Moisture, Mildew, Mold and Your Home

Moisture, mildew, and mold… with one present the others are sure to follow. For the outdoors, these terms are a natural part of the environment but for the indoors, these terms aren’t acceptable. Why should this matter to you now? If your home has had water damage caused by this winter’s extreme weather, chances are the freezing and thawing process has broken down the shingles and gutter system on your home. Spring has sprung and the rains are just beginning. Any damage to the exterior of your home from the winter will allow rain to creep into spaces and cause wood, insulation, and other materials on the exterior and interior of your home to become saturated with moisture and water. This will in turn, cause spores to begin growing, digesting, and destroying your home.

Mold and mildew growth is best when there is excess water and moisture from leaky roofs, high humidity, or where flooding was present. Mold and mildew can grow on almost any surface, including wood, ceiling tiles, wallpaper, paints, carpet, sheet rock, and insulation. There isn’t a way to get completely rid of mold spores, but by keeping your home dry, you can decrease the mold and mildew growth.

What can be done to prevent the growth of mold in your home? If your home has had water damage, make sure to have that area dried as soon as possible; use fans to keep the air circulating and open windows and doors to increase air flow. Clean and dry or replace water damaged carpets and upholstered furniture within 24 to 48 hours. Check windows for condensation and water droplets, and wipe them up right away. Contact a roofing professional to have your shingles, gutters, and attic ventilation and insulation system evaluated.

Signs to watch for when checking for growth, when you can smell a “musty” odor or when small black or white specks are visible, those areas are infected. Mold and mildew can be found growing along walls where warm moist air condenses on cooler wall surfaces, and in areas where there is both high water usage and humidity, such as kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and basements. If mold is present, act fast, the longer mold and mildew is left untreated, the more damage it can cause. If you clean up the mold, but don’t fix the water problem, then, most likely, the mold problem will come back.

Mold and mildew cannot grow without moisture and is usually a symptom of a larger problem. If you cannot determine the source of moisture causing the mold, contact a professional consultant. Not only will you have a cleaner interior environment but you will have a healthy and worry-free home.

The After Wrath

Many of us are looking forward to the warm sunshine, water skiing, and shorts! Spring is long overdue after the winter we all experienced. Dane county broke record snow falls and just when we thought it was all over, we got another eight inches. What weather patterns lie ahead? What else can we handle? Those questions aside, what signs do we look for on our homes to keep them working properly after dealing with this harsh winter?

All of us are tired of hearing those two cringing little words “ice dams”. But the damage those ice dams caused can be more destructive and costly then getting in a fender-bender on the highway. What are ice dams, how do you know if you have damage and what can you do?

In a short description, an ice dam is a ridge of ice the typically forms at the lower edge of the roof allowing water to pool behind it. Untreated water leakage from behind an ice dam can penetrate through into the home which can cause much exterior and interior damage.

Why should this matter to you now? Warm spring temperatures will promote moisture build-up due to the ice dams, leading to the growth of mold and mildew in your home. Not attending to the situation can cause health issues for you and your family; such as asthma, allergies, and other respiratory problems.

Not only will you have to deal with health issues; but exterior and interior damage will become apparent. On the exterior of your home, the layers of ice expand and contract at a rate that may have damaged the shingle bonding and caused them to come loose. When large amounts of snow and ice broke free, sliding ice dams often destroy shingles and gutters and are unmerciful to anything in its path below. Not only will you experience problems with shingles, protruding water will also cause the siding to stain and crack through the same expanding and contracting process.

The interior damage is caused by water that is prevented by the ice dam from escaping into the gutters then inevitably leak inside. Staining on ceilings, walls, and around windows are the most apparent, but wires can also short out, wood floors warp, and carpet is ruined. Also, water and moisture can cause wood rot of structural members and failure of the insulation – leading to higher air conditioning and heating bills.

What can you do? The Cold Regions Research Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) performed studies on several buildings with varying degrees of ice dams. Through their studies, the CRREL have come up with these guidelines:

• Insulate the ceiling line to keep the attic space cold
• Ventilate the attic space or roof framing cavity to keep attic cold
• Specifying materials at ice dam locations to prevent leakage through roof underlayment
• Heating portions of the roof that could be susceptible to ice dam formation with gutter heater and heat tape
• Perform preventive maintenance prior to the winter: inspect and remove leaves, sticks, and other debris from gutters and downspouts in the fall

So breathe in the spring air, drop the top on the convertible, and call your exterior professional. Do not procrastinate, waiting could cause further damage.

The Original “Green” Building Exterior

The remodeling world is all abuzz with the word “GREEN” hoping to be in on the cutting edge of a marketing craze to sell seemingly earth friendly products and services to eco-friendly consumers.   If you’re inclined to ask an exterior professional what products are green and why, you’ll get about half a dozen answers. You’ll be told that one product is “GREEN” because the manufacturing process didn’t pollute the atmosphere.  Another product is “GREEN”, because it doesn’t use materials that deplete endangered resources.  And yet another “GREEN”  product because it lasts twice as long as others, less manufacturing, less raw materials, and less premature land filling products.  At this point in time, its spin city my friend!

 The problem today is, while the government and trade organizations are beating it out to come up with a consensus on what is “GREEN”, eco-friendly consumers and exterior remodelers are side stepping The Original Green:  Exterior home design based on simple well proportioned form that focuses on a classical, historical precedents.  In layman’s terms, a well designed exterior won’t need to be replaced and thrown away in one decade in order to “update” the building as we had to do with 8 inch white aluminum siding of the 1960’s and 70’s.

 Buildings of beauty tend not to be “remuttled”, destroyed, and thrown away.  They are by their very nature: GREEN.  They are admired and proudly kept up, not replaced.   Proof of well designed exteriors can be seen across the country at living history museums or in towns on the National Historic Register.  Builders’ pre-1940 understood proportion, trim weight, siding shadows, wall breakups, window sizing, color pallets, welcoming entries, and human scale.  After World War II, design was thrown out the window in favor of inexpensive fast built houses with minimal or no design.  Today we still hold on to the fast built idea and yet try to recreate exterior design combining our favorite things.  If you like BBQ sauce and ice cream, it doesn’t make much sense to mix them up and eat them together.  But for some reason, that is exactly what we do when we redo our home’s exterior.

The Original Green exterior means using these age old concepts on modern buildings.  Green products are only as green as a timeless, non- disposable design.  If you have ever been to a town like Galena Illinois, you feel richness and history with an overwhelming sense of home.  Why don’t we feel this way in a new subdivision?  Could it be that our sense of home directly relates to the building design?  We think so!

With a few simple age old guidelines to follow, we can help you find your answers to energy efficiency, comfort, curb side appeal for resale, longevity, and The Original Green.  Watch or listen for announcements at www.GanserCompany.com to stay educated on more tidbits of knowledge.

We look forward to helping you find the answers to your exterior remodeling needs.

Ganser Company is a 4^th generation family owned, exterior construction and design company.   Madison’s longest standing Madison Area Builder Association member.

Replace My Roof? Why Now?

 

Completed Ganser Asphalt Roofing Project

Your roof is one of the most crucial and expensive parts to preserving the life and value of your home. It is also one of your primary barriers against the elements – snow and ice, heat waves, rain, hail, high winds, storms, and even tornados.  It’s has always been said that if the foundation and roof have integrity, the building can stand the ages.  Many a building has stood for centuries until the roof was compromised, and then within a few short years, the building returns back to the earth.  This is the reason there is so much anxiety and questions to when the roof should be replaced.

So when is it a good time to replace your roof? The age and leaking would be the most obvious signs but other factor such as, previous unfixed hail damage, high heating and cooling costs, ice damming, staining on your interior walls, musty smells, and carpenter ants.  All can give you additional clues that the answer may be a new roof.

Example of asphalt shingles curling over time

Determining factors for roof replacement:

• Missing or torn shingles – exposes the roof to water damage and rot, and also makes nearby shingles more susceptible to being blown off.
• Curling – old shingles will start to curl, split, and will lose their waterproofing effectiveness.
• Blistering – moisture causes blistering when the attic has inadequate insulation and ventilation.
• Buckling – when felt (underlayment) is improperly installed or movement of the deck occurs.
• Rotting – moisture absorption due to age, missing, or damaged shingles.
• Missing granules – hail damage and the age of the shingles will cause granules to rub off.
• Algae growth – shaded area under trees with little direct sunlight.
• Streaking – Mildew formed from tree pollen
• Sagging areas – suggest signs of warping, rotting, or broken wood.

Other areas to watch for include:

• Damaged flashing – Flashing is the metal that surrounds the chimney, skylights, vent pipes, and is also found in the valleys where roof sections meet. Flashing that is damaged will allow water to seep into the interior causing further damage such as rotting wood, mold and mildew, stained ceilings and walls, electrical shorting out, and much more.
• Decayed or damaged gutters and downspouts – improper flow will cause build up to prompt basement leakage, foundation erosion, in the winter season – the first phase of ice dams.

If you’re experiencing one or more of the above determining factors the next question is when?  Is there a “right” time of year to replace your roof? The answer is yes – anytime. Every season has its pros and cons but the roofing industry has evolved throughout the decades to adjust to those issues.

So, why should you replace your roof now? Allowing your current roof to stay in a non-performing state can cost you hundreds of dollars now and thousands later.  Nickel and diming you with high heating and cooling cost, replacing damaged drywall and paint, a mold or mildew problems, only delays the inevitable.

With this new knowledge of what to look for on your aging roof, decide today to call local professional to come out and evaluate your current roof situation.  If it is time to make the investment to replace your roof, you’ll be comforted that your home’s value is preserved and will make it more appealing to potential buyers if you decide to sell.

A little about The Ganser Company of Madison, WI

Inform, Brainstorm, Transform

The staff at Ganser Company are experts in complete exterior remodeling and maintenance – from the curb to the chimney cap.

Since 1939, we have been satisfying customers by following a simple, but dynamic formula. Inform, Brainstorm, Transform. The process is simply navigating through your ideas and turning them into tangible dreams.

Inform – A satisfied customer begins with information about options, products and materials and how they relate to the customer’s individual situation. We take the time to learn about the vision our customers have and provide the information needed to begin the process of planning.

Brainstorm – Once informed, formulating the perfect solution begins with creating a wide array of viable, executable options. We excel in combining our expedience, product knowledge and your goals to create the outcome you want.

Transform – Time tested practices allow us to make your dreams come true. Four generations of experience, spanning seven decades has produced skilled craftsmen committed to satisfying customers.

 The Ganser Philosophy

We are committed to taking our God-given talents, eco-friendly building materials, and time-proven, systemized procedures, to hand craft comfortable and exciting architectural works of art, that will be sold at a fair price to enhance our customer’s quality of life. In turn, the fruits of these labors will provide for our families and guarantee future business.

Quality Products / Professional Practices

In every phase of our business, we use only the highest quality products such as the Marvin Infinity Fiberglass Windows and Apex Fiberglass Siding. The combination of performance and durability contributes to customer satisfaction.

Professional experience in exterior design and color consultation can have a significant impact on the final outcome of a project. Additionally, our use of thermal imaging for inspecting a structure’s energy efficiency can influence every aspect of your plan.

Industry & State Memberships & Certifications: Oldest member of the Madison Area Builders Association (MABA), National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau, GAF Master Elite Contractor, Better Business Bureau