Extreme home: Mold infestation rumor untrue

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Extreme home: Mold infestation rumor untrue

'Everything's just fine,' says Dundee's Koepke

Fond du Lac Reporter

By Colleen Kottke

The Reporter ckottke@...

http://www.fdlreporter.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20070214/FON0101/702140509

DUNDEE — Nothing spreads faster than mold — except rumors.

In the months since Koepke and her family settled into

their new home constructed during an " Extreme Makeover: Home

Edition " construction project last fall, she has heard through the

grapevine a bevy of calamitous rumors concerning the condition of

her house.

" Just the other day, a relative called and said he had heard our

house was infested with mold and that we had to move out, " said

Koepke with an incredulous laugh. " We weren't prepared for this. But

believe it or not, everything's just fine. "

The rumor mill is so well oiled, in fact, that word of mold problems

reached the show's associate producer, Mark Dashiell, on the West

Coast.

" He called to check on us, and I knew before he said it that he had

heard the rumors, too, " Koepke said. " It's amazing how far news

travels. "

The seeds for the mold rumors may have taken root following the

torrential rains that dampened the building site last fall.

Throughout the build, Koepke said builders used industrial shop

vacs, dryers and dehumidifiers to rid the structure of any moisture.

" We don't have one spot of mold in the house, " Koepke said.

The Koepke family was chosen as the recipients of a new home

courtesy of the " Extreme Makeover: Home Edition " contractors

following the untimely death of Koepke's 41-year-old husband, Matt,

on Aug. 21, 2006.

As typical with any " Extreme Makeover: Home Edition " construction

project, the family is whisked away while contractors race against

the clock to ready the home so it can be revealed at week's end on

national television.

Foundation just fine

General contractors for the project, Larry Gruber and Furnace

of Monarch Homes in Milwaukee, have also caught wind of circulating

rumors, including a buckling foundation.

" Because the house was built so quickly, we integrated the most

advanced technology to ensure the structural integrity of the home, "

Furnace said. " In fact, the concrete walls in the basement were 100

percent dried and are three times stronger than any normal basement

wall built today. "

In addition to the mold rumor, Furnace was also told that the Koepke

family was angry with them. That was news to him since he and his

father-in-law, Larry Gruber, and their families spent Super Bowl

Sunday at the Koepke home enjoying good food and fellowship.

" I don't know how these rumors get started as they couldn't be

further from the truth. It's unreal how something that was so

special could be the source of so many rumors, " Furnace said.

Since the house was completed in early October, Furnace and Gruber

have been in contact with the Koepke family numerous times,

following up on minor maintenance issues like small stress cracks in

the drywall, paint touch-ups, refitting a doorknob or replacing a

cracked window sash in the family room — standard procedure for all

projects under warranty by Monarch Homes.

Symbol of pride

" We want the house to be a symbol of pride for the family and our

company, " Furnace said. " In fact, we've gone over and above what we

normally do to make sure the family is happy and taken care of. "

With the bitter cold winds moaning around the eaves of the new two-

story home, Koepke is grateful for the warmth and efficiency of her

new home. While she longs for her old home at times, Koepke and her

four children do not miss the cold air seeping in through the drafty

old windows.

" We had no heat in the upstairs except from what came up through the

stairwell. That was a project Matt was working on before he became

ill, " Koepke said. " This winter might have been so overwhelming (for

our family) had it not been for this house. "

Even though the new home is larger than the old farmhouse, it's much

more energy efficient, Koepke said.

" We're not paying all that much more for utilities than in the past,

but at least we don't have heat leaking out of the house, " Koepke

said.

Through it all, Koepke has maintained her sense of humor.

" My co-workers often tease me that I had better take the day off and

go home and scrape the green stuff off of my walls, " she said with a

chuckle.