Posted on 11/29/2002 1:20:38 PM PST by Jean S
Now I know what happened to James "Dung Beetle" Carville!
If you see mold in your home, everyone agrees you should get rid of it. But experts say in most cases there is no need to have expensive mold remediation done. They advise homeowners to stop the water intrusion and to simply clean up the mold with a little bleach.
True, but misleadingly incomplete. The time to prevent mold problems is before the mold growth occurs. That means any moisture intrusion event should be treated with the same sense of urgency as a fire. Modern structures seldom dry out by themselves. Professional, expert, aggressive restorative drying is required. Just stopping additional intrusion is not at all adequate.
Biocides such as bleach are not effective at eliminating mold problems.
If it has spread, experts advise homeowners to replace moldy building materials like Sheetrock.
Improperly performed removal of moldy materials can make the problem MUCH worse.
It's also important to note that not all black-colored mold is Stachybotrys chartarum.
True. And there are a great many toxigenic molds. Stachybotrys is only one of them, and not necessarily the most potentially hazardous.
Bingo!
Most of the changes made to buildings since the 70's have made them much more likely to develop serious mold problems. A colleague of mine refers to them as "self-composting buildings." And, unfortunately, he has a point.
I am not an expert on mold but the phrase *toxic* mold was invented by lawyers and passed on to the media. I've heard the horror stories here in Sacramento about sick people. The majority of these homes are ready for demolition anyway and are unkept and filthy, usually rentals. Could the fault be in the housekeeping, I don't know....
Did I miss anything? Halitosis? Embarrassing rectal itch? Heartbreak of psoriasis? Webbed toes?
This reminds me of Gulf War Syndrome, which is apparently what caused anyone who ever set foot in the Persian Gulf during the early years of the 1990's to develop any affliction whatsoever.
It sounds like another case of somebody over-reacting, probably out of fear of liability. But it does sound like they're well off out of there.
Thorough laundering or dry cleaning should eliminate mold, unless it is already visibly growing on the items. Then it should be discarded, usually stained anyway. When laundering, use chlorine bleach if items can stand up to it. If not, use Clorox 2 or another oxygen bleach. I'd probably run them thru two cycles, adding 1/2 cup of vinegar to the second wash cycle rather than detergent.
I'm not a doctor, but I assume they should not have health problems now that they're out. Anyway, very few doctors are familiar with the health problems associated with mold exposures.
Thorough cleaning of furniture should be effective. Vacuuming should be done with a HEPA vacuum. Probably the easiest way to remove mold spores from most items is to blow them off with a leaf blower (air-washing) outside well away from a building.
If you want to e-mail me, I'll be glad to send you a list of resources. BTW, why does some other group have the right to confiscate their personal property without compensation?
BINGO! Like lead paint in the seventies and asbestos in the eighties, mold is the cash crop of this decade. Government and industries are whipping this up into the "Mold Rush".
On the large scale, they will condemn buildings rendering them worthless thus lowering property values and then the high rollers will scoop up the lots for pennies on a dollar. Shark investors are on the prowl for properties and they will steal it by selling the idea of "THE KILLER MOLD".
On the smaller scale, mold that can easily and relatively inexpensively removed, will require "LICENSED PROFESSIONALS" to meet strict building and health codes. In other words, home owners and especially rental property owners, will not be permitted to "do it themselves". They will have to hire "THE PROFESSIONALS" and THEY ARE EXPENSIVE!
If you want in on the action, shell out some cash, sign up for the classes and get that certificate. It's a happening thing! - AND A TOTAL CROCK OF $#!+.
Hey, I forgot to mention the lawyers but that's a whole nother story.
Being a home designer/builder, this kind of crap is one of my pet peeves.
I'll be there isn't one FReeper on this thread who has a clue what kind of HVAC sysem he/she has in the house. Metal ducts? Rigid fiberglass? Round flexible ducts? What is the total/sensible ratio of your AC unit? Where your air-handler is located, can you clean out the evaporator coils? How many air-changes per hour do you get in each room of the house?
Don't know about any of this? Then you deserve what you get.
So when we ripped out moldy flooring, wood and drywall and tossed it in the trash we were doing something wrong?
My husband took out the moldy stuff, replaced it with non-moldy stuff and now my house doesn't stink. My oldest son is allergic to mold (we had only lived in the house 1 week before we discovered the problem) and he's been fine.
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