Q: I am getting a lot of mold in my attic, which contains an air conditioning unit and hydro air that provides heat and air conditioning to the house. The mold is extensive, mainly on the roof sheathing. Two companies have offered to get rid of the mold, one for $2,000, another for $12,000. One man suggested taking up the insulation on the floor, which is not moldy. Why would that be needed, and how in the world could mold removal cost so much and with such a huge difference? What should I do?
TERRIFIED
A: The $12,000 cost is due to the need to use protective clothing and taking many precautions while working, plus the removal of the mold itself, which may be a toxic mold.
See if the $2,000 job will remove the mold, and if so, then you can do other things. I cannot recommend removing it yourself with bleach and water if the mold is termed toxic. Even the bleach is toxic. The man who suggested removing the insulation in the floor may have been trying to determine if there is a vapor barrier under the insulation, which would prevent water vapor from going from the house to the attic.
Make sure there is plenty of ventilation in the attic, which is best done by installing a ridge vent and soffit vents in the under part of the roof overhang. If the vents are already there, consider a power vent to increase the exhausting of water vapor.
But the big culprit, in my opinion, is that air conditioning unit and hydro air in the attic, which are creating a lot of water vapor, too much for the venting system to remove, even if they are well insulated. If this is so, and I think it is, the solution is to relocate those units to the house with direct venting, or even the basement, where these things belong. Putting heating and cooling equipment in attics has become a bad habit of late, and is doing no one or any house any good at all.
Not long ago I got a call from a homeowner who was having terrible problems and leaks from ice dams in her brand new house. Her expensive house was a part of a whole tract of expensive houses, all with ice dams and leaks. It turned out, after extensive discussion, that these houses had gas-fired hot air furnaces, well insulated and vented, in the attics, and were heating up the attic and thus the roof, creating the ice dams. You can insulate those furnaces but you cannot insulate against an open gas flame.
Finally, I suggest you call my friend Jeffrey May, who heads up May Indoor Air Investigations of Tyngsborough, 617-354-1055. He knows a lot more than I do about mold and other indoor pollutants, and will have some insight on the mold problem.
Q: The wood windows on my 1929 house are in good shape but need reglazing and weatherstripping. The storms were put on 19 years ago. I got an offer to fix up 18 windows for $9,000. Is that worth it? Should I keep those storms?
M.A., Arlington
A: That's $440 each to reglaze and weatherstrip windows. Hoo boy. Not that it's not a fair price, it probably is. But you can get good double-glazed replacement windows for say $700 each, which comes to $12,600, just $3,600 more than the repair work. If the storms are good ones, such as Harvey's True Channel, or are intact and not loose, keep them.
Q: I had bamboo floors glued down with a vapor barrier on a concrete slab. After a short time they started to cup. The installers and manufacturers had little to offer, except to want $8,000 for a new floor. What should I do?
LOIS BLATTER, New Orleans
A: With a wet climate like yours, I don't think much of the idea of gluing on a slab. I think the boards lost moisture and cupped for that reason, despite the fact that the boards were stored in the house for up to 10 days to acclimate to the humidity in the house.
Since the pros told you to go scratch, let's forget them and look at four choices:
1. Leave it alone. You might get used to it, and sometimes the cupping might go away.
2. Sand and refinish. If the rise is 1/8 of an inch or less, it can be sanded smooth and level.
3. Mark it up to a total loss, take it up, and install Pergo, the plastic laminate floor just for this purpose.
4. Similar to No. 3: Rip it up and install big ceramic tiles and put down large scatter rugs. The rugs will help solve the problem of the tile being too cold and hard.
Q: My basement concrete floor is in terrible shape, all bumpy and uneven. The carpet is shot in the basement, which is part of the living space. What's a good way to make it livable?
MARBLEHEAD
A: Same as the previous answer to Lois in New Orleans, although you do not have to contend with a previous floor. Take up the carpet and pitch it. You may have to grind the floor to reduce high spots and smooth them out. Then you could put down Pergo or the ceramic tiles.
Q: My roof is 20 years old and had a leak around some flashing, which I had fixed. But that roof worries me. Should I invite bids for a new roof, or what?
WORRIED ABOUT ROOF
A: Worry not. If your house is older than 20 years, that roof job is probably a 30- to 35-year roof, meaning that it is warranted to last 30 to 35 years. And such roofs often last 5 years beyond their warranties. You should have at least 10 years left in that roof. If your house was a tract house or spec house, it would have the cheapest shingles possible, and they would need replacing. The same goes for windows, heating system, and appliances. Contractors are very clever; they will build reasonably good houses, all within code, but skimp on other items such as roof shingles, heating, maybe plumbing, windows, and appliances. Since yours is not such a house, you're home free.
Q: My brand new addition is a family room with a cathedral ceiling, and an adequate number of warm air vents and returns. But there is a cool breeze running through, and it's rather disturbing. Where is that cool breeze coming from and how can I fix it?
RAY LOMBARDI, Marlborough
A: A few layers of wool or silk clothing, plus a hat, will do wonders. But that balcony I think is a dead giveaway. It may be sucking warm air out of the room. Close it off and see what happens. If closing off the balcony does not help, then it may be the windows. Sometimes warm, heated air wafts along the ceiling, then is attracted to the cold windows, dropping as the air approaches the windows and cools. That is a self-generated draft, and covering the windows with insulated draperies will help.
Q: I bought a nice steel shed, 10 by 12 feet, for my Harley, but the morning after I put it in the shed it was covered with dew. I need a place to garage it, so what can I do? I can't leave it outside.
MILTON BARNETT, New Orleans
A: The climate is against you from the start, so let's go from there. This may sound far-fetched, but could you put it in the front hall or back hall? Don't laugh. My nephew in Portland, Ore., stores his in his hall, but he owns his house. That steel shed is full of holes, so trying to make it air tight, or nearly so, is out. If you could build a new one of wood you could make it tighter, but in the meantime put a tarp over it; check it in the morning to see if much dew was kept out. Keeping a door open is also out, but maybe you could cut some vents in the building to try to even out the water vapor outside and in.
Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is also in the Styles Section on Thursdays. He is available 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton also chats online about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. To participate, go to boston.com. Hotton's e-mail is photton@globe.com.
