Attic issues

[Maxfli]

Went to sell my house after 22 years, and the buyers inspector noticed mold in the attic just like you describe. With lawyers involved and Closing on the house coming up, I had to hire a professional remediation group. It probably would have been cheaper and a better solution to tear off the roof and replace the 7 to 10 sheets of plywood affected, and then re-shingle, but I needed to prove to the other sides lawyer that I had done the job correctly, and had done pre-testing and post test (unbiased testor had to be hired) of the mold content. PITA! The remediators pretty much did what your doing, Treated the mold with a solution, I think they even scrubbed, then ran a air system into the attic for a few days to filter the air, then they sealed it with something like a white primer. Total cost was about $4500 to 5K.

 

[jimg]

I had exactly these issues when I sold my home. My solution for the unwanted animals was easy and final. As you stated thats not an option so...I think theyre coming back b/c its warm, winter has already set in and they chose your attic as their winter abode in the fall. As someone said earlier 700' isnt nearly enough unless you're relocating it (them?) to another warm place w/ plenty of food. The mold thing I had no experience w/ and the buyers inspector found it (only a small amt that was dead anyway). However, the buyers wanted it fixed 'professionally'. The first bunch I had in was a big national firm bent on profit at any cost. They recommended I have a professional occupational health type come out and sample the air to determine the extent of the problem...which was going to cost $500 up front. At the time that sounded good b/c it might preclude any further work. As time progressed it became clear that wasnt going to be the case. The occupational health lady showed up in high heals and a dress (dressed to the 9s actually). She proceeded to the bottom of my attic steps held out some sort of recepticle and took a sample of air. Total time in and out the door was about no more than 2 mins. For the price I was imagining a somewhat more rigorous test but, hey, Im not a professional either. A week or so later I got basically a boiler plate report indicating that there was mold in the air but only what one would expect normally. It wasn't obvious from the report though that that was the bottom line....you really had to study it carefully. That was good news I thought...mold isnt a problem. Unknown to me she also was kind enough to share the report w/ the company that had recommended her. I didn't give her leave to do that. The day we got the report my wife also got a call from the mold mitigation company indicating that we needed to book them right away to take care of the looming disaster in our attic. In fact he was good enough to give a price ($10k+) based on the report, a time to complete the job (1wk) and a run down on all they planned to do (air exchangers, bunny suits, plastic to seal my house up etc.). Youd think we had a toxic spill in the attic. Thankfully my wife just wrote it all down and told them theyd have to deal directly w/ me. After recovering from the price shock and taking time to review the report I called the nice man at the mold mitigation company back for a chat. I suppose most folks just book them w/o questions. In the end we decided not to use their professional services. We still needed to get a professional to take care of the problem and in the end found a guy who would 'mitigate it' for very little by putting some sort of paint over it to contain the dead mold. Oh, forgot to mention we got several quotes and most were really expensive and would entail air exchangers, etc. There were a very small number of firms who would do basically what we had done. They were all booked months out though. Its was quite the adventure as I was living 3000+mis away and only home part time, we had to close on time, plus deal w/ selling most of our stuff, packing the rest etc and dealing w/ our kids and school, etc., etc.

 

[JimR]

Flying squirrels make great pets and are easy to handle. They will even live in a cage in your house, hang out on your shoulder and be your best buddy. My FIL had a couple pairs over his lifetime when he was alive. He would catch them in the corn and grain boxes that he kept for his chickens. They are pretty friendly little fella's unlike the red squirrels. You will need to take them for a long ride if you want them gone. As for the plywood. Spray and spray and pray it goes away. otherwise a roof job is in order. I would also install a full length ridge vent on the roof.

 

[Paddy]

P-farmer,

I did paint one's tail today! we'll see. I went up to check the trap and I still have more, brave little suckers. I should let my Jack Russle up there, he knows just what to do with them.

 

[Paddy]

JimR,

I did another test spot with bleach. Clean as new. Now just 1199 sq-ft to go

 

[JimR]

JimR,

I did another test spot with bleach. Clean as new. Now just 1199 sq-ft to go

Good for you. Hope it all turns out well in the end. Definetly cheaper than replacing with a complete new roof.

 

[Paddy]

Attic update;

We have started painting the tails on our little friends. No repeat customers yet! We've caught 10 now. That is embarrising...... I did find some potenitial holes and have patched them. This A.M. I desided to release one close to the house to see where the heck they are getting in. Sure enough, they showed me the way. Back to the attic to close one more hole.

Mold project is looking better too. I did much research and most sites just say sign up here to spend big bucks. The bleach at 100% does the job. I have a 3M gas mask on order just for the job, acid type part number 6003. The bleach job I've done is 100-200 sq-ft so far. Looks like new. I go up hit it with fans pulling away for 2-3 min. Return to clean areas.

Please anyone who gives a hoot, peak up into your attic. I'm facing a big project, you could make yours small by catching it early.

 

[jimg]

LOL, it sounds like you all were running a squirrel hotel.

As for the mold mitiagation contractors your data matches my experience pretty well. I think your advice is excellent too about keeping tabs on whats going on in the attic. Im not sure itll save anything where mold is concerned. I think inspectors look for mold (or evidence it was there) specifically now. Its my feeling that most buyers then require a 'professional' to deal w/ it as part of the sale. Its now an issue like radon and the like. In my case I think the previous owners stopped the problem inadvertently by adding more insulation and better ventilation to the attic.

 

[rox]

We had one die between the floor and ceiling. We didn't have any company over for two or three weeks.

I saw that episode of dirty jobs, I think all you need to do is make a funnel or flap out of stiff screen material and place it at the entry/exit points.

I poisoned mine. When I thought they were all gone, I plugged up the hole. Apparently there was one left. He's the one that stunk up the place.

N80,
Your comments could not have come at a better time, and this is an attic issue so I'll feel ok about commenting in this thread. Generally i try not to get the threads to far of topic. We went to our condo for a few days and when we got back our master bath smelled just terrible. We searched and searched and have come to the conclusion that there is a dead animal in the attic and that is what is stinking. I have no idea why they build houses like this but our attic is completely sealed. No way in to it. These are cement houses with red clay roof tiles. So we have a stinking something that we can't get at. Over my office I heard critters running over the ceiling. They would start every night about 8pm. I think it msut be rats. We do ahve rats around here. With our cat we don't have any rodent issues in the house or the basement/garage.

I searched and searched and searched how animals could get up into the attic as there is no opening and everything is cemented shut. I found a hole about as big around as a big coffee mug on the outside wall, the same wall that my office is on, that leads into the attic. I bought some rat poison and thought I was done with the matter as shortly after that I didn't hear any more animals running around at night. I always ment to screen over that opening/hole I didn't at first not wanting to screen them inside. Thought I would poison them then do the screen. Time goes by i didn't get to the screen now we ahve a putrid smell in our master bathroom that is stronger as you climb a ladder and get up to the ceiling.

How long does that smell last? It's really disgusting and I am sure glad you brought up this topic becasue I would ahve been kind of embarassed to bring it up. But now that you had the same thing I guess I am not so embarassed about it. Having a stinking house is embarassing. There is no way to get into that attic so I guess we jsut have to wait it out. I am keeping the door closed to the bedroom and tomorrow i'm going to start opening the patio door (yeah the master bath has a patio door in it) and letting some fresh air in there. How long would you guess this is going to last?

 

[tallyho8]

Been there, done that!!! If I were you, I would try to make plans to spend as much time as possible going out for the next 2 weeks. Do you have a vacation due?