RE:. Does Smell indicate Mold or just VOC's?

[Guest guest]

Barb,

Try temporarily covering the flooring that has gaps with a removable

adhesive-backed plastic film made for the purpose by Pro-tect:

www.pro-tect.com. This will stop all particle emissions immediately from

covered areas. Then damp wipe undamaged areas to get rid of residual dust.

(You may have to HEPA vacuum other surfaces as well.)

If there is mold between the flooring and subfloor, compression of the top

layer can send moldy dust into the air through the cracks, so covering

should stop these emissions.

Good luck.

C. May, M.A., CIAQP

May Indoor Air Investigations LLC

1522 Cambridge Street

Cambridge, MA 02139

617-354-1055

www.mayindoorair.com

www.myhouseiskillingme.com

writes:

Posted by: " barb1283 " barb1283@... barb1283

Date: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:32 pm ((PST))

To all you experts out there:

I moved into this new temporary apartment a month ago and notice it

*does* smell musty even though weather has permitted opening windows

almost every day and at night I have an Austin Hepa Plus running and

it has hardwood floors and place is otherwise clean, inside my unit

anyway. I ALSO have not been feeling well since I got here, not

real sick but loss of appetite, and other things where I was doing

very well at the extended stay hotel I was staying at for two and

half months. I moved here due to good test results from mold plates

that caught no viable mold spores...only place I got *no mold*.

However something else did grow in dish, I don't know what it was,

bacteria, yeast...not sure but not round things like mold and took

very long and not alot. SO could place be full of <<TOXINS>> even

though not much mold in air? I know this has been discussed. It is

very old building so even low amounts of mold over long periods of

time I guess toxins could build up, right?

The only thing I see is that hardwood floor is not in good

condition. The boards are spaced far apart, like with age they have

moved or shrunken so it really isn't the nice smooth non- poroused

surface that I can keep real clean that I had imagined. When I

sweep it, what I am sweeping can just fall between the boards.

Could musty smell becoming from hardwood floor since it is so old?

Looks like there is a lot of 'krud' in between floor gaps. I had my

cat here one day and he spent alot of time sniffing floor so he must

have found it odorous...so wondering if musty odor is coming from

floor.

Finding a good place is soooooooooo hard!!!! I was crying first few

days I was here, so discouraged. (It is also extremely noisey at

all hours. I so used to my completely quiet single family home on

dead end street.) I think what happened is when I looked at

apartment people were still in here and were cooking so probably

couldn't smell the musty odor for that reason.

So am I in good shape due to no mold caught in mold plate or is fact

place smells mean that I didn't find a clean place????

[Guest guest]

I noticed there is quite alot of dust on radiators so some smell can

be coming from there also, so will clean radiators well, which won't

be easy since areas seem to be very hard to reach. I'm learning so

much about the pitfalls of the different ways to heat and cool

homes. I thought radiators were perfect but they are hard to get

clean. I'm going to get a brush used to clean under refrigerator

and see if I can get at the dust and dirt that way. I don't think

the vaporizer could get in there due to clogs of dust. However,

wood floor is still not good and I think I will use plastic over

whole floor and then once a month take it up, clean floor and put

down new plastic. That should hold me until I decide where to go

next. I would work on this until it was better but noise here will

make it impossible to stay. Thanks for the advice everyone.

>

> Barb,

>

> Try temporarily covering the flooring that has gaps with a

removable

> adhesive-backed plastic film made for the purpose by Pro-tect:

> www.pro-tect.com. This will stop all particle emissions

immediately from

> covered areas.

[Guest guest]

If you put an impermeable barrier over that wood floor such as a plastic sheet,

it will make any mustiness WORSE.

You know, the prior tenent may have had area rugs with no slip barrier beneath

and once taken up, the floor would be musty. Best to clean with vac and then

mop with borax, turn the heat up real high and leave for a few hours and then

air out the house.

But for goodness sake, use a wet towel on those radiators and at least hit the

high spots on it.

barb1283 <barb1283@...> wrote:

I noticed there is quite alot of dust on radiators so some smell can

be coming from there also, so will clean radiators well, which won't

be easy since areas seem to be very hard to reach. I'm learning so

much about the pitfalls of the different ways to heat and cool

homes. I thought radiators were perfect but they are hard to get

clean. I'm going to get a brush used to clean under refrigerator

and see if I can get at the dust and dirt that way. I don't think

the vaporizer could get in there due to clogs of dust. However,

wood floor is still not good and I think I will use plastic over

whole floor and then once a month take it up, clean floor and put

down new plastic. That should hold me until I decide where to go

next. I would work on this until it was better but noise here will

make it impossible to stay. Thanks for the advice everyone.

>

> Barb,

>

> Try temporarily covering the flooring that has gaps with a

removable

> adhesive-backed plastic film made for the purpose by Pro-tect:

> www.pro-tect.com. This will stop all particle emissions

immediately from

> covered areas.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

The high spots on radiator is not where the dirt is. Probably dusted

frequently there since you can reach the tops of them. It's all the

tight little areas where air is supposed to go through to be heated

that is chuck full of thick dust and dirt I see NOW. It's hard to see

it, since it is between the fins. You need a flashlight and to make

an effort to see area. I put a 'Grab-It' duster in there and pulled

it out and pulled out HUGE clumps of dust so very dirty. I still

think some odor can be coming from there. It may not be mustiness but

the odor of 'cooking up some dust and dirt!' Yumm.

Re: wet towel

My great aunt was champion of cleaning and says...never to damp clean

anything until you have thoroughly dry cleaned it first or you turn

dry dirt into mud, so I will vaccumm and also use grab its. Those are

great. They get the dirt and don't let go and you pitch them out.

When things are as clean as you can get them with dry method, then

some water is okay, or better yet, 's suggestion for vaporize

the stuff which is limited water but lots of heat.

--- In , jane mosher <janeannmosher@...>

wrote:

>

>But for goodness sake, use a wet towel on those radiators and at

least hit the high spots on it.

>

[Guest guest]

Not to diminish what your great aunt said, but all of the allergists and EI

doctors say to damp clean and then to dry it off. If you dry clean something

you are putting that junk in the air. You may have to work a little harder but

I would prefer that to breathing the old old dust in.

It does not take a rocket scientist to clean a radiator. And if you can

remove 90 percent of it you are far ahead than you were before.

barb1283 <barb1283@...> wrote:

The high spots on radiator is not where the dirt is. Probably dusted

frequently there since you can reach the tops of them. It's all the

tight little areas where air is supposed to go through to be heated

that is chuck full of thick dust and dirt I see NOW. It's hard to see

it, since it is between the fins. You need a flashlight and to make

an effort to see area. I put a 'Grab-It' duster in there and pulled

it out and pulled out HUGE clumps of dust so very dirty. I still

think some odor can be coming from there. It may not be mustiness but

the odor of 'cooking up some dust and dirt!' Yumm.

Re: wet towel

My great aunt was champion of cleaning and says...never to damp clean

anything until you have thoroughly dry cleaned it first or you turn

dry dirt into mud, so I will vaccumm and also use grab its. Those are

great. They get the dirt and don't let go and you pitch them out.

When things are as clean as you can get them with dry method, then

some water is okay, or better yet, 's suggestion for vaporize

the stuff which is limited water but lots of heat.

--- In , jane mosher <janeannmosher@...>

wrote:

>

>But for goodness sake, use a wet towel on those radiators and at

least hit the high spots on it.

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I'm glad it doesn't take a rocket scientist to clean my radiators

since I wouldn't be able to afford that at all!!! I think a vaccum

cleaner will not scatter dust and grab-its don't either but since

neither one of us have the scientific background, different approaches

can not be resolved I guess. May has the background to

resolve this cleaning conundrum.

--- In , jane mosher <janeannmosher@...>

wrote:

>

> Not to diminish what your great aunt said, but all of the allergists

and EI doctors say to damp clean and then to dry it off. If you dry

clean something you are putting that junk in the air. You may have to

work a little harder but I would prefer that to breathing the old old

dust in.

> It does not take a rocket scientist to clean a radiator. And if

you can remove 90 percent of it you are far ahead than you were

before.

>

[Guest guest]

Barb, bear in mind that even a HEPA vacumn ends up letting a lot of paticles

through, and unless they exhaust outside, they stir up stuff as they clean.

Vacumns with good filters that exhaust inside (all vacumn cleaners that are

not centrally installed) can be good once your place is cleaned up well, but

at the beginning, bear in mind that any vacumn has to let air (and the

smallest particles) through to work.

If there is stachy or many other molds in that floor, that means that even

the best HEPA vacumn cleaner could end up causing major inflammation and

even killing cells in your body. Make sure you have the windows open and

good air circulation - going outside when you vacumn! And change bags

frequently if you use a vacumn cleaner that uses them.

[Guest guest]

I found it impossible when I was newly sick to vacume or be in the

house the day it was vacumned-so I hired a cleaning person and took

the day off-also when my car was vacumned, it took 3 days before I

could ride in it again-this is with hepa-it still stirs everything up

--- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...>

wrote:

>

> Barb, bear in mind that even a HEPA vacumn ends up letting a lot of

paticles

> through, and unless they exhaust outside, they stir up stuff as

they clean.

> Vacumns with good filters that exhaust inside (all vacumn cleaners

that are

> not centrally installed) can be good once your place is cleaned up

well, but

> at the beginning, bear in mind that any vacumn has to let air (and

the

> smallest particles) through to work.

>

> If there is stachy or many other molds in that floor, that means

that even

> the best HEPA vacumn cleaner could end up causing major

inflammation and

> even killing cells in your body. Make sure you have the windows

open and

> good air circulation - going outside when you vacumn! And change

bags

> frequently if you use a vacumn cleaner that uses them.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have the same problem with the car after it is vacuumed so I have someone

leave the windows down on the drive home and put a fan in there to blow out

whatever has been stirred up. Then someone cleans the interior every now and

then. Sometimes I find it better to not vaccum the car too often especially if

it is damp outside. I park it outside so as to avoid the garage but it is

exposed to daily grass watering by my neighbor on the left side of our house.

He has that sprinkler going every morning at 7 even if it is freezing outside.

carondeen <kdeanstudios@...> wrote: I found it impossible when

I was newly sick to vacume or be in the

house the day it was vacumned-so I hired a cleaning person and took

the day off-also when my car was vacumned, it took 3 days before I

could ride in it again-this is with hepa-it still stirs everything up

--- In , LiveSimply <quackadillian@...>

wrote:

>

> Barb, bear in mind that even a HEPA vacumn ends up letting a lot of

paticles

> through, and unless they exhaust outside, they stir up stuff as

they clean.

> Vacumns with good filters that exhaust inside (all vacumn cleaners

that are

> not centrally installed) can be good once your place is cleaned up

well, but

> at the beginning, bear in mind that any vacumn has to let air (and

the

> smallest particles) through to work.

>

> If there is stachy or many other molds in that floor, that means

that even

> the best HEPA vacumn cleaner could end up causing major

inflammation and

> even killing cells in your body. Make sure you have the windows

open and

> good air circulation - going outside when you vacumn! And change

bags

> frequently if you use a vacumn cleaner that uses them.

>

>

>