If I have mold on my roof in the attic, is it likely through-out the entire house?

Question

Brick House is in S.E. PA, build in 1947.

There is a ventilation issue in the attic, the cause for the mold. which I tried to help by leaving a small window open, and there is an electric fan on the other side.

There was some mold in a 10x20 area, I knew this was not the solution. Not thinking, I closed the window for about a month. I checked the attic now the mold spread the entire length of the house about 30 ft. So now it is covering the roof plywood to entire front part of the roof in the attic about 30X20 area, in 1 month.

But the other side of the roof there is nothing.

How concerned should I be that  it spread through the walls etc?

Is that type, typically a major health concern?

(I have to remediation contrators coming out for estimates , after reading your  post I may have a few roofers come out for an estimate)

Answer 1

 

Hi Sbrus,

 

If there are no open ports between the attic and your home’s interior, it is unlikely that the spores have penetrated the ceiling surface. Even the attic access panel / hatch is only open periodically and assuming that some spores would find their way into your home (while it is open), they need favorable environment to grow. 

 

The situation would be different if you start noticing dark stains on the ceiling below the attic. This could be also a result of improper attic ventilation and insulation deficiencies as well.

 

Spreading into your walls… again, there must be favorable environment for this to happen. 

• Open space between the exterior brick and interior wall finishing material (drywall, plaster, paneling, etc.)
• Improperly insulated or not insulated wall cavities
• Moisture

Still, getting from your attic into the walls… I don’t think so. However, if there is no insulation inside the walls and they are open somehow into the attic space they might just act as a warm air “feeder” and accelerate mold growth. 

 

Attic mold might be a serious health concern if you’re exposed to it and if you have mold related allergic reactions. While performing home inspections a few minutes in a mold contaminated attic or crawlspace would always make me dizzy, give me a headache, and sometimes even cause nausea. Others may have no such reactions at all or end up in an emergency rooM after beeing exposed.

 

The most definite proof for you that this mold is or is not in any way affecting conditioned air inside your home and possibly your health would be to perform air sampling - http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldcourse/chapter3/lesson3.html , without testing you can’t be 100% sure.