Re: Need some advise, water damage

[Guest guest]

Rosie, whatever you do, do not try to clean it yourself. If you do have the

toxic strain stachybotrys present, you cannot kill it....not even with bleach.

You must contain it and remove the wall. That is why remediators remove the

walls (in addition to wearing biohazard suits). All you will do to the toxic

strain by trying to clean it is 'kick-up' the spores and further spread the

growth. The only answer is remediation. I know it is expensive, but your

health is worth it. I have been sick for a over a year and a half and have met

people who have been ill much longer.

Get a tester/remediator as soon as possible and hopefully it can be contained.

I hope this helps.

Healthier4all <Healthier4All@...> wrote:

Sunday night we had a very severe storm (tornado couple of blocks from our

home) and water was dripping from the ceiling of my front entry. This was

around midnight. I opened part of the sheetrock to allow the water to flow

out and detected mold odor. Put on my mask and protective gear and removed

more of the sheetrock. The hall is our entry by the front door,the roof

line is continuous from the front porch which slopes upward to the bottom of

the second floor which is a bedroom. Looking with a flashlight up the

opened sheetrock I saw wet insulation and wet and black wood studs (which

means to me this has been a slow leak for some time).

Took a huge trash bag, pulled the insulation I could reach and put it into

the bag, washed down the wood with soap and water (what I could reach) and

then sprayed after the rain stopped with vinegar and peroxide. However,

about 6 feet further up and more I can see black on the wood plus a moldy

smell. My dehumidifier is running full time, have a portable UV light which

I set up on a tall ladder by the opening and have two floor fans running

with media and charcoal filter material on them. I'm concerned of course

from what I know that this could be very dangerous.

Yesterday was Memorial Day, no contractor answered phone. I climbed up on

the roof and couldn't visually see obvious damage that would cause this

leak.

Hubby was given a referral by some employees in his company of a contractor

that is suppose to come today or tomorrow to inspect. I spoke with him on

the phone, explained my concerns and physical issues and he didn't seem that

concerned really.

Financially this will cost a lot of money. We cannot turn this claim in to

homeowners. We just signed a new policy, has $2,000 deductible and being

Texas if we have a water/mold claim we'll either be dropped or rates

increased and then tied into the insurance company for another 4 years. So

all this will have to be at our expense.

Questions for immediate advise and also for the repairs. First, what can I

do right now to protect myself and the home from further contamination?

Repair. Since I saw black discoloration on the wood going up to the second

floor, I think the entire sheetrock ceiling needs to be removed, all the

insulation taken out, all the wood taken out and replaced. What about a

product (non-toxic to me) to spray into that area and under the second story

floor area to kill any mold spores? And while they are doing all this I

think they need to isolate the area by putting plastic sheets on both side

of the hallway to reduce contamination to the rest of the house. They can

have access to the area by the front door.

Any suggestions and advise would be very appreciated. Without mask I'm

reacting in the hallway. Chest tightness and pain, hoarseness, burning eyes

and dizziness.

Thanks,

Rosie

--

No virus found in this outgoing message.

Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.

Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 267.3.1 - Release Date: 5/31/2005

FAIR USE NOTICE:

---------------------------------

[Guest guest]

Thank you ! You are correct; no need for me to mess with this

regardless of financial costs. I've been ill for 4 years now since the mold

issue during a severe storm which also caused my MCS in addition to Lupus

and RA and haven't been able to work since. Avoidance is the key; when I

have no exposures I become normal within days. Once exposed to either molds

or environmental toxics I react. No need to become physically worse with my

trying to do some remedial work myself and safe money.

I was able to get a contractor (said he's worked with mold remediation) and

his roofer out today. Stayed over 4 hours trying to determine cause of

leak, extent of damage, etc.

Cause of leak the finally found: a hole in an air hawk very top of roof

plus most of the nails coming out of air hawk and water coming in that way;

been a slow leak until the tornado Sunday evening. This is a blessing

really to know we've had this slow leak and of the mold. My attic cannot be

accessed completely due to the design of this house; however they could see

and the roofer crawled to the leak area; the plywood was wet, black and

covered with mold. First course of action will be to cut out the plywood

and surrounding area, check for any other damage while the roof is open and

repair all that. Roofer inspected house completely (only 4 years old from

previous storm) and found all the air hawks' nails are coming loose for

potential leaks which need to be replaced and several other improper

building materials that need to be fixed. Will be adding more down spouts

to my gutters from roof to increase water flow during our heavy storms so

they will not splash inside roof, my skylight was damaged from a hail storm

and is leaking which must be replaced before mold and water damage, etc.

this will be done as soon as rains are over for a few days; hopefully

Friday; tomorrow we should have more rain storms.

Concerning the interior, they will address this after the exterior repairs

have been made; will enclose the hallway with heavy plastic on both side

with only the front door as their entrance, etc. Estimate has not been

given me.

Since I'm already reacting to the mold I need to stay away from it and hope

this can be soon resolved.

Thanks,

Rosie

Re: [] Need some advise, water damage

> Rosie, whatever you do, do not try to clean it yourself. If you do have

> the toxic strain stachybotrys present, you cannot kill it....not even with

> bleach. You must contain it and remove the wall. That is why remediators

> remove the walls (in addition to wearing biohazard suits). All you will

> do to the toxic strain by trying to clean it is 'kick-up' the spores and

> further spread the growth. The only answer is remediation. I know it is

> expensive, but your health is worth it. I have been sick for a over a

> year and a half and have met people who have been ill much longer.

>

> Get a tester/remediator as soon as possible and hopefully it can be

> contained. I hope this helps.

>

>

--

No virus found in this outgoing message.

Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.

Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 267.3.1 - Release Date: 5/31/2005

[Guest guest]

What is sheetrock? Is that something like concrete only put on as a

surface treatment?

I opened part of the sheetrock to allow the water to flow

> out and detected mold odor. Put on my mask and protective gear and

removed

> more of the sheetrock.

[Guest guest]

Is 'greenboard' better to put up than sheetrock?

> Thanks Marcie for answering for me.

>

> Barb see

>

http://www.ou.edu/architecture/dcns/csidivisions/div5/wallbasics/web/gy

p.htm

> for a description. All of our interior walls are constructed of

sheetrock.

> Moisture is a big problem with them, sheetrock has a brown paper

lining on

> one side which is like a sponge and food for mold so whenever any

water

> damage sheetrock must be removed.