Mold in Japan

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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104 & article=20126 & archive=true

Yongsan toils to free mold’s hold By Kirk, Stars and StripesPacific edition, Tuesday, March 9, 2004

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — This funky-smelling housemate likes warm and wet places — and unfortunately for some base housing residents, it’s moved in.

Residents of Itaewon Acres, Eagle Grove and Black Hawk Village housing areas on Yongsan’s South Post have been dealing with mold problems. Spurred by leaky roofs and pipes, flooded basements and condensation, the mold has taken hold, said Lt. Col. Roemhildt, Area II Directorate of Public Works chief.

About once a month, public works displaces a resident to the Dragon Hill Lodge while his or her apartment walls and insulation are replaced to get rid of mold, he said.

Whether a family is moved from the apartment depends on family members’ sensitivity to mold, Roemhildt said. Mold can cause a variety of mild to serious allergic reactions.

The housing areas — which look distinctly like old American-style buildings — were built in the 1980s; the U.S. government rents them from the Korea National Housing Corporation, Roemhildt said. The apartments were built to standard at the time, he said.

About every six months, two buildings in those areas are renovated completely, Roemhildt said, adding that each unit also gets a fresh coat of paint and its ducts are cleaned before a new tenant moves in.

A walk-through shows clearly dated apartments, with tile floors, old wood framing and poorly insulated windows. A four-bedroom apartment under renovation, toured Friday as workers finished rebuilding a wall, had a strong damp smell.

In a bedroom, a mattress had mold on a corner. The tenant discovered the mold after moving the bed to get a better view of mold along the wall, said Ping Chan, housing division engineering branch chief.

Part of the problem is the buildings’ tile roofs, Chan said. If a leak starts, workers must locate its origin, he said — a difficult task because water may take a circuitous route through the walls.

“They have to find out where the leak is coming from and stop it,” Chan said.

Resident say they have some mold but the problems varies from place to place. Krista Kheiv said she will spray a little bit of bleach on a moldy spot in her storage room off the back deck when the weather gets warmer.

“You just grin and bear it and know it’s only two years,” she said.