Is Mold in the Attic A Big Deal?
The attic is the least cozy room in most homes: hot, stuffy, and pitch black, it’s usually only accessible through a small hatch tucked away in a closet. For many reasons, most homeowners ignore the attic and spend very little time thinking about it until problems necessitate a service like attic mold remediation. During mold inspections in Toronto, the MoldTech team has discovered hundreds of hidden and secret attic mold colonies that have been wreaking havoc on family homes for months — even years! This common issue is easy to ignore, but at your peril — read on to learn why we think attic mold growth is a big deal.
Health Risks of Mold in the Attic
Mold growth anywhere in your home can cause various health and safety problems. On a big-picture level, mold weakens the structure and safety of your home because mold eats organic matter such as wood, textiles, and paper. We’ve seen homes so affected by mold that they need expensive, invasive reconstruction.
On an individual level, mold has an insidious and disruptive effect on human health. Common complaints we hear about during mold inspections in Toronto include:
- Itchy, burning eyes.
- Running nose or constant sneezing.
- Headaches.
- Dry skin.
- Cough and other respiratory complaints.
As any allergy sufferer knows, these may seem small, but weeks or months plagued by sneezing or headaches can start to add up, affecting work, leisure time, and your ability to relax and recover.
Causes of Attic Mold
The top level of our home may be easy to forget, but year-round, it plays an essential role in indoor comfort and air quality. Your attic is a buffer between the weather and your interior, climate-controlled spaces. In the summer, it acts like a hat, reflecting the sun and heat; during the winter, it’s a woollen toque that keeps warmth in.
When attic mold begins to affect this system, your whole home will suffer, and problems with ventilation, drafts, hot or cold spots, and expensive energy bills can appear.
Some of the common causes of attic mold that we’ve noticed at MoldTech include:
- Damage to the roof or shingles.
- Blocked vents or inadequate ventilation.
- Old, damaged, or shifted insulation.
- Poor air sealing between the home and attic.
- Attics used as storage spaces.
Remediation and Prevention
Mold growth in the attic is easy to prevent, and the nature of the space, while posing unique challenges, makes it amenable to quick and painless remediation.
Firstly, MoldTech recommends having an annual whole-home mold inspection — with us, that always includes a thorough attic inspection that looks for hidden and visible mold growth and recommendations on how to improve your attic using ventilation or other amendments that will help it stay cool and dry. Secondly, we suggest that you ensure no vents end in the attic. Vents from bathrooms or kitchens should always end outdoors. Otherwise, you risk creating the ideal conditions for mold growth. And thirdly, we suggest paying attention to the roof, fixing damage promptly and paying attention to where snow and ice accumulate — this can point to internal problems.
Whether your home or roof is new, old, or somewhere in between, most houses will need attic mold remediation at some point without proper care and attention. Learn more about preventing attic mold or book a mold inspection in Toronto to have yours assessed with the MoldTech team by calling or emailing our office.
