'Building from inside out'

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'Building from inside out'

Flooding brings mold, demolition

Daytona Beach News-Journal - Daytona Beach,FL*

By NICOLE SERVICE

Staff Writer

http://www.news-

journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newWEST01092808.htm

DEBARY -- They chose everything with care, right down to the sign

above the bedroom door: " It doesn't get any better than this. "

After all, it was going to be the last home sisters JoAnne Randene

and Feinstein ever owned.

" It was my plan to retire in this house, " said Randene, an insurance

claims adjuster.

Then Tropical Storm Fay came and dumped 22 inches of rain on DeBary,

and, as Randene put it, " I was living on the lake -- and then I was

in the lake. "

About two inches of water flooded the house on Lamonte Pointe Court

before mixing with sewage that backed-up in the bathrooms and sat

for almost two weeks.

The end result was a wet, moldy, uninhabitable home -- that must be

ripped apart so it can be restored.

" I am basically building my house over again, " said Randene, who

moved into the house in 2004. " However, this time, instead of

building from the outside in, I am building from the inside out. "

It's a process that can take at least three months, said contractor

Tom Seaman, who is repairing the home. The first step for Seaman and

his crew was to go in and salvage what could be saved and dump what

couldn't.

Unfortunately, there was a lot that had to be dumped: furniture,

washer, dryer, pots, pans. One of the biggest losses was a

collection of photos from the 1800s of the sisters' great-

grandfather, along with a few of his letters.

" That is irreplaceable, " said Randene, who carried flood insurance

after the hurricanes of 2004 brought water up to the lanai -- though

never in the house. " Furniture and other possessions can be

replaced, but pictures, family heirlooms are just irreplaceable, and

in that situation you just go in, grab what you can and know that

some are going to be lost. "

Once the house is emptied, workers enter the demolition phase,

ripping out carpets, wallpaper, floorboards, cabinets and drywall.

" Basically, we take the house right back down to its studs, " Seaman

said.

The idea is to remove as much damaged and contaminated material as

possible, especially when it comes to mold.

Maglievaz, an indoor air quality expert with the Volusia

County Health Department, said it takes just 48 hours of heavy

wetting and a house is gone.

" When that happens, there is nothing you can do but rip out and

start over, " he said.

Rob Supertino, president of All American Water Restoration, who is

doing the mold clean up of Randene's home, compared mold to gremlins.

" Water makes them multiply, " he said, noting that the spores are so

small that 100,000 can easily fit on the tip of a pen.

It could take at least a week to clean up a moldy house, Supertino

said. They start by spraying a special foam chemical on affected

areas, then the house is pressure-washed and left to dry for a few

days.

The experts caution homeowners about getting the job done right. If

left untreated, Maglievaz said, mold can cause serious health

problems.

" The current research shows that the mold, grounded and dissolved,

can go anywhere in our respiratory system they want, " he said. " The

real health risk starts after the water and everything is dried up

and the mold dries. "

For her part, Randene is just learning to live with a new normal

while staying with her son in Deltona. She recently visited her

home, standing inside its hollow shell a bit shocked.

" It's hard to believe that it's the same house, especially not with

my toilet sitting out on my lanai, " she said. " My life is in 20

boxes right now. "