How to address mould in attic

LeifErikson

Hi all,
Recently I've noticed what looks to be mould appearing on the insulation and wood in my attic. The house is 16 years old and I bought it 2 years ago. We have had some flooring put in and recently there was an issue with the downpipe in the gutter which runs alongside this part of the attic on the outside, it became disconnected for a few months. There's also a bathroom directly beneath this section. I'm fairly new to home ownership so forgive my ignorance, but I'm wondering what might be the best course of action here? I was thinking I could maybe get into contact with the company that I used as surveyors to see if they could do an evaluation of it and recommend someone to fix it, or perhaps would it be better to contact a roofing/guttering company or mould specialists? I've attached some pictures. I would really appreciate some advice on this.
Thanks

tabby aspreme

For starters you should move the insulation away from the roof membrane, to allow air to circulation

listermint

There is zero air cap between the roof line and the ceiling line. The insulation needs to be pulled back in towards the house away from the external wall until it just covers the ceiling below. Flatten it if you need to. You should have at least 50mm to 100mm gap between the insulation and the roof line so air can come in through the. Eve's that insulation had been pushed to far out into the Eve's and has cut off any air circulation. This should be the same for all of your Eve's not just this one or you'll get mould everywhere including on stuff stored up there.



Air flow.

LenWoods

Is there an extraction fan in the bathroom; which goes out through the wall?
I thought my roof was leaking a few years ago as I noticed moisture on the beams when putting the Christmas tree back in the attic,
In investigation; we removed the extraction fan in the bathroom below this attic area and discovered there was no pipe bridging the fan to the flap on the outside wall; resulting in the fan sucking vapours and steam in to the cavity of the wall where it rises and condensed on the roof inside the attic.
Worth checking, and bleach will kill the funges, but it needs to be dried out first otherwise you will have to keep killing it due to reocourrance.
A hot summer will help dry it out then bleach spray and wipe.

turbot

Be really careful!

Mould can make you very sick.

At first, a bit lethargic and later all kinds of health issues. Mould is a bio/neurotoxin that some people end up becoming progressively more allergic to.

I suggest you use a FFP3 mask if you're in your attic, get a bunch of HEPA air purifiers for your house, vacuum everything with a hepa vacuum more, and study mould / mould toxicity.

LeifErikson

Thanks for the replies, everyone. That makes a lot of sense to allow more space for air to come through. In addition to this, I had a look outside at the vents that lead into the attic and they look pretty blocked up (photo is attached now). So it seems like I could do the following:
1. Replace the mouldy insulation with new insulation
2. Leave the required space to allow for the right ventilation
3. Clear whatever is causing that blockage in the vent in the photo.
4. Spray remaining mould with bleach or distilled white vinegar (I've used this in the past with mould on walls in a different house, worked very well).

I feel like I could do this by myself but I would also be interested in getting the peace of mind of a well rated company taking care of this, would anyone have any recommendations? Please PM me if so.

Thanks again.

LeifErikson

turbot wrote: »

Be really careful!

Mould can make you very sick.

At first, a bit lethargic and later all kinds of health issues. Mould is a bio/neurotoxin that some people end up becoming progressively more allergic to.

I suggest you use a FFP3 mask if you're in your attic, get a bunch of HEPA air purifiers for your house, vacuum everything with a hepa vacuum more, and study mould / mould toxicity.

Thanks for this tip, I've got a dehumidifier and a very good purifier so I will look at running them up there, I do have an FFP3 mask too. The rest of the house seems fine for mould and I have hygrometers in some rooms to make sure the humidity is ok.

listermint

You can do all that yourself. Just make sure wear a mask and gloves. Even a painter suit. Mould is bad but wearing the oversuit mask and gloves resolves that.

Easy fix and what you've outlined is the solution.

Note from the new picture that does appear that's a bathroom window. And I don't see a vent. Is the vent into the attic space as indicated earlier by a previous poster

LeifErikson

listermint wrote: »

You can do all that yourself. Just make sure wear a mask and gloves. Even a painter suit. Mould is bad but wearing the oversuit mask and gloves resolves that.

Easy fix and what you've outlined is the solution

That's a relief to hear, will give that a go. Thanks!

listermint

LeifErikson wrote: »

That's a relief to hear, will give that a go. Thanks!

Slight update on my post

LeifErikson

listermint wrote: »

Slight update on my post

There's no extractor fan in that bathroom but there is a vent, it's not the most clear photo but you can actually see it beneath the attic vent at the very top of the pic. It is out via the wall and not into the attic, though it seems like a good idea for me to take the vent cover off in the inside of the bathroom and make sure it's clear inside.

Alkers

LeifErikson wrote: »

There's no extractor fan in that bathroom but there is a vent, it's not the most clear photo but you can actually see it beneath the attic vent at the very top of the pic. It is out via the wall and not into the attic, though it seems like a good idea for me to take the vent cover off in the inside of the bathroom and make sure it's clear inside.

Take off that vent and put an extractor there while you're at it

chooseusername

One of the vents in the soffit is directly over the bathroom vent , which doesn't help.

Calahonda52

The better, but more expensive solution is to remove the first few rows of slates from the bottom, remove the felt, and correctly fit ventilation baffles.

If you just pull back the insulation you run the risk of allowing cold air in under the insulation and then you will have mould on the ceiling from the plaster board being chilled to below the dew point