I’m new to this forum, but I’m hopeful you folks can help. I have a customer with a mold problem in the bathroom. A few years back the bathroom was gutted to the studs and redone. The roof was also done since the remodel with ridge vent installed. There is a fan in the bathroom which vents to the soffitt and appears to be working properly. The mold has reappeared on the ceiling above the shower and on one wall from the ceiling to the tub surround. There is no obvious signs of new water staining in the attic or on the underside off the roof sheathing. The fan is used with every shower and the window is opened to increase airflow.
My question for you is it possible the mold is or was in the studs and now has grown through the greenboard? Is the only remedy to gut to and remove all framing? I don’t want to make any assumptions and appreciate any advice you can give me.
Thank You!
Replies
Growth of wood destroying micro-organisms ( not all are mold) needs moisture, warmth, and food.
We try to control their growth ( they are everywhere so slowing growth is alll you can do, no way to completely eliminate them from the face of the earth) by ontroling the amt of moisture present.
The exhaust fan exit to soffit is a fairly bad idea and may be the main problem, because it dumps moisture right where the soffit vents can pick it up and suck it back into the attic, assumning there are soffit vents.
If thre ridge vent was added with no soffit vent present, a negative pressure was likely created, pulling warm moist ait from the house into the attic space via penetrations.
It is also possible the fan is not used enough, or thathe door fits too tight at the bottom so fesh air does not replace what is exhausted, slowing airchange. The fan can be wired to a humistt so it comes o anytime automatically when humidty reaches a certain level, say 35%
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While I completely agree that venting out the soffit is questionable in this case should he see some mold or staining in that area of the attic if that was the cause?.
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Yes, I was adressing some overall generics there. his specific is probably that the residents aren't as thorough as they think in using the fan and keeping things clean
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What Piffin said.
BTW Locations (geographic of the house and location in the house) can be helpful in diagnosing these issues - climate is important
I'm betting/guessing the ceiling and wall with the mold or on the north (maybe west) side of the bathroom - that's the dies that is coldest and needs th most ventilation
In my home inspections, I don't check vent fan capacity routinely, but have found bathrooms with vents and mold issues trend to have under-sized vent fans.
And sometimes folks just don't use them or use them long enough.
>>There is a fan in the bathroom which vents to the soffitt
Not the cause of this, inside bathroom problem, but not a good idea - I've seen mold on roof sheathing directly above such soffit vent discharges since the moist air so discharged can get sucked right back into the attic through the soffit roof vents.
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Thanks for the response. If I could up the size of the fan and vent it through the roof, the only question left is should I then gut to and remove the studs? I won't know for sure if the mold is in the studs, so should I assume it is and reframe?
Thanks!
Remove the moisture problem and spores in the studs don't matter.
I think the mold you are seeing is not coming through the green board from studs and joists. Mold spores abound in the air and need only to find the right growing conditions - warmth, humidity mostly - to set up shop in your customer's shower. Remove the humidity, wash walls with something to kill mold, and they can control it.
Is there any pattern to the mold? If moisture were working back through from the ceiling there would be a definite pattern to it, corresponding to the structure (or lack of it) on the other side of the drywall.
My guess is that it's simply a case of using the wrong paint. One should either use a bathroom paint or a paint with added fungicide.
If you are seeing mold at the tub/tile interface as well, the tile install may be faulty or failed. I've seen several moldy bathrooms where the mold was kept hydrated by sloppy tile work.
Give the upsized, rerouted fan a few weeks to see if it helps.
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