We are building a new home. While cleaning up and moving lumber around I noticed some of our lumber is a little bit moldy. There are one or two 2×4’s that are almost completely black. Most of the lumber is excellent quality.
I spoke with the lumber yard and they are very willing to take back any moldy lumber I don’t want to use in the house. The problem is, the framer has already used some lumber that is a “little bit” moldy. The vast majority of the lumber is just fine. The “black” lumber has not been used.
Does anyone know if this is anything to be concerned about? Any mold remediation experts out there? I want to be reasonable and it would be helpful to have facts when talking with the framer if certain pieces need to be replaced with “clean” lumber.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Replies
Hi Sally. I'd be surprised if I ever built a house that didn't have some moldy lumber in it. It's quite common, and not usually a problem. Mold is everywhere, but it's dormant unless there's moisture. It needs moisture to grow. Your lumber is wet, mold grows. Your lumber will dry, and the mold will cease to be active. If you're still worried, spray some bleach on it.
Enjoy your new house.
Andy
Arguing with a Breaktimer is like mud-wrestling a pig -- Sooner or later you find out the pig loves it.
Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig
That black mold is everywhere, and has always been there. I remember it on the first framing job I saw as a little kid in 1956. It was on the lumber I used in the early 1970's. I've found it in the walls of my house, which was built in 1926.
Mold has been latched onto by those who are frantically searching the universe for something to be frantic about. I wish they'd turn their attention to earth crossing asteroids. ;-)
-- J.S.
We're pretty much in agreement, but in fact, there are some people who are terribly allergic to certain types of mold. I don't know any of them, but I believe they're there. No doubt this fact has been blown completely out of proportion.Arguing with a Breaktimer is like mud-wrestling a pig -- Sooner or later you find out the pig loves it.
Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig
That black mold is everywhere, and has always been there
SSSSHHHH! You're not supposed to tell people that--how wil lthe remediation guys make any money? <g>
Mold that is black (and black-green) is incredibly common.
The mold that Professor Blacke found--the dangerous kind--is not. The confusion between black-shaded mold and Blacke('s) mold may or may not have been played into a major better-safe (from lawsuits mostly) than-sorry sort of business. Depends on how predatory a person views things . . .Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate the voices of experience!
What Andy said, except maybe the bleach part.
There are borax treatments which are reportedly better than bleach.
Bleach kills what's there now, except for spores which can satrt to grow again if the conditions are right(e.g.;, mositure intrusion)- borax will prevent future regrowth
The key to forgiving others is to quit focusing on what they did to you, and start focusing on what God did for you. Max Lucado
Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
Bob's right -- Borates are better than bleach. I only suggested bleach because you've probably got some within 20 ft.
AndyArguing with a Breaktimer is like mud-wrestling a pig -- Sooner or later you find out the pig loves it.
Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig
FWIW, the "experts seem to have moved away from recommending bleach in cleanups - I have been told because of the harmful effects of spraying bleach in enclosed spaces, which wouldn't be the situation here, of course,
And, as you pointed out, once the lumber is dry, there won't be anymore growth so any treatment si adding suspenders: can't hurt, but isn't necessary.
BTW: Your tagline "Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig"
My favorite all time book. Of course, I'd suggest that the lasting value comes not from talking about fixing motorcycles, but where the talking about fixing takes us in the high mountains of the mind ....
"Einstein had said:
"Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world. He then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it -- .He makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life in order to find in this way the peace and serenity which he cannot find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience -- .The supreme task -- is to arrive at those universal elementary laws from which the cosmos can be built up by pure deduction. There is no logical path to these laws; only intuition, resting on sympathetic understanding of experience, can reach them -- .
The key to forgiving others is to quit focusing on what they did to you, and start focusing on what God did for you. Max Lucado
Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
I'd meant to read Zen for 25 years. This summer, I visited a friend's cabin in Maine, and he had a copy that I snagged. Parts of the book were mind bending, other parts were an articulation of my own intuition. Very good stuff.
AndyArguing with a Breaktimer is like mud-wrestling a pig -- Sooner or later you find out the pig loves it.
Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig