brenda garcia

Your words bring some relief. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, all the studs that are covered with stains were from when the rain was non stop.
we used the sander and removed as much as we could and added some solution and i even kept sanding by hand when I would see some. Now it is only a little growing here and there and I will try to remove it.

J Hillman wrote:For the most part that looks more like bluestain attacking the sap wood rather than mold.  Once it drys it will stop.  If you can keep it dry I personally wouldn't worry about it.  If it does concern you, you could always brush or paint it with bleach.

I am in the process of building a log home.  All of the trees were standing dead so  most of them are blue from bluestain happening while the tree was still standing.  I am not worried in the slightest about it, either from health risks or rotting of the house.  But I am doing everything I can to keep it dry now that it is in the house to stop it from continuing.

Robin Katz, I have added some. Looking forward to your input.


[quote=Robin Katz]Brenda, can you post a few pictures of the framing and plywood? Is the mold just on the framing or in the plywood too? Solid wood can be sanded to remove the worst stains, dried then painted to seal in any residual spores. Plywood is a little more difficult depending on the extent of the water damage. OSB is bad when it gets wet since it's candy to mold and loses some structural integrity.

Good call on not putting in insulation until you're sure the mold is taken care of.[/quote]

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Personally I don't like the look of that. Not one bit. I would definitely treat that wood with a mold killer/suppressant before covering it up.

Most mold cleaning methods only work temporarily - the mold will be back.

There are mold treatments that are reasonably non-toxic and long-acting. The commercial version is called Concrobium  
https://www.concrobium.com/en-can/about/  .

But there are inexpensive homebrew concoctions modeled after it and appear to work.

Sources for recipes:

https://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/homemade-mildew-preventers-that-really-work

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeImprovement/comments/rkrj1w/mix_your_own_mold_and_mildew_killer_for_cheap/

https://stingysailor.com/2021/11/06/remove-and-prevent-mildew-for-pennies/

Thanks Douglas Alpenstock.
I will follow your advice. I am very nervous living here like that so I will take action fast.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I will definitely follow all of your advice.
Here are some photos.
The studs that you see fully black have been sanded down and I have put a mold cleaning solution.
As you can see the growing mold is only on very small areas.
The wall with the long black studs is where most of the water came through. We sanded it down as much as we could before installing the plywood but i know we missed some.

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are building a small house out of lumber.

Unfortunately we had to frame it during rainy season and it rained terribly before we were able to install the roof. We tried to dry, sand the lumber with machines and clean it with a vacuum as much as we could.
We added the exterior plywood and that is about it and we moved in.
You can see all the stains and still some mold which i am going to continue cleaning now that we are living here.
I am very concerned because I have read about all the negative effects of mold and of course I have read threads here as well on how to deal with it.

we have not installed insulation and won´t until after.
Meanwhile we will install a wood burning stove and we have lots of windows that we will open on a daily basis.
I also want to use a small dehumidifier that we have and there are no pipes and no running water yet.

I guess my question and concerned is how worried should I be and will these things help combat.

We live in a country with dry and wet season and so I am also worried if having lots of windows and no insulation could actually contribute to the growth.

The home is elevated sitting on concrete columns so we know we just have to create a run off and remove any chances of standing water.
Since it is not finished and no outside walls have been installed, I am worried about the next rainy season coming soon.

I guess what are your thoughts, advice, anything that can help me take the next steps in the right order.

Thank you so much and I apologize because I know there is a lot of information here.