TCI Remediation Case Studies: Mold & Insulation in Troy, MI
Challenge
The homeowner explained that he had noticed dark discoloration all over his roof sheathing inside the attic. He had mentioned that his attic was poorly ventilated from the beginning of the build that it needed to be corrected. The symptoms of the problem were high humidity in the attic along with zero airflow. Mold growth was present in the attic all over the roof sheathing and trusses and was also found on the insulation. The problems were caused by a lack of air flow in the attic because the horizontal split ventilation that was installed on the eaves of the roof had been completely blocked with the blow-in insulation years ago. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because he was getting a new roof installed and he wanted to protect his investment in the new roof by making sure that the wood was healthy and no longer posing a problem that would shorten the life of his new roof. He knew that mold eats wood and wanted to ensure the structural integrity of his roof would last for years to come. The homeowner's biggest concern with the problem was that the mold in his attic was a health concern for him and his family along with the health and longevity of the roof of his home.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because he had multiple companies come out to his home to provide a solution but out of all of them, we were able to identify issues that were the true root cause of the problem that other companies did not have an answer for. Even though we were more in cost than the other companies, we provided a solution that the homeowner agreed made more sense. Our solution was to remediate the mold that was on his roof sheathing and trussed, remove the dirty/contaminated insulation from the attic floor, clear the horizontal slit vents that were installed for the new roof, install all new dual wide venting baffles. Then install new cellulose insulation to an R38 value. One of the biggest challenges that we faced during the installation process was the pitch of the roof as it got closer to the eave. The pitch made it very difficult to clear the horizontal split vents. There was a lot of roofing debris below the fiberglass batt insulation making it very difficult to remove the blow-in insulation with our vacuum. The last challenge that we faced was roughly an 80 square foot section of the drywall ceiling was not attached to the joist and would not be safe to install cellulose on top of that. The customer had to have a drywall company come in to replace that section of the ceiling before we were able to complete the rest of the insulation installation. We used MoldX2 products, DuroVent Baffles and TruSoft Cellulose. The homeowner now has a healthy clean attic that is ventilated properly and has clean insulation that will help keep his energy bills and consumption down.
