Mold Update: The summer of 2021 was very humid from July through September. We had constant afternoon thunderstorms. The following day the sun would come out evaporating moisture from the wet ground creating very high humidity levels outside and inside our homes. People who didn't run basement dehumidifiers frequently developed mold growth on the basement ceilings, walls and on their stored items. This weather pattern can easily happen again, so running a self-draining dehumidifier in the basement is very important to prevent mold growth.

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