New
Roof Water Leak and Toxic Mold Problem
Q.
I would like to
first thank you for your very informative web site. My husband
and I recently bought a house built back in the 1950's. It's
original construction is cinder block, but with a wooden add
on. We have discovered since winter started that our "new roof"
has developed several leaks so far, effectively ruining the
brand new blown-in insulation we just paid for. We were told by
the owner that when it rains really hard for a while that the
crawl space under the house tends to flood a little, and that
all we needed to do was turn on the sump pump for a couple of
minutes to get rid of the water. Well we have since discovered
that we have to turn on this pump EVERY time it rains! And
there is so much water gushing out of this sump pump hose that
with the water pressure it could easily double as a fire hose. It's unbelievable! It will run that way for up to 15 minutes to
a half hour! We have noticed a black mold on the interior brick
walls in a couple of the bedrooms. The heating duct runs along
the crawl space and had to be reconnected before we moved in as
the previous owner never ran the heat pump so it set
disconnected for who knows how long. We have been noticing
several of the classic signs that are described relating to
black mold. We noticed these signs before we even knew about
the harmful effects of mold, so they are not psychosomatic. My
husband has been suffering from severe mood swings, so much so
that he went to the doctor yesterday to see about
anti-depression drugs. We have both been getting nightly sore
throats, we have both been feeling that disconnected feeling
and mine has been so bad that I failed to recognize a couple of
long time friends of our when they showed up at our place of
unemployment unexpectedly! Until my husband said who they were,
I didn't even recognize them. I start to say something and
halfway through it I forget what I was talking about and how to
finish it. I was afraid I was in the beginning stages of
Alzheimer's disease , but I'm only 33 years old. I hoped that
wasn't the case. I have been having a lot of diarrhea, but I
thought that I only had Irritable Bowl Syndrome. I've been
waking up with night time nausea and have had a few bouts of
vomiting since living here. I am generally a very healthy
person. My daughter who is 15 has been complaining of headaches
often as do I and lately I've been suffering from leg pains much
like the growing pains you feel in your legs during puberty. I
know that I sound like a hypochondriac, but I really don't feel
very well anymore. Could we have a toxic mold problem? If so
who can help? We are flat broke and living from paycheck to
paycheck! Is there a govt. run agency that can help us with
this if in fact we are living in a sick house? How can we
relocate? We are Christians and so we cannot sell this place in
good conscious knowing what is wrong. Will we have to walk away
and let the bank foreclose? We intend to do a home sample test
of our home and send it to a lab to have it analyzed. That,
according to this web sight I went to, only caused $50 a sample,
but from what I have read it's a far cry from what it cost to
have someone come in and do a full test on your home! We are so
discouraged, we just don't know what to do other then pray. None of this was disclosed to us but if we try and sue for what
it will cost to get out from under this sick house and recoup
the cost of our belongings, also contaminated, how do we know
that the previous owner even has that kind of money? Anyway I
know this has been lengthy, but we truly don't know what to do
this is very frustrating. No matter what though we will not
raise our children in a sick house, if we have to, I guess we
just abandon ship and ruin our credit for a while I really don't
know what else to do! Any info you have would be greatly
appreciated and badly needed. God bless you and your work.
[April 20, 2002]
A.
Your first immediate step is to move out of the
mold-laden
house into a mold safe place to live. Since you have the same
problem that most people have [not enough money], you might
consider buying one or two tents from a local discount store and
living in your back or side yard so you can start living free of
the severe mold contamination that is going to be every where in
your home because of the severe roof water intrusion and crawl
space flooding. Don't take any clothing [except clothes you're
wearing] or other possessions out of the mold-infested house because
such personal property will
be mold contaminated and the articles would cross-contaminate
wherever you move to. You should follow the directions of
the mold
book Do it yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection, Remediation,
& Testing Guide [available on
Mold Mart ] to disinfect all of your clothing,
furniture and other personal property of mold spores and mold
growth. For example, to remove mold spores from clothing, wash
the clothing at least twice in an automatic washer with 2 cups
of Borax laundry detergent. Borax is a natural mold killer and
mold cleaner. As to getting your money back and possible damages
from the seller [and realtor if there is one involved in the
sale to you and from the mortgage lender of your home [lender
liability], find out your legal rights by contacting an
environmental attorney in your area. Please visit:
Toxic Mold Lawyer
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