Mold-riddled home declared total loss

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http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2003/09/17/jhmoldfo.htm

September 17, 2003Mold-riddled home declared total loss By Horrigan Times Herald-Record jhorrigan@... New Paltz – Jeff and Teri Chandler were hoping against hope that some small vestige of their lives might survive the onslaught of the toxic mold that drove them from their home in April. That hope is now officially dead. A report from an independent industrial hygienist who investigated the extent of mold contamination has told the couple their home should, in Jeff Chandler's words, "be taken down to the studs or dropped altogether." That means that not only is the house at 166 Plains Road a total loss, everything inside it is as well – furniture, fabrics, keepsakes. The Chandlers have known since February that their home was infested with various types of mold, apparently after their bathroom was renovated in the fall of 2001. They and their two children suffered a variety of physical ailments while living in the house. The family has been living since April in a 30-foot recreational vehicle parked behind their home. Teri Chandler said the couple had hoped that even though their home had been unoccupied since April and despite a humid, rainy summer, something would survive the mold's onslaught. "But this means that nothing made it," she said yesterday. She'd just returned from a doctor's visit with her 16-year-old son , who was diagnosed with bronchitis. According to a report made by industrial hygienist Olmstead, "all areas of the house appear to have mold colonization." Olmstead inspected the house last week after a team of moon-suited workmen gutted much of the house to determine the extent of the mold's presence. He took photographs of the house's interior that showed mold on shoes and leather jackets, on exposed wallboard. Several wood joists had been completely rotted by the mold. The report emphasizes "even after removal of all walls and cleaning of the wood, it may not be possible to completely remove moldØ…Ø" The couple has retained a lawyer but hasn't filed suit. Representatives of the insurance company for the contracting firm that installed plumbing two years ago visited the site on Monday with their own experts. The couple has asked the insurance company to make a decision about their case by today, especially in light of the fact that because the insurers stopped paying rental fees for the RV a month ago, the owner of the RV has said he'll be forced to remove it from their back yard. "We don't know where things are now," Jeff Chandler said yesterday. "Winter's coming on and we've got no winter clothes. This time tomorrow, we may have no house – again." A spokesman for the insurance company could not be reached for comment yesterday.