Top 10 Causes of New Home Built-In Toxic Mold, Warns Industrial Hygienist Phillip Fry

Top 10 Causes of New Home Built-In Toxic Mold, Warns Industrial Hygienist Phillip Fry Industrial hygienist and mold consultant Phillip Fry explains the top ten reasons why new homes and commercial buildings frequently have built-in toxic mold growth infestations.

Montrose, MI, January 27, 2014 -- “Even before a new home buyer can move in, many new homes are seriously and dangerously infested with toxic mold growth that has been built into the wood timbers, plywood, osb (oriented strand board), particle or chipboard, and other construction materials, and then subsequently hidden from view by exterior siding, insulation, and drywall,” warns Phillip Fry, Professional Industrial Hygienist and Certified Environmental Hygienist, and webmaster since 1999 of the mold information website www.moldinspector.com.

Mold consultant Fry reports that one or more of the following top 10 construction problems can cause significant mold growth in a new home or commercial building under construction: 1. Mold growth at the lumber mill or in transit from the mill because of no protection of the timbers or building materials against rain or high humidity that enables the mold to begin eating the construction materials.

2. Mold growth at the lumber yard because of a similar lack of protection against rain and high humidity. Many lumber yards often store construction timbers unprotected in the outdoors.

3. Mold growth at the home construction site because of a similar lack of protection against rain and high humidity. In addition, timbers and other construction materials are often left setting directly on the ground, from which moisture can wick upwards into the materials from the water-containing ground.

4. Untrained construction workers don’t recognize or don’t care about visible mold growth on the timbers and construction materials as they build the home. Instead of rejecting moldy timbers, the workers use the contaminated timbers with no knowledge of, or concern about, the mold problems that they are building into the home or commercial building.

5. Owners, supervisors, and managers of home builders and commercial building contractors don’t inspect the building projects during construction for mold growth on the wood timbers and other building materials.

6. Home builders and commercial contractors don’t hire professional mold inspection and testing of homes and commercial buildings either during the construction phase or upon completion.

7. Wood timbers are not pre-treated before or during construction with mold and termite preventative fungicides such as non-toxic, EPA-registered Tim-Bor. Read the material safety data sheet and usage instructions for Tim-Bor at www.timborprofessional.com.

One of the best mold preventative strategies is to mix one pound of Tim-Bor per gallon of white, latex enamel paint, and then paint all surfaces and edges of each timber and plywood or osb sheet to adhere to Tim-Bor directly to the wood and to help keep the timbers and construction material dry in the event of a future roof leak or plumbing leak.

8. Building defects allow water intrusion are common in new homes and commercial buildings. For example, construction workers often improperly install sewer drain pipes, water supply pipes, and air conditioning condensation drain lines, with the unfortunate result that such plumbing defects enable water to leak into the structure. There are hundreds of possible building defects in new structures. Speed of construction and not the quality of construction is often the emphasis and priority of home builders, employees, and subcontractors.

9. Home and commercial building buyers fail to hire a mold-experienced industrial hygienist, environmental hygienists, and certified mold inspector to inspect carefully the home during construction, or prior to closing the purchase of the home or commercial building. Find a qualified inspector in the worldwide mold inspector directory www.certifiedmoldinspectors.com.

10. New home buyers fail to do on-going maintenance checkups of their structures to detect water intrusion and mold growth problems before the problems become big and expensive to repair.

For questions or help with new home or commercial building mold inspection, testing, prevention, and mold removal, contact mold expert Phillip Fry by emailing phil@moldinspector.com, or phoning toll-free 1-866-300-1616, or Phillip’s cell phone 1480-310-7970, or visiting www.moldexpertconsultants.com.

Contact: Phillip Fry, Co-Manager EnviroFry 10104 Sheridan Rd., Montrose, Michigan 48457 Phone Toll-Free 1-866-300-1616 Cell Phone 1-480-310-7970 phil@moldinspector.com http://www.moldexpertconsultants.com