Black Mold - Has Anyone Had It In Their House?

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

I hate to sound ignorant but how can you tell if you might have a mold problem if the mold is not clearly visible. We have had a small leak for a while under our kitchen sink and it smells musty. My husband has tried several times to fix it but bless his heart.... anything he touches ends up worse than before and he's too tight to call a plumber if it's not "bad".

I have also wondered if our ductwork needs to be cleaned since there is always so much dust in our house. Are there any air test kits you can buy and test yourself. I am very skeptical of people coming in my home to test for something like that.... it seems like an easy way to get ripped off!

I hope the OP gets the problem resolved without too many more problems. That is a terrible situation to be in.

(I'm not trying to hijack this thread, just thought I would ask these questions since there are so many people here that have dealt with this before. )

 

[summerrluvv]

Well, my sister just called and the youngest tested positive for the toxic mold, the other two kids don't have anything in their blood which is good. Now she is going to talk to her doctor today about testing herself and hopefully she is in the clear for her and the unborn baby's sake.

Everyone in our family has told her she was overacting and freaking out over nothing but she didn't listen to them and got out of the house and I guess it's a good thing she didn't because she would have still been there breathing in more toxic mold spores.

 

[mickeysgal]

Well, my sister just called and the youngest tested positive for the toxic mold, the other two kids don't have anything in their blood which is good. Now she is going to talk to her doctor today about testing herself and hopefully she is in the clear for her and the unborn baby's sake.

Everyone in our family has told her she was overacting and freaking out over nothing but she didn't listen to them and got out of the house and I guess it's a good thing she didn't because she would have still been there breathing in more toxic mold spores.

No, she's absolutely not overreating. This is TOXIC black mold, not your average garden variety type mold. In the house that we were under contract on, the area was large and still active in growth. It would have been worse if the water source had been turned off as spores would have been released into the air more. The real estate agent hired a local contracter to rip out the affected wallboard and studs. Of course they didn't do it right. This type of mold requires tenting off the section of the room and proper disposal of the stuff. We wanted no part of that house. I have to wonder whether the folks they sold it to were ever informed as to what was most likely, still in the air in that house.

Now that her child has tested positive for it, what happens now? Does just getting out of the house mean he'll be ok? Will any symptoms that the child has exhibited start to automatically go away? Will he need to be treated somehow? Glad to hear the others haven't been affected and I hope your sister/unborn baby doesn't test positive either. What are they going to do about getting it repaired, if at all?

FYI...I found a lot of helpful information on the EPA website about this type of mold.

 

[summerrluvv]

No, she's absolutely not overreating. This is TOXIC black mold, not your average garden variety type mold. In the house that we were under contract on, the area was large and still active in growth. It would have been worse if the water source had been turned off as spores would have been released into the air more. The real estate agent hired a local contracter to rip out the affected wallboard and studs. Of course they didn't do it right. This type of mold requires tenting off the section of the room and proper disposal of the stuff. We wanted no part of that house. I have to wonder whether the folks they sold it to were ever informed as to what was most likely, still in the air in that house.

Now that her child has tested positive for it, what happens now? Does just getting out of the house mean he'll be ok? Will any symptoms that the child has exhibited start to automatically go away? Will he need to be treated somehow? Glad to hear the others haven't been affected and I hope your sister/unborn baby doesn't test positive either. What are they going to do about getting it repaired, if at all?

FYI...I found a lot of helpful information on the EPA website about this type of mold.

Her son has to see an allergist on Friday. I'm not sure what that type of doctor does for the problem, but she mentioned something about testing him for asthma now. I think she is really confused by the whole thing, but will hopefully know more at the next appt. I read that asthma is a huge concern with toxic mold contact. All of her children have been so sick off and on and the pediatrician was really surprised that only the one child had it in his blood.

Her husband is supposed to start removing the drywall, bleaching, etc. this weekend with the help of another one of our relatives who has experience with this type of thing. Hopefully they get it all out and it doesn't come back!