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“Do I really need to tear off my roof?” is a question I am frequently asked by homeowners who have discovered they are the victim of a black mold infestation in their attic.
Many of them have been told by someone that it is the only way to truly fix their attic mold problem. Many roofers are quick to recommend this remedy as the “only right way to use” if you have mold in your attic.
Don’t get stuck on the color of the mold either. The media has promoted “Black Mold” disproportionately. What makes black mold black is the same chemical that gives skin a tan, namely melanin. Melanin is not poisonous or dangerous. This gives homeowners a false sense of security if the mold in their home turns out to be white, green, yellow, or something other than black, incorrectly believing it to be harmless.
The truth is, there are toxic molds that are white, green, gray, brown, red, and black.
In fact, even non-toxic molds can become opportunistic pathogens that are capable of feeding on you and living in your own body. It all depends on the type of mold and the state of your own immune system.
The fact is, no matter what type of mold it is or even if it’s poisonous … if it’s feeding on your attic boards, it needs to be treated right away. The reason is simple – you can make your family sick and you’re destroying the ceiling boards. That’s right, mold releases powerful enzymes that have been shown to rot and destroy wood! These enzymes are so powerful that they are actually the workhorses within the gut of wood-piercing beetles and termites. That’s right, scientists have discovered that termites and wood-boring beetles actually have a symbiotic relationship and the mold that lives inside their guts is what allows them to digest the strong lignen binders within the wood, which it allows them to eat the hardest wood.
Now, let’s get back to whether you need to replace the roof or not.
In most cases, the answer is a resounding NO!
As long as the boards aren’t rotten, replacing the roof will only do one thing: Empty your wallet! The worst part is that I have met many, many homeowners who decided to forego mold remediation because they followed the advice of a roofer who didn’t really understand mold. That’s what happened to Mr. and Mrs. Verde. On the advice of a roofing contractor, they decided not to treat the attic mold, but instead to replace the entire roof, including the plywood siding. Problem solved? Unfortunately not. You see, they called me after just one winter with the new roof and to their dismay the new attic boards were covered with as much growth in one year as they had been after twenty years with the older plywood. Why do you ask? There are two main reasons for this. First, when you look at a board covered in mold, you are not really looking at the body of the organism itself; instead, what you are actually looking at is the body of the fruit, such as an apple to an apple tree or a mushroom to a mushroom plant. I’m sure you ate a mushroom, right? Well, have you ever seen a mushroom plant ??? It is white and fuzzy and looks like mold, but remains invisible because it is growing below the surface of the soil. The mushrooms we eat contain the seeds, so they are the fruit.
The fruit bodies or spores are like the seeds of mold, it is what allows them to reproduce. In fact, there can be between one and five million spores in one square inch of flower mold. In one square foot there can be billions. When you have hundreds of square feet of mold in bloom, it’s hard for the human mind to figure out the numbers! And each and every one of those spores can reproduce in up to 12 million in just 12 hours! Yuck! And when mold detects that it is being attacked, it has a defense mechanism called an explosion or sporulation that causes it to release its spores into the air in a cloud. The act of simply spraying the mold with a chemical will cause this reaction.
When the roofer rips the boards off the joists during a sheathing process, these spores literally spread everywhere, all over the attic. In the insulation of the rafters, everywhere! This is like planting a new crop of mold all over the attic that is waiting for even the slightest bit of moisture to occur, as an excuse to re-bloom!
The second reason it’s not a good idea to replace roofing boards is that the plywood sold today is much smoother than the older plywood and roofing boards of yesteryear. The reason is that today’s new plywood is made from wood that comes from planted forests. Planted forest wood is much softer than wood grown in a natural forest. Simply put, in a planted forest there is no dense canopy of leaves overhead, so the trees never have to fight for light. This results in a heavy pith ring due to summer growth and a narrow cambium ring, resulting in a much softer wood. And with a mold problem, the softer the wood, the easier it is to be colonized or attacked by mold. That is why the Greens’ attic developed more mold in one winter than in the last twenty years, the new softer the plywood was an easy target for the mold the roofer had spread everywhere when he ripped the boards; And inadvertently planted the new crop of mold in the attic!
Finally, it’s like throwing your hard-earned money out the window! Why spend money to replace structurally sound shingles and boards?
It is possible that the mold is safely treated And for mold’s work to last permanently, the key is to destroy mold spores and roots. However, the homeowner must be very careful in selecting an informed contractor with a complete, safe, and non-toxic process. It can be challenging, which is why we train contractors around the world in effective and safe mold treatments. Remember if you have an attic mold problem, don’t buy a new roof and waste your money, hire a safe mold professional and treat the heart of the problem, the mold … Not the roof!