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We are having our house remodeled. They framed the house in the last two weeks. Prior to this the lumber sat out in the weather since Oct 15. We live in the San Francisco Bay area. We went over to look at the skeleton and noticed there was a preponderance of lumber with a black graphite like material. My husband was concerned it might be mildew. Our contractor said no that it was residue from the milling process. Is there normally residue from milling? Is this residue inert or will there be out gassing later on? (Our kids have allergies.) My husband went to a local lumber yard. They said it was unusual to have this residue. About 1 in 5 framing members have this. We even went to Home Depot and did not see any of this residue on their studs. Is my contractor telling us the truth? Did he use a bad grade of lumber? Should we make him clean this stuff off? If so, how? Do the studs need to be replaced? Is it safe to sheet rock as is? Or Does this sort of thing happen and we have nothing to worry about?
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We are having our house remodeled. They framed the house in the last two weeks. Prior to this the lumber sat out in the weather since Oct 15. We live in the San Francisco Bay area. We went over to look at the skeleton and noticed there was a preponderance of lumber with a black graphite like material. My husband was concerned it might be mildew. Our contractor said no that it was residue from the milling process. Is there normally residue from milling? Is this residue inert or will there be out gassing later on? (Our kids have allergies.) My husband went to a local lumber yard. They said it was unusual to have this residue. About 1 in 5 framing members have this. We even went to Home Depot and did not see any of this residue on their studs. Is my contractor telling us the truth? Did he use a bad grade of lumber? Should we make him clean this stuff off? If so, how? Do the studs need to be replaced? Is it safe to sheet rock as is? Or Does this sort of thing happen and we have nothing to worry about?