This can be caused by the action of fungal growth and molds and the affect they have on the tannins in the wood.
Black stains on plywood in attic.
When moisture condenses on plywood roof sheathing repeatedly or continuously the wood will turn black.
Black mold in attics.
You can remove small amounts of mold covering 10 square feet or less of attic sheathing yourself but if the mold growth covers more than 10 square feet you should contact a.
In this photo of very dark mold in an attic in a wet attic mold which we found to be brown in the microscope looked black on the plywood.
The black attic mold shown here confirms that this attic had a serious venting and moisture problem including moisture from sources lower in the building.
First let s look at the source.
This summer i cleaned the portion of the black stain with a dry mop as much as i could reach from the hatch opening.
Last winter i took a look into the attic and noticed black stains and water marks on a portion of the sheathing material.
In winter moist air is transported from the heated area of the home into the unheated attic space where it not only settles on the wooden rafters and plywood roof sheathing but also melts the snow on the roof leading to ice dams.
The following picture is of a long standing moisture condition in an attic where much of the roof sheathing has turned black.
While the black stains are either mould or just black dust from attic insulation settled on the.