Re: Mold test

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message -----

From: Bob

There is plywood underneath the carpeting in a mobile home and I am wondering if

the urine got into the plywood plus maybe even shampooing caused mold under the

carpet. I found a web sitte which sends the petri dishes to put out then you

return to them to be tested for mold. It is like $125 plus S & H. I was wondering

if anyone has used this method before and were they satisfied? this is cheaper

than pulling the carpet up

Hi Bob-

The queen of mold plates is Dr Sherry . She has now contracted with new

source who identifies even more molds than before. My last bedroom plating

found a really rare one in this part of the world! She uses a very sensitive

malt agar extract. FYI to females...I use one of these plates which identified

a vaginal yeast overgrowth even though my Gyn didn't find it. That's how

sensitive this media is.

http://virtualhometown.com/dfwcfids/medical/mold.html

https://secure.dreamscape.com/prestigepublishing/html_web_store/html_web_store.c\

gi

Mold plates will identify the bad stuff but it still needs to be erradicated at

the source. Before my chemical exposure, we bought a house that has been trashed

by the former owners. Between cats,dogs and birds, it was in rough shape. Keep

in mind that this was before CFIDS/MCS....we pulled up the carpets and washed

the plywood with Lysol (ugh!) about 20 times, drying thoroughly in between. We

then painted the plywood with about 3-4 coats of deck paint (ugh!) to seal it in

making sure it was completely dry before painting. All this definately helped

but the animal smell could still be detected on humid days. Suspecting the house

was causing problems, we eventually sold it and moved. We now live in a home

built on a concrete slab with no toxic basement.

Anyway, now that I am CFIDS/MCS, I would handle it differently. We would pull

up the carpet and wash the floors with AFM Super Clean and then paint it with a

bunch of coats of safe paint. Depending on the issues with the carpet, a carpet

cleaning company can take it back to the shop and get it clean. ChemDry has

been great solution for me as it's a club soda method of carpet cleaning using

very little water. Stanley Steamer is the only wet carpet cleaning option for

me with their enzyme based solutions but with a mold situation, applying water

may make it worse. Perhaps they could air dry it ouside or in a warm area where

it would throughly dry. Then we would just reinstall it. Fortunately there

are other good options too...safe bamboo wood flooring, safe new carpeting, etc.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Bob, FWIW, I think if the carpet doesn't look like it has any mold

on it, then just replace the plywood. Plywood is fairly inexpensive,

and maybe you could get someone to help you do it. You could also

put bleach on the carpet, it may discolor it, but it is better than

having mold/stink.

Mike C.

> Hi Bob-

>

> The queen of mold plates is Dr Sherry .

> Kathy

>

> Thanks Kathy, I will follow up on this. My aunt told me That the

plywood can be replaced, if needed. In Central America, the majority

of homes have ceramic tiles. My kitchen and bathrooms already have

lineolium but I have thinking about ceramic tiles. Anyone know if the

tiles are best? Also kathy, why bamboo wood versus regular wood?

>

> Thanks, Bob

[Guest guest]

Thanks Kathy, I will follow up on this. My aunt told me That the plywood can be

replaced, if needed. In Central America, the majority of homes have ceramic

tiles. My kitchen and bathrooms already have lineolium but I have thinking about

ceramic tiles. Anyone know if the tiles are best? Also kathy, why bamboo wood

versus regular wood?

Thanks, Bob

Bob-

Forgive me as I think like someone with MCS! Plywood is very toxic for me due

to the glues and other stuff used to make it. With plywood, I have to seal all

six sides with coats of safe paint or some type of sealer as the fomaldehyde

alone will screw me all up.

With ceramic tiles, we are thinking of putting of them in the bathrooms using

safe mastic and grout. The tiles themselves are fairly inert. The Healthy House

by Bower lists numerous tile manufacturers, depending on what the person is

looking for. We are now rethinking the tile thing and seriously considering

Timbergrass brand bamboo flooring as I know so many people who have had good

luck with it. Bamboo is a very hard and resilent wood and several brands are uv

heat sealed and cured at he factory and the samples I have slept with seemed to

be ok for me. There are some hardwoods on the market now from companies like

Mirage in Canada that use the same manufacturing process with oak, cherry, etc.

The problem for us is that being on a slab we can't just nail a floor down so

how to lay it will play a big role in our final decision.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Hi nne,

I have heard that it is better to get air tests for mold, but they are

$300 - 400. What is the house made of? It does sound suspicious for

having a mold problem. I don't know if you can find mold in the wall

cavities with one of those test kits. Maybe someone will be along with

some other ideas for you. Does it smell musty? That usually is a good

indicator too.

Good luck.

Judi

On May 2, 2005, at 7:19 PM, MARIANNE wrote:

> Hi Can anyone advise me how to check for indoor mold. My mother in

> law

> has summer house in the mountains. There are a lot of trees and the

> house

> had a lot of black mold on the outside. Last year my husband power

> washed

> it and got that off but inside a lot of the rooms are paneled and I

> find

> that my nose gets irritated inside. I saw a test kit at Lowes. Is

> that a

> good was to investigate and see if there is mold between the inside

> walls

> and the outside of the house or do we need to do something different

> to test

> I would appreciate any advice.. Thanks, nne

>

> -- [] Digest Number 2372

>

>