Note – Good article from the building professional side on preventing a mold problem before it starts and the odds of getting rid of all mold once it is there. Notice they did not focus on trying to say mold infested environments do not cause illness.
‘Got Mold?’ event aims to educate attendees on how to control moisture and prevent litigation
February 6, 2009
BY JUSTIN CARINCI
Building during the wet winter months can be a pain even if handled properly.
Handled improperly, it can turn into a moldy disaster.
Staying clear of mold problems and the lawsuits they can cause was the focus of a seminar held Wednesday at the World Trade Center in Portland. Speakers focused on preventing and removing mold, properly identifying samples and reducing legal liability.
It’s more difficult to eliminate mold than, say, asbestos, said Greg Baker, an industrial hygienist who helps companies get rid of both. Unlike asbestos, mold is a living organism.
“With mold, you can take out 99.999 percent of the particles, and the .001 percent, that little particle that does survive, is likely to come back,” Baker said. “And it will come back with an attitude.”
It’s much easier instead to deprive mold of its preferred habitat. “The way to control indoor mold growth is to control moisture,” Baker said.
Phil Henderson of Sun Forest Construction in Bend said mold is a concern even in dry parts of the state. “We used to think of this as a Western Oregon problem, but it’s more and more national,” Henderson said. “We build a lot of second homes – and it’s cold in central Oregon. Sometimes pipes break and you get mold from that.”
For a topic so clouded with fear and misunderstanding, it’s important to stay informed, Henderson said. “It’s good to get the legal and scientific takes on it.”
Any indoor air or dust sample will likely contain fungal life, said mycologist Chin Yang. That doesn’t mean every building has, or will develop, a mold problem.
“We don’t live in a bubble,” Yang said. “Fungal spores are ubiquitous. Fungi are not ubiquitous.”
The fear of mold lawsuits mushroomed a decade ago, popularizing the slogan “mold is gold” among lawyers and driving up the demand for laboratories that test for toxic mold. Many of these labs don’t have mycologists analyzing samples, Yang said. Some don’t even have microscopes.
As a result, mold paranoia has grown. Some laboratories warn their customers that a sample contains “potentially toxic mold species,” when only the genus of fungus has been identified. Penicillium, for example, might refer to a toxin-producing species or the harmless one present in blue cheese.
“If you’re going to say something’s toxic, you need to be specific,” Yang said.
Jack Levy, who manages Smith Freed & Eberhard’s construction defect group, offered some tips for developers and builders looking to defend themselves against litigation, or, better yet, to avoid litigation altogether. First, don’t wait until tradespeople and subcontractors are on site to address water intrusion issues.
“Get the architects involved,” Levy said. “Spend the money up front on that detailing.”
Tearing out siding to install flashing, for example, wastes time and money. “If you’re looking to save money,” Levy said, “the envelope is not the area to be saving any costs.”
Building in a wet environment such as the Pacific Northwest requires special attention to construction practices, Baker said. A construction site is like a laboratory, and if moisture isn’t approached holistically, it can turn into a science experiment gone wrong.
Carpenters might frame a building with awareness of the moisture content of the wood. Drywallers then add moisture as they apply mud. But if somewhere else on the job site – the laboratory – a spill or a leak isn’t reported, that could raise the moisture level enough to encourage mold growth.
As buildings are built tighter and tighter, it becomes more important that everyone on a construction site knows whom to call with questions or in case of an emergency. “Everybody should be aware of moisture issues,” Baker said.
Gayland Looney of general contractor Perlo McCormack Pacific came to the seminar to make sure he knew the best ways to protect his company and clients. “The last one of these I went to was about 10 years ago, during the whole ‘mold is gold’ thing,” Looney said.
General contractors always face the possibility of lawsuits, even years after they’ve completed a building. Often the building hasn’t been cared for properly in those years.
“That’s where we see the most problems is with people not doing maintenance,” Looney said. “It’s like driving a car for years and never getting an oil change.”
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