The most common cause of attic mold is a poorly ventilated attic. In cooler climates, warm, moist air coming from heated areas of a home will rise up. If an attic is unfinished, cold and not well ventilated, moisture will begin to build. This can be a catalyst for attic mold growth. These types of problems are usually associated with older homes built before codes specified that attics be well ventilated. When an older home has a new roof installed, soffit and ridgeline vents are required to be put in under the modern building codes. Some attics that are prone to the build up of moisture need a vent with a motorized fan to help exhaust the moist air.
If your attic is covered with a cellulose insulation, then it will be more susceptible to attic mold . If the mold infestation is light, this will not pose a great health risk to the homes inhabitants because air will move up. However if the build up of attic mold is severe you may want to remove it. First you should take a sample of the attic mold, by pressing a sticky tape to it, and bringing it to a lab for testing . You should be able to find one through your local Yellow pages.
Once you have identified the type of mold you are dealing with you can take steps to remove it. There are several ways to do this. You can remove and replace the insulation, or dry wall. This is expensive, and you will have to wrap the debris in heavy gage plastic and dispose of it properly. If you feel that you can kill the attic mold, treat it with a commercial fungicide, or full strength distilled vinegar. This will take a few days for the mold killer to be effective, and you will have to wash and rinse the area, and allow it to fully dry to prevent a re-occurrence.
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