Attic Mold Removal in Lakewood, WA

What keeps Lakewood attics damp

Lakewood is Pierce County's second-largest city, a suburban community about 33 miles south of Seattle beside the McChord Field side of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. American Lake, Lake Steilacoom, Gravelly Lake, Lake Louise and Waughop Lake all sit inside city limits, and Chambers Creek and Clover Creek run through it. None of that pours water into an attic directly, but it describes a place where outdoor air is rarely dry from fall to spring. Venting an attic with damp, cool air does little to dry wood that is already wet.

The water that actually reaches the sheathing usually comes from inside: showers, cooking, laundry and breathing in a closed-up house. It rises through gaps around ceiling lights, the attic hatch and plumbing stacks, or it is blown up by a bath fan whose duct ends in the insulation. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department's own mold advice starts in the same place: stop the leak, repair the roof and plumbing, and control the water before anything else.

Condensation or a leak?

Signs to check for

• Dark speckling on the roof deck when you shine a flashlight across it
• Insulation that feels damp on top or has gray patches
• Rusted nail tips, or drip marks beneath them
• A bath fan duct lying loose on the attic floor
• Musty air in upstairs closets after a run of wet weeks

Timing and the wet season

Attic condensation builds from roughly October through April, when the roof deck stays cold and the house is shut. That is when stains spread and a smell appears. Late spring and summer give the best working conditions, because the wood dries faster and insulation can go back in sooner. Even so, there is no reason to wait out a winter: correcting a fan duct or sealing ceiling gaps in November stops months of new growth. If rotten sheathing or rafters have to be replaced, ask the City of Lakewood Planning and Public Works Permit Center about permits first.