we live in a town house (condo) and the attic as a lot of mold, the administration try to put the responsability on us. note that we complaint in 2010 that mold was forming on the ceiling at every trust. thay send a contractor verify the attic and said it was cold that was going betwen the insulation and condence at the ceiling, he never said anything about mold problem in the attic. in april 2011 we send an email to the administration with photo that shingle of the roof falling every days, some time peices about a square foot. they do the roof in the summer of 2011, but contractor and manager never go in the attic to see what has to be done. now a few week ago they go see in the attic and discover a lot of mold. they saying we are responsible because we don't have a fan in the bathroom, house to humid, don't put enought heat on the 2 nd floor.

here some photos

thank you for your help

http://i789.photobucket.com/al...ick2000/DSCF0001.jpg
http://i789.photobucket.com/al...ick2000/DSCF0003.jpg
http://i789.photobucket.com/al...ick2000/DSCF0004.jpghttp://i789.photobucket.com/al...ick2000/DSCF0006.jpg
http://i789.photobucket.com/al...ick2000/DSCF0007.jpg

Hard to give a 100% accurate answer from pictures but is looks like you don't have much ventilation up there. All I can see in the pics is one gable end vent. Doesn't look like you have any ridge vents. Can't tell status of soffit vents as to if they are even there or if they are covered with insulation.

Best thing for you would be to get a local contractor that you hire to take a look to see what kind of ventilation is there. Specifically ask him to find the total area of ridge or gable end vents and any thru-roof vents plus the total area of all soffit vents. Beyond that it will boil down to who is responsible - you or the condo association.

thank you Jaybee, i will ask about the ventilation, seem one of the problem

i forgot, how to remove the mold, is javel water is OK

in one of the pictures, we see some white dots on the plywood, is it a sign of water leaking into the attic. they maybe wait to long to redo the roof ?

There are a variety of bleach based products that can kill the mold spores.

BUT.....even from the pics it looks like there has been some damage to the decking. Pealing layers, delamination and buckling can be seen, especially in the 4th pic. No cure for this other than to remove the decking - something that should have been done at the re-roof phase.

In the fourth picture I see signs of split/broken wood which seems to be sagging. I'd get a contractor to estimate the problem in that area specifically as well as the cost to remediate.

How old is this condo? During the housing boom some residential developments were built cheaply by builders which weren't particularly responsible.

Do you know if there are any lawsuits against the developer and/or the condo association? It's worthwhile to find out, as if there are class action lawsuits, you might be able to join as a party plaintiff. This means if there is an award to homeowners, you might be able to collect against the developer.

I think you need a thorough assessment of the damage and the cause, and if it's a problem caused by inadequate ventilation or other issues under control of the developer/builder, see a real estate attorney. If you do get to that stage, post here again with information on your general location and specific state, and I'll find the state bar site where you can get referalls.

I seriously do think that you're going to need legal representation as the association seems to be denying any liability.

It's hard to understand your post but, if your saying a new roof was installed in 2011, Id find it very hard to belive as bad as the sheathing is. Someone would have fallen through it and there would be no way to attach the shingles to it.
You need a ridge vent, soffit vents, have that bathroom vent vented out the roof, and a new roof at this point. The gable vent can be blocked off once the ridge vent is installed.
There's no since in treating the fungus until the sheathing is replaced.
I'd be calling an extermiator to do a fungus treatment with a boric acid solution not bleach.
There going to use a product like Timbor to do the treatment.
It will not only kill the fungus but keep it from coming back.
It will kill any insects living up there. It kills by dehydrating them, not with poison.

the roof has 2 layer of plywood, a company specialize in this kind of problem come estimate the problem and cost, we waiting for the report next week. they say that to take care of the problem they will take out all the insulation to see everything and use dry ice to kill all the mold. good news, look like the condo will pay for it.

And what if any venting are they also going to add to prevent it from happening again?
Blows me away that someone would have just added a second layer of plywood instead of fixing it right by removing the old molded up rotted wood.

mickal,

Do you have an update on your situation? I know you said that the condo will pay for the "fix", but I'm curious to know what the "fix" is and, if you know, how much it costs. Also, as joecaption wondered, "what, if any, venting are they going to add to prevent it from happening again?"

Thanks.

was suppose to have more info last tusday but hear nothing from the manager. they probably ask other companies to know if can have a lower price for the job.

the company was taking about $3 000 for the job, taking all insulation and see under what was the problem and use dry ice to kill all the mold

thank's

Dry Ice may or may not kill it but it sure will not prevent it from coming back.
The commonly used pro treatment is products using Boric acid as the main ingredeant. One the most commonly used is Timbor.
It kills it and prevents it from coming back and is very safe to use.
It also will kill any wood boring insects, and dozens of other creepy crawly things.
It kills by dehydration not by a poison.

Joe, will Timbor kill carpenter ants? I'm having a major problem with them.

If it will kill ants, is it something that's carried by Home Depot or Lowe's or some other specialty place?

Thanks.

Timbor is just a brand name.
Look for Roach Away, sounds silly but it's got 95% boric acid in it.
Lowes, Home Depot even Wal-Mart has it in the insecticide area.
It can be applyed as it come out of the bottle or mixed with super hot water in a pump sprayer.
A bottle to 2, gals. of water should be good.
Add it slowly and shake it up, add some more and shake again. it needs to desolve.
http://timbor-insecticide.com/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joecaption,

Joe, thanks for the response. I'll be going to either or both Lowes and HD this week and will get some.

TxTex raises some issues in a separate post regarding wearing protective gear. Without having seen the warnings on the label, I'm wondering if Roach Away is appropriate for use in a kitchen. The ants are coming out of the window sill and down onto the counters. I'd be spraying the backsplash and sill, so I suppose covering the counter with something protective would be appropriate.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

For that go buy some Terro. It comes in several forms but all contain the same active ingreadent, boric acid.
The one I like comes in a tube, a few small dabs and within an hour there will be hundreds of ants all over it, within a few days the workers and the queen are dead. It does 0 good to just spray and kill the workers, the queen needs to be killed for a long term effect.
It's save to use around dogs cat's kids.

as today no more news, still waiting to see wath they will do.

Mold problem is easily sort out by using vinegar. Just apply it to mold and leave it for sometime and then wash it with water and also scrub while washing. Make sure that you must wear gloves and mask while doing cleaning.



mold remediation great neck

This message has been edited. Last edited by: marvin_smith,