Why Ignoring Insulation Removal Hampers Effective Mold Treatment: Insights from Crawl Space Ninja

Why do some contractors leave insulation in place when addressing mold, and is it the right approach? Join us as Michael Church from Crawl Space Ninja breaks down this common yet misleading practice. You'll learn why removing insulation is crucial for effective mold treatment and how cutting corners might threaten the health of your crawl space. Michael insists that proper mold remediation begins with removing the old insulation to ensure mold cleaners or soda blasting can reach every part of the floor joists, not just the visible tips. This episode offers vital insights for homeowners looking to truly address mold issues, not just mask them.

In this episode, Michael Church provides actionable advice for combating high humidity and mold in crawl spaces. He emphasizes the need to remove existing insulation, clean thoroughly, and apply a preventative like x70 before thinking about reinstalling insulation. Michael's expert advice ensures that you won't fall for budget-focused contractors who skip essential steps. If you're dealing with mold or planning to hire a contractor, this episode is a must-listen for ensuring a healthy, mold-free home environment. Don't miss Michael's practical tips for maintaining your crawl space and protecting your home.

Check out Michael's book, "Crawl Space Repair Myths-Busted" now available on Amazon!

Need help: https://crawlspaceninja.com or https://diy.crawlspaceninja.com

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:00

Michael Church Crawl Space Ninja, continuing that misconception series. Today I want to talk about why do contractors leave the insulation in place whenever they're addressing mold. Is that a good idea or is that something they shouldn't be doing? Many crawl space encapsulation contractors don't really address mold or don't know how to address mold properly. So what they do is they focus on the budgetary side of addressing mold to make themselves look better on a quote. So what they do is they focus on the budgetary side of addressing mold to make themselves look better on a quote. So if their quote is $3,000 less because they're talking about treating the mold without properly treating the mold, then they feel like they're going to win you over and get you to hire them. But is it worth spending the money to encapsulate the crawl space and not properly addressing the mold?

Speaker 0: 0:50

One of the ways that contractors cut corners when it comes to addressing mold properly is they will actually leave the fiberglass or the rock wool insulation between the joists and just spray the tips of the joists with a mold cleaner. If you think about it, how effective is that? That's like leaving your drywall up and then trying to treat the mold behind the drywall. It doesn't work. Having insulation in place is not going to allow that cleaner or that soda blasting to get access to the entire subfloor and the other parts of that floor joist, floor joists.

Speaker 0: 1:26

So what we recommend you do, if you have high humidity, wet wood and the evidence of mold growth on those joists, remove the insulation. Don't reuse it, remove it, dispose of it, soda blast it if you got the ability to do that, but try to physically remove the mold. If you're worried about budget, then maybe spray it, but we certainly encourage you to remove it. Then spray it and then apply a preventative like x70 and then insulate the foundation wall or you can put fiberglass back after all those other things have been done. But don't leave the subfloor insulation in place when trying to address the mold, because you're only going to be able to address the tips of the joist, which isn't going to be very effective. I'm Michael Church crawl space. Ninja, we hope you make it a happy and blessed day and we'll see you later.