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White Powder on Roof Rafters - What is That?

By Robert Dirienzo

Home Inspector with HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC

May 01, 2011 03:31 PM

Anybody know what this white stuff is? Saw it on about 12 rafters in the same house attic.

White Powder Photo 1

White Powder 2

Very dry and powdery. Test negative for mold.

Richard Acree

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http://habitecinspections.com

Comments in this blog posting are the copyrighted intellectual property of Richard Acree, President, HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC, and contributing members of the Active Rain Real Estate network, and are intended to educate and otherwise assist home owners, sellers and buyers, building owners, sellers and buyers, realtors, real estate investors, property managers, and lenders in the process of owning, buying or selling homes or commercial buildings. HABITEC is a residential (home) and commercial building inspection company serving Middle Tennessee including Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, Hendersonville, Dickson, Belle Meade, Columbia, Spring Hill and more! In addition to building inspections HABITEC offers Environmental Services for mold assessments, radon testing and water quality analysis. Additional information about HABITEC can be found on our website at http://habitecinspections.com, or call 615-376-2753.

Richard Acree is the author of the HABITEC Home and Building Inspections ActiveRain Blog and founder of the ActiveRain Group Tennessee Home and Building Inspectors. All are welcome to join and see more blogs like this one. You can also join HABITEC on Facebook or Linked .

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Joan Whitebook

BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH

Consumer Focused Real Estate Services

I haven't seen anything like that before. I will stop back by to see what others have to say.

May 01, 2011 03:34 PM

Robert Dirienzo

HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC - Franklin, TN

Home Inspections - Nashville TN

Thanks Joan. We took a swab sample and it came back negative for mold. But it looks moldy.

HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC

May 01, 2011 03:37 PM

Trang Beuschlein

Homes for Sale in Campbell CA- Broker-BKR Realty - Campbell, CA

Campbell CA Real Estate - Campbell CA Homes for Sa

Richard, hopefully another home inspector has a chance to read your blog and comment on what that is. I'm interested to read what it is also.

May 01, 2011 03:57 PM

Matt Grohe

RE/MAX Concepts - Des Moines, IA

Serving the metro since 2003

Richard, That's really unusual. Maybe some kind of lichen.

May 01, 2011 04:32 PM

Charles Buell

Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA

Seattle Home Inspector

Richard I see that often---especially in older houses---the boards were just kicking around in the mud prior to installation----sometimes you will even see footprints. Another common source of that "look" is when the boards were used as concrete forms and then reused in the structure eleswhere.

May 01, 2011 06:51 PM

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your perspective. Using the boards as concrete forms is the best explanation I have heard. Makes sense, especially since the white material tested negative for mold. There were some that had clearly been impacted by dirt, ie. mud, where the color of the stain was more brown, like dirt. But this was bright white, which makes more sense when thought of as residual from a concrete pour.

Thanks,

May 02, 2011 01:53 AM

Steven L. Smith

King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA

Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Maybe it is more common up here in Washington. I see that fairly often in Bellingham and I hate it. Not that it is a big problem but it does get your attention and you have to explain what you think it is to clients or, someday down the road, they will be calling to say you did not tell them about mold. So it is easier to cut it off at the pass and tell them what you suspect it to be going in. It is disarming at first sight and I always take a pretty hard look to make sure I am confident as to what I am seeing. Plus, I get to share my photos with the master, Charlie, and that is one big plus.

May 02, 2011 04:27 AM

Hi Steven,

You are right! The Client will certainly expect an explanation for this white material on the roof rafters in the attic. It is difficult to declare this one substance over another simply based on one's senses of sight or smell. After all, some mold shows up as a white powdery material, but more often in a crawl space than an attic. In the end, a sample probably should be analyzed by a mold lab technician to make sure what you are looking at.

May 16, 2011 04:01 PM

White Powder on Roof Rafters - What is That?

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