Mold on new trusses

[Tiltrotor]

Here is one for you. I had my pole building contacted out. 36x53x11, 6 windows, two garage doors, all high end double pane windows, R19 garage doors, etc.

I plan on pouring the floor and adding radiant heat in floor, insulating the walls, installing and insulating the ceiling myself. I HAVE NOT DONE THIS YET.

I returned from travel to find my building up and completed so I can begin my portion. After looking at the trusses inside, I noticed MOLD. My wife had called me earlier in the process, when the trusses were delivered and said, it sure looks like mold on those trusses and lumber. I said it was likely mud and the contractor wouldn't install them.

Well......yes they were installed and yes it is mold. I am finding mold to be an education in itself at this point.

Anyone ever run into this before? Any recommendations? I believe it is what they call "comsmetic mold" but I will find out for sure.

These contractors really should have caught this and luckily I caught it prior to final payment.

Suggestions from the experts please!!!! and thanks!

 

[rsanter]

Contact contractor and have him take care of it.
It does not have to be a federal case but should be handled properly.
The problem is once there is mold you can kill it but if that area sver get wet again the spores come right back to life and begin to grow.

Hit with bleach, a couple of times
Wearing respirator, sand area
Primer and paint to seal area so any future wet cannot revive the spores

Bob

 

[Stuart in MN]

Are you sure it's mold, or is it maybe just mildew? Lumber that sits out and gets wet will often have mildew stains which are black.

 

[Nemesis88]

In my former life I worked in a Truss Plant. It was not a common occurrence, but every once in a while we would have a job returned because it had mold on it. It happens because trusses are stored outside and if we had a rainy spring, the moisture would facilitate growth once in a while. Per our consultations with the local EPA rep and OSHA rep, all we would do is spray the trusses with a 50/50 solution of bleach and water several times, give them a quick wipe down, and then send the trusses back to the job site. Just be thorough with your bleach solution and you should not have a problem.

 

[MoparTrucks]

I dealt with this on one of my rentals and bleach is only effective on killing mold on the surface so if you just use a bleach/water mixture you probably arent doing much for the long term.

Do yourself a favor and buy a purpose made mold removing product that penetrates the wood and removes the spores for good.

Here is a good write up on removing mold from unfinished wood:

http://removemoldguide.com/do-it-yourself/remove-mold-from-wood/

 

[R6 Racer]

The only 100% way to insure that it will never return is to have the entirety of every truss dry ice blasted, (like sand blasting) then have it painted with a sealing paint/primer.
Anything short of that & you will have a chance of it returning. Bleach on its own will not kill 100% of mold. Bleach & a seriously vigorous scrubbing will remove most of it but not 100% of it. If it was me I would insist on nothing short of the dry ice & sealing method or replacement of the trusses. You have invested a lot of $$$ & should expect it to be nothing short of 100% correct.

Steve

 

[Tiltrotor]

I received the report from a professional service. It is in fact mold. I have two remediation services coming out to give me quotes to remove it. The roof is on, or I would make them return the trusses. I really believe my contractor saw that mold and chose to do nothing about it. I am pretty upset at this point.