|
Posted by DanG on February 3, 2007, 12:55 pm
Please, please, please don't fall into the "scare story"
syndrome. There will be some here that will quickly jump into
that category.
I deal with these issues professionally and I am fairly well read
on the issues. Please do not take my word for it, and don't take
the word of alarmists. There are many sources for good technical
information, but this one is especially good and comes from a
fairly believable source:
http://www.epa.gov/mold/i-e-r.html#Remediation
Please read the entire article.
Mold exists.
Mold has always existed.
Mold will continue to exist.
It is in the air all around you and on everything you touch.
Maybe the boy ( A John Travolta movie) that lived in the special
bio tent was free of mold, but the rest of aren't.
Mold can become a problem for humans when it is actively growing.
Black stains on exterior wood exposed to the sun is exactly that -
black stains. It may be rust from nails, some may have been
caused by mold, or other discoloration.
Bleach kills mold and there are commercial mildewcides/biocides.
It is not typically considered productive to kill mold. Any mold
that you kill with bleach, etc will be replaced by new mold. Mold
can only grow if it has food, water, proper temperature, and dark
(hidden from UV). If you remove any of these, especially the
water/humidity source, the mold can't grow. It is still there in
a dormant condition, but not actively growing.
The builder was telling you that the way wafer board and other
man-made sheathings are made is to saturate the chips, dust, by
product or whatever with resin and press and cook them into
sheets. Is it 100% mold free?, probably not. There are some
newer exterior sheets and drywall that are impregnated with
borates and/or other mildewcides or biocides.
If this thing is exposed to the sun and the walls are dried out, I
wouldn't pull it off. If you would feel better spraying
everything down with bleach or other biocide, do so. Please read
the EPA or other technical source information and make intelligent
decisions. Don't knee jerk to scare mongers.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DanG
A live Singing Valentine quartet,
a sophisticated and elegant way to say I LOVE YOU!
valentine@okchorale.org (local)
http://www.singingvalentines.com/ (national)
> We just purchased a cabin that is just framed in and the outer
> sheeting (pressboard plywood) is on. The roof is on and there
> are overhangs which has helped protect some of the wood. It has
> been exposed to the elements as is for 6 years. Some of it has
> turned a little black, as wood does exposed with no finish on
> it, but the wood is strong and not flaking or rotted. It is out
> in the open so well exposed to winter snow and summer sun. We
> need to decide if we should replace the sheeting before putting
> the siding on. We have had several opinions - keep it and
> replace it and now we don't know what to do. A builder said
> there is so much glue in the sheeting that if it is mold it
> would not have penetrated it. Not sure I believe that.
>
> I am allergic to mold. Because of this we are wondering what we
> should do? Some have said scrub with bleach, some have said
> replace. I also thought of power washing, but was told this
> would tear the pressboard apart. I thought of sandblasting with
> a home sand blaster I saw for removing paint, thinking this may
> be able to be adjusted. Just looking for opinions and ideas.
> Also thought of painting it to seal it. Is this a bad idea? Does
> it need to breathe?
>
> The cabin has half log pine siding waiting to be installed over
> the sheeting. We plan to use Tyvek under it. Although I just
> don't want to take a chance with mold, we would also like to
> avoid the labor and expense of tearing off all the exterior
> walls and replacing them. We are torn as to what to do. The
> interior will have insulation, drywall and probably some sort of
> wood paneling or planking for the walls. We want it well
> insulated against the winter weather and summer heat. The cabin
> is in an area where it is exposed to heavy snow and very cold
> temperatures in the winter, as well as sand and hot and
> sometimes humid in the summer.
>
> Any thoughts welcome...
>
> Thank you
>
> Autumn
>
>
>
>
| 
Yahoo! 
Google 
Windows Live 
del.icio.us 
digg 
Netscape 
XML Sitemap