Fungus or mold in the crawlspace?

[Wingshooter]

I need some expert advice and help here. The coral space under my house has always been a problem. There is not good ventilation and it stays a little damp. I have been meaning to improve it for a few years now, but life just keeps me busy. Now I'm really concerned because I see a grayish color fungus like material on the bottom of the floor joists. It looks a little darker in the picture because of the flash, but I sure hope it's not mold. We want to sell soon. I've heard horror stories about such things causing people to loose their houses, etc.. First, what is it? Second, can it be cleaned and removed? Third, will it hurt my resale if I have a company clean and improve the crawl space? It appears to be pretty widespread.

Surely someone on here will have some experience with this. Any help or recommendations on who to get to look at it in the Cleveland area is appreciated.

Thanks!

[Trekbike]

The picture appears to be fungus IMO. When you wipe across the spores, if it smears it's active, if it brushes off it's inactive. Pest companies can spray to help kill the fungus that's active.

[TripleDigitRide]

The same fungus was found in our house during the home inspection. The rep for the company said this is very common in most parts of Tennessee, due to the humidity.

The previous homeowner had the issue resolved before we purchased the home. She paid $400 to have it cleaned up.

[Wingshooter]

The picture appears to be fungus IMO. When you wipe across the spores, if it smears it's active, if it brushes off it's inactive. Pest companies can spray to help kill the fungus that's active.

That makes me feel better. I'll go back down and try the smear test. Thanks

[Jonnin]

dehumidifier or a heater or chemistry absorb (damp rid etc) might help.  Spray with bleach/water mix will kill it for a while, as will paying for professionals to do the same with whatever mix they use.

 

This does not look to be too bad YET.   The big thing is that some types (probably including this one) are eating/decomposing the wood by growing on it.  If you let it go so long that the wood is compromised, you have a big expense to fix it. 

 

*because* you are selling, I would get a pro to do it.   And no, fixing a problem is not an issue for resale.  Document the issue, document the steps taken to fix it, and it should be fine.   An issue for resale would be if you did nothing and their inspector found all the wood to be half rotted thru.

[Wingshooter]

The same fungus was found in our house during the home inspection. The rep for the company said this is very common in most parts of Tennessee, due to the humidity.
The previous homeowner had the issue resolved before we purchased the home. She paid $400 to have it cleaned up.

Awesome news. Did you take any steps to keep it from coming back in the future (power vents, dehumidifier, periodic treatments, etc.) ?

[Pete123]

Don't worry - I have faced this exact situation and it wasn't a big deal.  I post again later and tell you how we handled it.

[TripleDigitRide]

Awesome news. Did you take any steps to keep it from coming back in the future (power vents, dehumidifier, periodic treatments, etc.) ?

No, I haven't done anything. I thought about having some additional plastic moisture barrier put down, but haven't gotten that far yet. The rep said it would probably be another several years before it may need to be done again.

[peejman]

Spray it with a thin bleach solution. That's all the pro is going to do.

If there's not a vapor barrier, install one. It makes a huge difference.

[Wingshooter]

Spray it with a thin bleach solution. That's all the pro is going to do.
If there's not a vapor barrier, install one. It makes a huge difference.

There wasn't a vapor barrier at all until about 3 years ago. It was really damp then, so I put down a barrier over about 50%. When I get this cleaned up, I'll install barrier over the remainder. I don't think there are enough vents either, so I might add one... Or two. Edited April 13, 2015 by Wingshooter

[EssOne]

In the meantime you can simply set up a box fan down there and improve the circulation that way. I solved a dampness problem in our crawlspace a few years ago by doing that. I set it up near a vent and had it suck in fresh air and blow it toward the interior of the space. Dried it right up in a couple of days.

Edited April 12, 2015 by EssOne

[Wingshooter]

In the meantime you can simply set up a box fan down there and improve the circulation that way. I solved a dampness problem in our crawlspace a few years ago by doing that. I set it up near a vent and had it suck in fresh air and blow it toward the interior of the space. Dried it right up in a couple of days.

Great idea. I'll probably do that tomorrow

[Pete123]

Ok, so here is a suggestion as well as what we did.

 

I believe in having a home inspected before before putting it on the market so you don't get caught flat footed a week or two before closing.  I would ask the inspector to leave some things out of the written report so you can leave a couple of things for the buyer's inspector to find - gotta justify their cost you know.

 

The house I sold had whatever is on your floor joists.  I had an experienced realtor.  Here is how he handled it:

 

1. Got his handyman to put relatively thick plastic down over most of the part under the house.  There are some do's and don'ts with this - it has been twenty years so I don't remember everything.  As best I recall, everything was covered other than a foot or so around the foundation and foundation supports.   He put rocks or bricks along the plastic seams to keep things in place.

2. Some of the vents weren't clear and open.  He got his guy to clear any obstacles and open all of the vents completely.

3. There was water under that home when we had heavy rain.  So he had his guy put in a sump pump.

4. The realtor addressed this proactively - he told the other realtor up front and explained what we did to address it.  The old, "let them know potential bad news rather than let them discover it and freak out"

 

Hope this helps!

[Wingshooter]

Ok, so here is a suggestion as well as what we did.
 
I believe in having a home inspected before before putting it on the market so you don't get caught flat footed a week or two before closing.  I would ask the inspector to leave some things out of the written report so you can leave a couple of things for the buyer's inspector to find - gotta justify their cost you know.
 
The house I sold had whatever is on your floor joists.  I had an experienced realtor.  Here is how he handled it:
 
1. Got his handyman to put relatively thick plastic down over most of the part under the house.  There are some do's and don'ts with this - it has been twenty years so I don't remember everything.  As best I recall, everything was covered other than a foot or so around the foundation and foundation supports.   He put rocks or bricks along the plastic seams to keep things in place.
2. Some of the vents weren't clear and open.  He got his guy to clear any obstacles and open all of the vents completely.
3. There was water under that home when we had heavy rain.  So he had his guy put in a sump pump.
4. The realtor addressed this proactively - he told the other realtor up front and explained what we did to address it.  The old, "let them know potential bad news rather than let them discover it and freak out"
 
Hope this helps!

Good info. That does help. Did they spray the stuff that was growing?

[Ted S.]

No professional company I know of or have worked for uses bleach to treat any kind of microbial growth. Some of the harsher chemicals they use are peroxide-based.

 

If it were me cleaning this up for myself, I would HEPA vac the visible growth off the affected areas to prevent any sporing off, then wipe the areas +2ft with Benefect or another reputable antimicrobial (my preference has always been Benefect just because of how safe of a product it is). Then I would soak the areas with benefect and let it dry as is.

 

If you have a lot of the crawlspace showing that kind of  growth, there is a lot more that "should" be done. If you want the better advice, contact someone certified in microbial remediation, like an AMRT certification through IICRC.

 

Here is a link to Benefect, this is not concentrate and is intended to be used at full strength: http://www.amazon.com/Benefect-Botanical-Disinfectant-1-gallon/dp/B000Y215W6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428889806&sr=8-1&keywords=benefect

Edited April 13, 2015 by Ted S.

[Ted S.]

In the meantime you can simply set up a box fan down there and improve the circulation that way. I solved a dampness problem in our crawlspace a few years ago by doing that. I set it up near a vent and had it suck in fresh air and blow it toward the interior of the space. Dried it right up in a couple of days.

 

I don't want to knock your advice, but setting up high cfm air movement in a crawlspace with any kind of microbial growth can make things worse. Mold and fungus tend to "spore off" as a defense mechanism, so adding air movement could just spread whatever it is down there.

[seez52]

be careful about going whole hog on getting a presale inspection. What some inspectors find and suggest getting repaired, others either won't find. Unfortunately some are just clueless. Anything an inspection uncovers you will have to disclose so sometimes ignorance is bliss. Repairs are always a negotiating point, so unless there is something huge there will be plenty of time time to work it out. 

 

Make sure your down spouts are running the water away from the house well. That's an easy fix and often is an issue. 

[Randy W]

As a Home Inspector my  advice is as follows.... The mold or fungus is there because there is water/ moisture in the crawlspace. The mold and or fungus can not live without water. First you have to find the cause of the moisture and correct that problem. Is it ground water, leaky pipe, exterior rain water entering the area what ever, you have to cure that water problem. IF not  any clean up will be useless and the issue will return. Next a complete covering of the ground with a thick plastic is needed from wall to wall. No gaps. Is there a way for any water that enters later ...leaky pipe.... to exit the crawlspace. Floor drain or sump pump. Proper ventilation is a must.... Many people today are sealing their crawlspaces and  making them conditioned spaces to prevent problems. Still not sure about this not enough time gone by to see if this really works. There are many companies that will do the work need to cure the problem. As an Inspector if i came to inspect this home and found it had new plastic and clean and dry surroundings there would be no issue to report to the client.  Not all inspectors are residential mold certified and their insurance companies will not let them talk about mold for that reason. Hope this helps. 

[Pete123]

Good info. That does help. Did they spray the stuff that was growing?

 

I don't think so.  Remember, this was twenty years ago.  As best I recall a small amount of the black stuff isn't a big deal, so they left it.

 

If you decide to have your home inspected, the inspector will have input on what to do.