Roof leak - Mold

I had a couple shingles fly off in a windstorm, then it snowed. The slow thaw was perfect for leaking into the attic. I didn't find it until I smelled something, then found the guest bedroom closet ceiling almost completely green with mold.

I took most of the things out of the closet, sprayed the ceiling with full strength clorox, and left a small electric heater in there. Fixed the roof, then gained access through the gable end sheathing. Pulled out all the wet insulation I could find/reach, (the insulation was blown in, gray looking, and a little on the itchy side. I don't know what it is?). Had a few nice weather days so I screwed some wire lathe over the gable end hole to keep birds and critters out, but allowed it to air out some more.

Before bad weather came again I laid down 3 1/2" fiberglass with no vapor barrier just to give it a little insulation and still ventilation and closed up the hole (for now) The closet ceiling has been dry and up to about 100F+ for a week and only a few dark spots show were there was a lot more mold. Also up in the attic had some mold but was out of clorox and bad weather coming.

So finally here is the question, If I go in the top again and spray it with clorox, let it dry, and insulate will I be OK, or will I always have mold spores there just waiting for some moisture? And should I remove the drywall in the closet so I can clean and clorox things better and replace the drywall, or will it be OK with the dry chlorine left from the evaporated clorox ready to kill any mold if it gets damp?

Reply to
Tony
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Mold spores are everywhere just waiting for the right condition to grow. If you stopped the moisture problem they will die by themselves, bleach will kill them now quick, but if any mold comes back anywhere in the attic then you have to figure out why. You cant get rid of the spores, they are airborn and will return, you can only keep it dry, if drywall is dry I would probably leave it.

Reply to
ransley

First, read up on mold and avoid the panic messages. Mold spores are everywhere there is air....they don't start growing unless they find adequate moisture and food.

I would be inclined to replace the damaged drywall and would do the rest of the work when weather is warm and dry. Once wet, it is not as sound. And be careful with the dang electric heater....keep room warm and air circulating.

Reply to
norminn

Oh, forgot to mention the ceiling has a weird finish. Not popcorn. It looks like they took a rectangular trowel with lots of mud, pushed it up flat on the ceiling then pulled it straight down. The ceiling is full of little "stalactites". Anyone know what I mean? Does my method sound right?

It was sagging but I had it propped up while drying and is staying up much better than I had thought. It had sagged across the span of 3 joists, it let loose in the center joist. From up top looks like it was only glued to the joist and the glue let loose. If I don't replace it, since it's in a closet, I was thinking of 2 or 3 screws with fender washers and splash some white on that. But then again, if I ever have to repair this finish out where it shows, the closet ceiling would be a good place to practice! I think maybe I'll screw it up (that doesn't sound right) and when the weather is nice decide whether to tear it out then since I will never be able to reach all of the insulation from up top, part of it has to be insulated from below. I'll be able to fix it right if I have access from the bottom and the top at the same time.

I guess I'm answering some of my own questions but I do appreciate the opinions and especially not freaking out about the mold!

Reply to
Tony

Why the heck would you have to go through the gable like a giant squirrel to gain access? There is no attic hatch ANYWHERE in your house? I can almost understand it if you only have one of those hatches sized for a ten year old in a closet ceiling, but in that case I would convert the hole you created into a proper access door. Frame it out, make a hinged door panel with double latches, with some sort of weather seal and cap flashing above. Idiot who insulated my attic, instead of tracking through the house to the main hallway access panel (which would have required cleaning up after himself), sawzall'd a hole in the buried gable to the added-on attached garage. If I didn't have a firestop ceiling in the garage, I would have been really pissed at him. But now I have to keep the attic hatch in the garage covered (a bit of a pain 12 feet off the floor), and sometimes in a windstorm, it get sucked up into the attic by gusts passing through the attic vents. SOB even used my extension ladder to get up there, without asking me first.

(I'll never have a tradesman doing any inside work without me being home again. It is worth it having to use up a vacation day, just to avoid the callbacks.)

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

No. Sorry to say it's a double wide. As far as the access, I first carefully pried the outer fake T-111 at it's edges as not to do any damage to it. Then I used a sawzall to go through some OSB which gave me access to the attic. From some previous work on the opposite gable end I have a can of custom matched paint for touching up nails/screws when the outer layer gets put back up. I use the paint sort of artistically making lines to simulate the two tone fake woodgrain as it was originally. In other words, nail heads don't just get a dab of paint on them, they get a mostly vertical paint line over them so they better blend in with the fake grain.

Reply to
Tony

Tony wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

Be nice to know a mobile home up front. Totally different construction basics.

Reply to
Red Green

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