Mold Settlement

(Continued from page 4l ) will grow after the house is built. It won't. If a leak develops and keeps the lumber and surrounding materials constantly moist, mold will develop, but it will likely be a species other than Ceratocystis.

"I know of no conditions where people have gotten sick from these surface molds," said Dr. J.A. Menge, professor of plant pathology at the University of California, Riverside, in a letter to a lumber dealer. "All the sensational cases of mold in houses causing allergies and more serious diseases have come from leaks."

My customer is concerned that spores will be released in the air and an allergic person will have a reection.

If the mold is Ceratocystis, it does not spread by releasing spores into the air. Insects spread this mold. There is no evidence that other surface molds found on construction-grade lumber have caused human disease.

As soon as the moisture content falls below 2OVo, all mold growth stops. Surface molds, actually sapstain fungi, are of less concern that the mold in your shower because they are not growing.

My customer talked to a mold remediation specialist who said that the entire structure should be treated by his company with his product.

While this will do no harm, it really does not do much good either. If the structure is built correctly and there is no water intrusion later. there will be no further mold growth on lumber that originally had any surface mold. If there is water intrusion, mold will develop on other surfaces such as cement, drywall or glass-even if his treatment does resist mold srowth on lumber.

My customer says he will pay extra for lumber without any mold.

First, there is no evidence that surface molds pose any health risk. After the building is framed, any surface mold stops growing and will not spread.

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 once. Therefore, each number in the solution will be unique in each of three "directions."

The solution is on page 62.

Second, depending on how it is handled on the job, mold could develop before the building is wrapped, even if the lumber is delivered without any visible signs of surface mold. We cannot control that process, but it is just an appearance issue not a health risk.