Blackish Substance

[denable]

Found this material on the attic fiberglass insulation of a one year old house. Attic was well ventilated and had no leakage. The substance was found in only one small area. No signs of any animal presence and there were no trees near the roof and no visible openings around the roof / attic.

At first I thought it might be animal droppings, but I've seen raccoon, bat, squirrel & mice stuff before and this was nothing like I've seen before. It almost looked like a puffy type of mold, but the attic was dry and I don't believe mold would thrive on fiberglass.

Any ideas?

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[Danny Pritchard]

Looks like the last HI that went up there had a plug of tobacco and had to spit.

[denable]

Originally posted by Danny Pritchard

Looks like the last HI that went up there had a plug of tobacco and had to spit.

Dan,

I don't think there were any other inspectors up there, but that sounds like a possibilty, something a construction worker could have done.

Dennis

[swarga]

My first thought was tobacco also, I chewed the stuff for years while I was building. I never left a plug like that in the attic though.

I did leave one in a projects managers chair once but that SOB deserved it.

[Les]

What did it taste like? Were there any aromatic qualities?

[denable]

Originally posted by Les

What did it taste like? Were there any aromatic qualities?

Sorry, couldn't get the agent to sample it.

Speaking of which I had a kind of related funny incident. There was a strong odor of gas in the basement which I traced to the water heater. The TIFF 8800 was singing real loud. The female agent claimed she couldn't smell anything. My client looked at me like he thought the agent was lying or had no smell sense. I asked my client for a match so that I could visibly show the agent where the gas leak was. You should have seen her bolt out of the basement.[]

(No I really don't pinpoint gas leaks with a match.)

Dennis

[chrisprickett]

Did the agent have Mexican for lunch? Maybe she was just embarrassed[:-splat]

[Jerry Simon]

(No I really don't pinpoint gas leaks with a match.)

Dennis

[/quote

Why not? I do on a regular basis, esp. when my Tiff batteries are low. If you think about it, you do EXACTLY the same thing every time you light a fireplace gas log starter, or every time you light a gas cooktop. Grandpa taught me well.

[Paul MacLean]

One well qualified HVAC contractor I know tests for gas leaks with a match. Scared the b-jesus out of me the first time I so him do it. He's been in business for 20 years and is still testing for gas leaks...but I'm not going to try it!

[Renron]

Dennis,

Mold will not grow on fiberglass, however, it will grow on the paper backing,a dirt layer anywhere (like glass or tile) or the wood framing. There must be water ERH (equalibrium relative humidity) of ~61% or higher for viable spores to germinate. Your photo doesn't look like its wet, could it be dried owl droppings?

Ron

[denable]

Originally posted by Renron

Dennis,

Mold will not grow on fiberglass, however, it will grow on the paper backing,a dirt layer anywhere (like glass or tile) or the wood framing. There must be water ERH (equalibrium relative humidity) of ~61% or higher for viable spores to germinate. Your photo doesn't look like its wet, could it be dried owl droppings?

Ron

Being only a year old, I don't think there would be enough dirt / dust on the insulation. No way for an owl to et into the attic.

Dennis