Re: Credentials for finding air quality problems

February 24, 2007

To the best of my knowledge, there are no national standards for licensing these

folks and there don't seem to be any at the state level, either. They get their

credentials from the trade associations they have trained with, I believe... I

hope someone has a better answer than this, but if there is one, I don't know

it.

I recently answered someone's question about what to ask some one who may do

environmental testing on your home...if you can look that up, it's lessons from

our ignorance from when we tested going on three years ago now. We've learned a

lot in the mean time.

Best,

~Haley

barb1283 <barb1283@...> wrote: What type

of credentials should I look for someone to find out what

type of air quality problems I have? I know I have mold and lead dust

already. I know where lead dust is coming from but don't know where

mold is exactly yet, although I have good suspicions on testing

already done? Thanks

~Haley

February 25, 2007

Have you ever thought about cracking into those spaces and looking for it

yourself? If its your house, that is your right.

You have SO many more options than renters do.

There was a good suggestion on iequality recently to keep mold cleanup costs

down by using wet dry vacs and leaving the vac OUTDOORS and put long

extension tubes on it so it can go anywhere inside but the exhaust is

outside.. That is preferable to HEPA for obvious reasons.. the small

particles end up outside and the vac can be dumped outside and never even

have to go into the house.

How much can that cost.. maybe -$200 for the vac and the super long tube..

That would prevent the particulates from being blown around inside as they

are being cleaned..

Sure, you could pay others to do it but that could end up costing more than

you can afford. Of course, if you are like me, this might not work until the

weather and everything else is cooperative - because the ventilation is

essential or you will still get sick.. But if it was my house I would want

to do these things myself because OTHER PEOPLE DON'T TAKE YOUR HEALTH

SERIOUSLY ENOUGH.

Make absolutely sure you contain rooms well and wear major PPE!!

- N100 mask, gloves, disposable tyvek suit including eye protection. i

would also invest in a blower fan or two to keep airflow RIGHT and the debis

going outside fast.

Test everything first with smoke or something (incense???) to make sure that

if you do find and release a lot of mold it will get carried OUTSIDE quickly

by whatever system you end up with.

February 25, 2007

Although these are some good suggestions. You must remember that IEquality is

dealing w/alot of professionals. It is not a good choice for someone who has no

knowledge about mold or proper procedure to clean up their own home. It's

sounds wonderful and very cost reductive. However, it is not as simple as

simply hooking up a vac outside and wearing protective wear. There are several

steps before you even get to that point. Many of here are not professionals and

are advising how to do clean up, some are professionals here and will step on

those boundries. It is always wise to help people, but telling them how to clean

up their own mold problem brings many complications.

With that said I will not touch telling someone the procedure for cleaning

something up that I have not physically seen. But, I would happy to give you

this link: www.iaqa.org . Here you find lists of professionals. It is

possible to clean up your own home. But, there are health risks involved.

Also, if it is not done 100% properly you will be wasting your time and money.

Atleast get a professional to consult with you in your home. There are many

inspectors who will give you suggestions on how to clean it up properly. Just

remember it is not as easy as hooking up a vac and going to town for someone not

trained or guided.

Re: [] Credentials for finding air quality problems

Have you ever thought about cracking into those spaces and looking for it

yourself? If its your house, that is your right.

You have SO many more options than renters do.

There was a good suggestion on iequality recently to keep mold cleanup costs

down by using wet dry vacs and leaving the vac OUTDOORS and put long

extension tubes on it so it can go anywhere inside but the exhaust is

outside.. That is preferable to HEPA for obvious reasons.. the small

particles end up outside and the vac can be dumped outside and never even

have to go into the house.

How much can that cost.. maybe -$200 for the vac and the super long tube..

That would prevent the particulates from being blown around inside as they

are being cleaned..

Sure, you could pay others to do it but that could end up costing more than

you can afford. Of course, if you are like me, this might not work until the

weather and everything else is cooperative - because the ventilation is

essential or you will still get sick.. But if it was my house I would want

to do these things myself because OTHER PEOPLE DON'T TAKE YOUR HEALTH

SERIOUSLY ENOUGH.

Make absolutely sure you contain rooms well and wear major PPE!!

- N100 mask, gloves, disposable tyvek suit including eye protection. i

would also invest in a blower fan or two to keep airflow RIGHT and the debis

going outside fast.

Test everything first with smoke or something (incense???) to make sure that

if you do find and release a lot of mold it will get carried OUTSIDE quickly

by whatever system you end up with.

February 25, 2007

That kind of thing appeals to me. I'm a do-it-yourselfer. I doned

the gear and wet the asbestos wrapping around my ductwork and took

it down. However I also dry sanded some paint that turned out to

have an under layer of lead paint and inhaled it, and the next year

fell off a ladder on to concrete while patching the foundation of my

house and lived to tell about it. I have been extremely lucky.

Also, I've been hit by a car that just left me with a broken leg!

Talk about having a few lives!

I may use Wei Tang (not sure of name) method for testing through

hole in wall in my kitchen which has peeling paint of ceiling and a

bedroom wall that has an odor. However that's all. Since I've been

so sick, this time I'm going to go to the sidelines. I need to find

someone reliable though. I've been discussing this for three years

so I think I will be able to tell if someone sounds like he or she

is on the right track but wondered if there was any organization

that screened their members better and members knew more about mold

than your average IAQ professional.

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

wrote:

>

> Have you ever thought about cracking into those spaces and looking

for it

>

February 25, 2007

I don't think I can do it because I believe it's up in the attic and I

cannot walk around up there, no floor and may involve chimney out of

repair, roof, etc, so I will be having someone else do this repair.

Thanks .

>

> Although these are some good suggestions. You must remember that

IEquality is dealing w/alot of professionals.

February 25, 2007

Barb,

I think you should look for someone who will get the job done with what you

have to do it with no unpleasant surprises.

A flat rate for scoping the problem, then thats paid, and then a flat rate

for cleanup and replacement of moldy materials would be nice if possible.

But what would terrify me would be the kind of attitude you see all the time

in which as soon as the client is gone, caution and containment don't

matter.... I don't think real pros would do that but Barb lives in Ohio and

its a challenge finding people like them in urban areas, so Id suspect

finding them in Ohio would not be that easy..

Barb, have you emailed. specifically Carl and asked him if he knows anybody?

You should.

, just to get a ballpark idea, of how much this costs, how much do you

charge, per hour, for your services?

Please be specific. Are you an IEP?

How much do pro remediation companies like the ones you have described cost?

How much does a job like hers cost? Hard to tell without seeing it? Usually,

the first 'scoping' consultant does preliminary testing and they write a

recommendation based on that and then another company does the cleanup, and

then the first company comes back and tests..

But of course, that process is subject to some big problems.. it doesn't

always work so easily...

Given that she doesn't know where the problem is yet, the act of finding the

mold could take a while. If her house is small, its chances of being

successful are good, but if its large.. maybe less so.

Are pros the answer? Some of them REALLY are good.. I think that I have a

good feeling of the good points and bad points of hiring pros in general..

There are some big gotchas.. How do you define when you are done is the big

one.. The criteria is that the person is no longer geting sick.. at alll...

Over on iequality they can't even agree on what 'cleaned up' really is. One

group say 'its to the pre-loss condition' another group says that it should

be squeaky clean, another group says 'it depends on how much the client can

pay'.

And of course, it depends the most on how much water incursion there has

been and for how long. Barb would have te best instinct there..

Barb is sick in all probability like I am sick which means that what is

clean for a lot of non-sick, people might not work for her.

With no standards, there really is no 'dirty'.

Its all becomes a matter of degree. " Mold is a common fungus, its

everywhere "

So, then, why clean it up, right? Some people come from that perspective

so to them, the job is already done.. they just need to collect their pay..

Who knows.. its the luck of the draw.. the best you can do is try to get

referrals from people you REALLY trust...

February 25, 2007

All: This is how my remediation went: Well then, so another words they are

saying that it was ok for the maintenance man who used to be a hairdresser, to

come into my apartment, open uptwo of my HVAC ducts, rip out with his bare hands

and I mean rip out, the detriorated toxic mold pieces in small sections, maybe

three or four, let the toxins come flying out into the room, then throw them in

a regular trash bag. And it was all right that he did not tell me he was

coming, he did not tell me what procedure he was doing to try to take out the

toxins/mycotoxins/fungi/molds/pests, but this was appropriate and my problem was

solved. Now remember, he just ripped out the top pieces, the rest of the ducts

were not cleaned, or remediated. Then a month later put in a new filter. So

this is the proper remediation for an apartment that is on the sixth floor, so

my HVAC system supply and return ducts should be perfect now and no more molds.

What a joke. How do these people get

away with this? This is why they also get away with painting over molds on

walls that grow up tenants walls also, so this is all ok and all of our problems

are solved. Darlene

<vbrk@...> wrote: Although

these are some good suggestions. You must remember that IEquality is dealing

w/alot of professionals. It is not a good choice for someone who has no