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Toxic Intruder: Black Mold Panic Has Families Fleeing Their Homes
ABCNEWS.com ^ | 11/29/02

Posted on 11/29/2002 1:20:38 PM PST by Jean S

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To: Eagle Eye
I certainly hope you got it all dry.

I did better - I moved!! Seriously, cleaning a carpet does get the carpet wet. Very wet. But, if you have A/C (r better yet, if you clean it in the heating season), you can get it totally dry within 2 or 3 days. Really, it pretty much dries out within 24 hours or so, but you know that you need to dehumidify the air constantly for a few days to really wick the moisture out. Air conditioning does this fairly well - a gas furnace in the dead of winter does even better.

81 posted on 11/29/2002 4:49:25 PM PST by meyer
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To: meyer
... the increasing prevalence of asthma.

My relative realized that her dishwaher was causing her to have asthma attacks. She switched soap and it stopped.

I can't walk down the aisle with detergents and cleaning products at the store without having a sneezing fit.

I think I'll sue!

82 posted on 11/29/2002 4:53:33 PM PST by lonestar
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To: SBprone
Metal studs...

I sell all my basement totals with metal instead of wood. Galvanised and won't hold water. Big seller. Makes a straight wall too.

SR

83 posted on 11/29/2002 4:54:03 PM PST by sit-rep
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To: JeanS
You can get an ozone lamp you put in your A/C ducts. Will kill all mold in the ducts at least and help clean the air in the house.
84 posted on 11/29/2002 4:56:47 PM PST by dennisw
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To: liberateUS
Mold has been a big problem in the schools here. Funny how buildings with windows that open do not seem to have a mold problem

You're telling me! one of my biggest complaints about the office building I work in is that the windows are sealed shut. Good way to keep spreading viruses too. No fresh air, just recycled crap air.

85 posted on 11/29/2002 4:57:07 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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To: sit-rep
Infact, I generally add a zero when it's mistakingly diagnosed a black mold situation.

I may be reading this entirely wrong, but it seemed to me that you are saying that you raise the price if people aren't informed enough to know the difference between black mold and other molds or mildews. Is this what I'm reading?

86 posted on 11/29/2002 4:57:52 PM PST by meyer
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To: meyer
LOL...hell yes! lol...

Same thing goes for something like putting in a hard wood floor. If folks new how easy it was, they would not pay 7 to 15 dollars a foot to have it put in. Same difference...

SR

87 posted on 11/29/2002 5:02:29 PM PST by sit-rep
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To: meyer; Eagle Eye
Pulled out all our carpets a while ago. Harwood floors are a lot easier to keep clean, and they do not "store" stuff in them.
88 posted on 11/29/2002 5:03:09 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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Comment #89 Removed by Moderator

To: sit-rep
sorry, new = knew
90 posted on 11/29/2002 5:05:14 PM PST by sit-rep
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To: Bella_Bru
No fresh air, just recycled crap air.

Another reason I don't like airplanes!

91 posted on 11/29/2002 5:10:59 PM PST by lonestar
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To: Bella_Bru
Pulled out all our carpets a while ago. Harwood floors are a lot easier to keep clean, and they do not "store" stuff in them.

Yes, I pulled carpet out of all the bedrooms in the old house and only kept it in the living room/hall. I still like walking on a carpeted floor. But you're right, carpets do hold dirt like there's no tomorrow.

The new house has carpet in all bedrooms and the living room. If I want hardwood, I'm going to have to remove the carpet and install the hardwood since there's only underlayment below the carpet. Perhaps in a few years.

Honestly, I don't think carpet is that big of a concern with mold, though dust and dust mites may be an issue. Mold is more likely to show up in an area that gets wet and stays wet.

BTW, you may have stumbled onto something else that can be associated with the increased occurance of asthma - carpet.

92 posted on 11/29/2002 5:20:56 PM PST by meyer
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To: sit-rep
LOL...hell yes! lol...

Same thing goes for something like putting in a hard wood floor. If folks new how easy it was, they would not pay 7 to 15 dollars a foot to have it put in. Same difference...

I'm having trouble deciding if you're a basic free market kind of guy or a rip-off artist. 7 to 15 dollars... that's basically a 2:1 range of price. Does that depend on the customer or the type of floor?

93 posted on 11/29/2002 5:25:33 PM PST by meyer
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To: Eagle Eye
Some of these materials are hydrophillic (attract water).

Drop a chunk of it in water, watch it swell. The stuff doesn't hold nails well (or the cheap wire staples a lot of them use now). When it is used for roofing, flooring or walls, it can swell enough to loosen nails from studs and joists.

94 posted on 11/29/2002 5:25:44 PM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood
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To: Sir Francis Dashwood
Drop a chunk of it in water, watch it swell. The stuff doesn't hold nails well (or the cheap wire staples a lot of them use now). When it is used for roofing, flooring or walls, it can swell enough to loosen nails from studs and joists.

Some of these sheathing and flooring materials are designed to be wet, but most aren't (at least not to stay wet). One or two rains during construction won't hurt most building materials, but a constant soaking will ruin them. Myself, I prefer plywood, though it is expensive now days.

95 posted on 11/29/2002 5:29:38 PM PST by meyer
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To: lonestar
I cannot even tell you how many times a year colds and stomach flu make their way around our office. It doesn't help when you cannot open any windows.
96 posted on 11/29/2002 5:32:05 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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To: meyer
One of my family members has horrible asthma attacks. When they pulled out their carpeting, the attacks slowed and were not as severe. His doctor told him, it doesn't matter how often you vaccuum, just get rid of it.

Mold can grow in your carpetting, if you have a bad flood and it does not properly dry.

All I know is any homes I purchase in the future will not be a newer, energy efficient airtight model.

97 posted on 11/29/2002 5:35:05 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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To: JeanS
One of our local TV stations did a special on this problem of mold in newer homes here in the Denver metro area. From the outside and inside the homes looked fine but inside the walls mold had gotten in and rotted the wood so bad it could be crumbled in someone's hands. It was said that thousands of homes have this problem but no mention of anybody getting sick from it. From what I could see the problem was shoddy workmanship (Naw, No way!). As the house was being completed the outside had wire mesh which would be covered with some kind of covering which if it wasn't put on with care would allow water to leak inside the walls and thus begin the mold problem.
98 posted on 11/29/2002 5:38:56 PM PST by jwh_Denver
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To: meyer
Not the customer. The size of the floor is one factor, how cut up it is(cabinets, lotta hallways, etc.) is another.

IOW, if I had a floor that was totally open and 1000 sq ft, I'd be down around 8 or 9 bucks a foot. If I had a tight kitchen with multiple islands w/walk-in pantry, I'd kick it up a bit.

BTW...It matters not the type of floor. I was talking my labor prices. Any interior specialty, if you're not making 300 to 450 a day, you're doing something wrong.

SR

99 posted on 11/29/2002 5:39:58 PM PST by sit-rep
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To: meyer
I prefer plywood, though it is expensive now days.

Especially that 1 1/8" tongue and groove flooring. I saw a place this guy built himself where the floor was large slabs of marble set in a reinforced concrete slab. Talk about expensive...

100 posted on 11/29/2002 5:45:55 PM PST by Sir Francis Dashwood
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