Attic mold, or just water-stained wood??

[milli...@yahoo.com]

Dear Readers,
Today I was removing kraft-paper-faced fiberglass bats from between the rafters behind my kneewall (cape cod house). They were draft with no signs of water stains. When I pulled the fiberglass bats away from the roof deck, there was frost on the roof deck and some frost on the bat as well (25 deg was high temp today). I've no idea how many years this may have been happening. I let it dry, but looked like mold so I sprayed Tilex (chlorine bleach & water mixture). After it dried, some of the white stains disappeared, but the dark stains still remain. Is this just stained wood, or ??? I can't imagine mold living after Tilex.

Before
http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac194/millinghill/Sam_7933_zpsb30b76b6.jpg

After
http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac194/millinghill/Sam_7936_zpsb0c50e0b.jpg

Comments appreciated.
Regards,
Theodore

[cl...@snyder.on.ca]

Wait and see what it looks like when it is fully dry. Doesn't really
look like mould to me from here. Looks like wet wood - possibly with a
bit of rot? Is it soft where it is dark????

[milli...@yahoo.com]

On Monday, January 28, 2013 12:11:47 AM UTC-5, milli...@yahoo.com wrote:
> They were draft with no signs of water stains.

Meant to say "They were DRY with no signs of water stains."

[nestork]

The tilex is going to dry out a lot faster than the wood will. That's
because the tilex is just on the surface of the wood, whereas the
moisture in the wood has had the time to penetrate into the wood cells,
and it takes a lot longer for water to evaporate through the wood cells
walls than it does for Tilex to evaporate directly into the air.

That just looks like wet wood to me as well.

Really, what you need to do is scratch at that wet wood with your finger
nail. If you can scratch that wood away with a fingernail, it's rotted.
Otherwise, it's fine. Wood, being a natural material, stands up to
occasional wetting much better than most building materials (like
plaster or drywall).

I wouldn't bother with Tilex. I'd spray bleach straight out of the jug
on that wood to kill any mildew or mold that might be there.

You can avoid further wetting of that wood by providing for an air gap
between the insulation and the roofing boards, and allowing cold outside
air to get in at the eves of your house, and out through a ridge vent
along the ridge of the roof. The idea here is that the unavoidable heat
loss through your insulation drive a convective air current from the
eves to the ridge vent. That convective air current dries out any frost
or condensation that forms on the underside of the roof.

The other side of the argument would be: If the house is 50 years old
(I'm thinking because they used lumber for the roof sheathing instead of
plywood or OSB), and there's no wood rot, then why not put the existing
fiberglass insulation back in, and we're good for another 50 years.
And, I would have difficulty giving a good reason NOT to do that.
Millions of houses across North America don't have any roof ventilation
at all, and yet most of them never have any serious problems with wood
rotting in their roofs.




--
nestork

[milli...@yahoo.com]

On Monday, January 28, 2013 2:12:09 PM UTC-5, nestork wrote:
. -- nestork

Nestork,
Thanks for reply. Yes, I took a scraper to it and most scraped right off. It felt/looked/acted like a thin layer of rotten wood. This roof is on the north side of the house. My intention in this work is to air seal the attic and ventillate the deck as it's currently without any soffit vents. I understand your comment on leaving it for another 50years, but previous owner never lived in upstairs for all that time and it can get pretty hot/cold in summer/winter so I'm trying to be meticulous in my air sealing.
THANKS SO MUCH for your insight and opinion.
Regards,
Theodore.