Mold in Logan homes
Logan was first settled in the spring of 1859 by three groups of Mormon pioneers, the David Reese, John P. Wright and Ralph Smith companies, and at a July 10, 1859 meeting John P. Wright named the town after the Logan River and an Indian chief. Inside a house, the water that grows mold rarely comes from anywhere so obvious. It comes from a fitting that drips into a cabinet, a shower wall that wicks, warm indoor air meeting a cold surface, or a basement that never quite dries.
Mold is the result, not the cause. Find the water that stayed, stop it, and most of the job is already decided. Skip that step and any cleanup is temporary.
No weather figures here
NOAA's engineering weather data set has no station near Logan, so this page quotes no humidity or temperature numbers. What it can say in plain words is that winters bring real cold, and cold is what turns ordinary indoor moisture into water on a surface.
Hard water and the slow leak
Logan City says its water hardness is 12 to 14 grains per gallon, or 255 ppm, and that it adds no fluoride; fluoride occurs naturally in the water at 140 to 200 ppb. For mold, the hardness is the part that matters. Minerals build up over the years inside valves, cartridges, fill valves and appliance connections, and parts that are scaled seal less well.
The leaks that feed mold are seldom the ones that spray. They are the drip at a supply connection, the toilet that weeps at its base, the washer hose that seeps at the wall. A few times a year, open the cabinet and look and feel:
- the floor of every sink cabinet;
- around the base of each toilet;
- behind the refrigerator where the water line connects;
- the washer hoses and the wall box behind them;
- the floor and pan around the water heater, and the water softener if you have one.
A swollen cabinet bottom, a dark stain, or a musty smell when a door opens all point to a slow leak worth chasing.
Cold surfaces in winter
Showers, cooking, laundry and breathing all put water into the air of a closed-up winter house. When that warm, damp air reaches a cold surface, the water comes out of it. Common places:
- The attic. Moist air leaking up past light fixtures, the attic hatch and bath fans can condense on the underside of the roof deck. Dark stains on the sheathing, frost on nail tips or a musty attic are worth a closer look.
- Outside walls. Corners of closets and the wall behind a bed or dresser stay cold and get little air. Spotting there often traces to condensation, not a leak.
- Windows. Water running off cold glass soaks the sill and the drywall below it.
- Pipes on exterior walls. A line that freezes and splits can soak a wall cavity in a single night.
Basements and bathrooms
Basements sit against cool soil all year, so damp air there finds cold walls and floors. Finished basements hide the problem behind carpet, pad and drywall. Ask any company you call whether it sees an outside drainage issue, a plumbing leak or condensation, and why it thinks so for your house.
Bathrooms are the most common indoor source. A fan that vents into the attic, or one that never runs long enough, keeps the room damp for hours. Failed grout or caulk lets shower water into the wall behind the tile.
Signs to take seriously
- a musty smell that comes back after cleaning;
- peeling, bubbling or stained paint on a wall or ceiling;
- dark spotting along baseboards, in closet corners or around windows;
- soft drywall, warped flooring or a swollen cabinet floor;
- frost or staining on the attic side of the roof deck.
The first questions
Before talking price, ask the company:
- Where is the moisture coming from, and is it still active?
- Who will stop it, and will that happen before the cleanup starts?
- How wet are the affected materials, and which meter showed that?
- What reading will mark the materials as dry when the job is done?
What a careful job includes
- Containment. Plastic sheeting around the work area, kept under negative pressure with filtered exhaust so spores stay out of clean rooms.
- Removal. Porous materials with growth, such as drywall, insulation and carpet pad, cut out and bagged inside the enclosure.
- Cleaning. Framing and other hard surfaces cleaned and dried rather than replaced where possible.
- Drying. Dehumidifiers and air movers, with readings written down until materials reach the target set at the start.
- The air system. Ducts or the furnace cabinet included in the scope if growth reached them.
- Proof. Readings and photos showing the area is clean and dry before anything is closed up.
While you wait, keep people with asthma, allergies or weakened immune systems out of the affected area, and don't point a fan at the growth.
Questions about the company
Ask how long the company has done mold work and for references from jobs like yours. Ask what training its crew has for this kind of work and who will be on site each day. Ask whether it assesses the problem as well as removing it, or works from an assessment someone else wrote.
Comparing quotes
Put each written quote on the same scope: square footage of each material removed, containment and air filtration, drying equipment and how dryness is measured, the air system if included, whether rebuilding is in the price, and how the result will be documented. Ask for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation before work starts.