Q. I lease a retail shop and have a mold problem since last July 2004. That is when we discovered it in our back storage closet. We did notice on occasion that some of our boxes were wet on the bottom then when we moved them away from the wall we noticed the black mold growing above the baseboard. In the picture you see duct tape covering the worst of it. Our landlord sent a handyman into the shop to drill holes in the drywall to see how much is behind it. Can you believe they originally just wanted to paint over it? Anyway I reported it to them in July 2004. They did not rush to fix it and we were hit with Hurricane Charley in August. We were without power for 1 week in stifling heat. The problem escalated to the wall outside the closet, for which I sent a picture. You can see in my enclosed photo’s the water marks on the wall in addition to the mold. The wall actually had condensation on it. The landlord sent in 3 roofers which we had to wait forever for because of the hurricane and they identified the water problem as a detached gutter above my shop. The air conditioning units were draining off my roof into my walls between the drywall and the concrete block, soaking the insulation like a sponge. They patched the problem and are now finally repairing the roof today. They want to send in a handyman to rip out my drywall the length of my shop next weekend. My problem is this. They never tested the mold, the handyman is not a mold removal expert, and I'm not sure how much liability is resting on my shoulders in terms of employees or even my future health issues. So what is the necessary protocol? Should I contact an attorney? Do I need to destroy all the inventory we had in the closet? I have a gourmet gift basket shop. Not only do we have packaged food stored here but we do baby gifts as well and some of the baby outfits we store in the moldy closet. [Jan. 28, 2005] A. Cutting and leaving open holes in the moldy drywall allows airborne mold spores from the interior wall mold to escape into the room air to mold cross contaminate your entire retail store and to cause possible health problems for you and your store employees. Painting over the mold is obviously ineffective for mold remediation. A mold contractor or mold remediator [with high mold remediation standards] must do the mold remediation. Make sure that the mold remediation includes the 25 steps for safe and effective mold remediation. Only contact your attorney if the landlord fails to follow such thorough mold abatement procedures. One of the steps is especially important to your store, employees, and customers---that the work area be sealed off air-tight with plastic sheeting to contain the mold work area and the large number of airborne mold spores which will be thrown into the air in the mold remediation process. Learn the true mold status of your retail store by hiring your own Certified Mold Inspector to inspect and mold test the entire store and its heating/cooling system plus the surfaces of your store inventory on your behalf as the tenant. If there are elevated levels of mold spores on your inventory items, ask your attorney about seeking compensation from your landlord. Do not sell baby items and foods that have elevated levels of airborne mold spores unless you first mold decontaminate such items. After mold remediation is allegedly completed, have the mold inspector re-inspect and re-test your store for clearance testing.
Be trained and certified as a
Certified Mold
Inspector,
Certified Mold Remediator, and/or
Certified Environmental Hygienist. |
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