HVAC Clean House

Moldy moderns Newer, poorly constructed homes more likely

to harbor fungus.

Sunday, December 12, 2010 03:01 AM

By Jim Weiker

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/home_garden/stories/201

0/12/12/moldy-moderns.html

"When Lori and Nate Lee moved from Maryland to Lewis Center

five years ago, they bought the perfect home for their

growing family: 2,800 square feet, four bedrooms and a

basement they immediately finished....

...Every home will build up mildew and mold in moist areas

such as bathrooms. Much of it is harmless if regularly

cleaned. But some types of mold, such as stachybotrys, can

be serious, especially to children and those with allergies

or respiratory problems such as asthma...

...The clearest evidence of mold is seeing it. Other clues

that your home might have a hidden mold problem include:

• Moisture routinely appears on inside walls or windows.

• Dark water streaks appear on the outside walls of the

home, suggesting black mold behind the wall.

• Screws, electrical receptacles or other metal pieces in

the wall are rusty.

• The home has a musty smell.

• Floors under carpet along exterior walls are damp.

• The home's residents have coughs, watery eyes or sore

throats they can't shake.

Steps to take

• Monitor indoor humidity with a hygrometer. Readings

should be below 50 percent in the summer and below 35

percent in the winter.

• Place a dehumidifier in damp areas such as basements.

• Open windows or use exhaust fans when producing moisture

in the bathroom or kitchen.

• Remove carpet in damp areas such as basements.

• Contact a mold inspector or other specialist if mold is

visible on drywall, wood floors or other organic surfaces.

Such inspectors aren't licensed, so consumers should check

their credentials and ask how long they've been in business

and how they've been trained and certified.

• Contact a lawyer if you think you have a legal case

against the builder, but expect to spend in the five

figures if you sue....

.."I kept cutting and cutting and cutting," said Reichman,

who has spent the past month repairing the damage....

...For Reichman, the discovery was all too familiar. He and

other builders and experts say mold plagues some newer

central Ohio homes, especially those built during the

housing boom of 1999 to 2006.

"I'm seeing this over and over," Reichman said. "The time

frame when those homes were built, in that period, five to

seven years, will have those issues."...

..."I've seen it from several builders," Reichman

said. "It's sad to say that homes built 100 years ago are

holding up better, which is upsetting because we have so

much better technology and materials today if we used them."

Others agree that mold has become a familiar problem in new

homes, especially those with stucco siding.

"There were not problems like this 35 or 40 years ago,"

said Jerry Warner, the city of Delaware's chief building

inspector who helped a Delaware couple negotiate a mold

problem with Dominion Homes.

...."If I built a house 80 or 100 years ago, I was a true

craftsman," said Stubbs, who lived in central Ohio before

becoming director of facilities planning and construction

for Clarke County Schools in Georgia. "I'd build one house

a year. ... We don't build like that today. We take

shortcuts."

Other explanations for the rise of mold problems in newer

homes include:

• Oriented strand board, which became a common sheathing

material for homes about 20 years ago, absorbs and

transfers water more readily than plywood, which was the

sheathing of choice for older homes. Even when plywood is

used today, it is more likely to be three-ply plywood

instead of the four- or five-ply used in earlier homes.

• Stucco is thinner than it used to be, with less cement,

and is frequently poorly installed, with two thin coats

instead of three thick ones.

• Many homes built during the housing boom used a paper

vapor barrier, which can be difficult to properly install,

instead of Tyvek or other wraps commonly used in the past

few years.

• Newer homes are typically built in empty fields, offering

no protection from wind, rain and sun - especially a

problem on western exposures.

• Homes built in the past 20 years tend to be tighter than

older homes and therefore more likely to trap moisture

inside if not properly ventilated, creating what Tom Flood,

the president of Air Technology in Hilliard, calls a "giant

petri dish." This was especially a problem in the 1980s

and '90s, when builders commonly put plastic between the

studs and drywall as a moisture barrier.

....During the housing boom, homes didn't receive the

attention from swamped inspectors that they might have

otherwise."....