Dealing with black mold in the house

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Has anyone had to deal with removing black mold from the inside of your home? We have discovered mold growing inside of the air ducts and around the vents in several rooms. We sent the sample to the lab and it has come back as toxic black mold but apparently not the worst kind.

The landlord wants to remedy the situation as soon as possible and have discussed cleaning the ducts or replacing them altogether. We are leaving next week on vacation and told them to just do the work while we are gone.

I am wondering now though if I should ask them to do any sort of deep cleaning of the house and carpet since the mold spores have been circulating through the air and landing everywhere. Does the mold live on fabric, tile, carpet, hardwood?

We have all had health issues since moving here - I have had daily migraines and respiratory issues. The kids have had nosebleeds and headaches. We have been to doctors that just kept telling us that we must be allergic to something in this area (since we just moved here last year). I would be willing to place money that at least some of these issues are related to the mold issue.

If you have dealt with this, how did you remedy the situation?

 

[Bonnie40]

That's scary! I would hazard to guess that probably all your symptoms are mold related. I would do some internet research to find out what course of action is best and push the landlord to deal with it aggressively!

Good luck!

 

[JoBird]

Hey my Carolina Girl-

That is awful!!

I bet you anything that the migraines and allergies are indeed from the mold.
I'm sure it's all over everything- the carpets, walls, etc. and you would benefit from having it all deep cleaned.

I wonder if an allergist in the area there might be of some help somehow? Maybe they could tell you more about that mold and where it lives?

Hope you get it straight soon. I know it can cause a host of problems health wise.

Jo

PS-
Enjoy your trip!!

 

[ameraumi]

Call your local health department, explain the situation and see what they recommend. Some states have specific laws on what needs to be done with a house once toxic black mold is found.

 

[disneyfan67]

I agree with the previous poster and start making some calls. I'm in the cleaning industry and have went to quite a few seminars on dealing with mold. Do not take this issue lightly or allow your landlord to just do a quick, band aid fix and ignore it. I have seen homes that have been quarantined and not allowed occupancy until mold removal is been done and the house certified clean by professionals. Mold is a serious issue and if you don't feel that the cleaning is being done or taken seriously and you're still feeling symptoms, it's time to find another place to live.

Also tell your doctor about what was found and hopefully he will be able to help with the health issue you're dealing with.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

It's not easy to get rid of, if they kids are having health issues from it I would move. I would not trust the landlord to truly do everything necessary to get rid of the mold, it is a big undertaking and expense.

 

[mickeysgal]

We looked at a house for sale once...gorgeous...until we saw black mold in an attached work room. We had an air quality inspection and they took air samples, duct samples, and even wall space samples in each room of the house. They said it was toxic black mold and that it was present everywhere. We walked from the contract. The restoration process is very intricate and involved. What you don't want is to infect the rest of the house. Your local heath dept and/or epa office should be able to point you in the right direction on what needs to happen. A normal duct cleaning process may make it worse by stirring it up and making it (more) airborne.

 

[momof1princess]

OP, if you don't mind me asking, do you know how the black mold got into the air vents? we had a small flood in our laundry room a couple of years ago (washing machine broke and flooded the laundry room TWICE in one day), and i suffer from serious respiratory issues, so i'm very curious about this.
i wish i had some words of advice of wisdom for you, but i hope you get the situation taken care of soon. :

 

[BrerMama]

Yes, we've had black mold. They quarantined the area of our house (our son's room, a bathroom and a wall of our living room (it was a leak in the bathroom shower which spread to both adjoining rooms). The cleaning crew had to wear Hazmat suits, everything had to be sterilized (including the toilet) and all the drywall had to be replaced. It was a massive undertaking and it only affected those 2.5 rooms. I can't imagine it being in the air ducts. It took them over a month to get it all fixed.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Thanks for the replies. The mold is not the super toxic stachybotrus but another toxic strain called cladosporium.

It is present in several areas of the home and is most likely due to water leaks. We were told the ones in the a/c vents were there because the vents weren't sealed properly and the hot attic air was mixing with the cool a/c air creating moisture. There have been water leaks in the attic and in the kitchen and mold is present in both areas.

We started experiencing symptoms when we moved into this home last summer so we have had to deal with exposure for 13 months now. The mold didn't spread to the outside of the a/c vents until recently but the insides are pure black with mold.

The closest company certified to deal with mold issues is in Atlanta about 100 miles away. I already told the landlord we would not be satisfied with any other company doing any cleanup work. We will see what they tell us.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

OP, I am very familiar with a home nearby that was condemned due to the presence of cladosporium. Black mold is dangerous in any form. One bad thing is that it may cause illnesses (cancer, respiratory diseases, etc) that may not make themselves known until years down the road.

 

[Kellydelly]

Why would you stay in a home that is making you and your family sick? It is a blessing that you don't OWN this home and it is somebody else's problem to clean up.

 

[ead79]

This really needs to be taken seriously. You need to contact a professional mold remediation company and get them to handle the problem thoroughly. Don't let your landlord skimp out on a "quick fix." This needs to be handled by professionals.

 

[Disney Doll]

Truthfully, I'd move.
I'd have the landlord pay for a deep cleaning of everything I own and then I'd never put it back in that house.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

The company that is certified to deal with mold is being contacted to come out ASAP so I will wait and see what they say.

If it is too toxic then of course we wouldn't keep our family in a dangerous area but if it is able to be safely cleaned up with no ill effects then there is no reason to go to that extreme. We will be out of the home for 8 days and hope they can do the cleanup and repairs then.

I am ready to just feel better but moving is expensive and not something we would do unless it was deemed necessary. I can't imagine the current landlords would do anything other than let us out of our lease - they sure wouldn't cover moving expenses if it came to that.

I'll let everyone know what the mold remediation company says.

 

[SandrA9810]

I would move out, no home is that great if it's making you sick.

You should probably have all your furniture cleaned, and floors cleaned. Mold can live on anything that can hold moisture. Not likely tile, but the grout, hardwood floors, carpets and rugs, and in the drywall.

Not to mention you'll probably have to find someplace to stay while the work is being done. With so many precautions that have to be taken, they can't just rip the duct work out. It has to be carefully removed intact to prevent it from spreading more. That's lots of time and lots of money.

It might be cheaper for your landlord to help cover the moving costs rather than a temporary place for a month or more. Plus all the furniture is still going to be need to be cleaned.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We're going to talk to the landlord and the property manager tomorrow. The problem is that we are in a military town and we just went through PCS season (when everyone moves into town) so rentals for our size family are scarce right now. We did search Craigslist tonight and didn't find much available if it does come to that. DD17 goes to an academic magnet school that requires county residency so we are limited in our area of availability. If we move out of the county then we have to pay $8k for her to finish her Senior year at a public school.

A move would still cost much more than a hotel for a few nights. Right now we can get a 2 bedroom room at a local hotel for $149 a night. Moving would cost thousands. We should know - we do it every 2 years with the Army. We are due to move again in May.

We will figure out what to do after we have the certified experts come out and assess the situation firsthand. I don't want to over react but want to do what is best for the family.

When I talk to the landlord tomorrow I am going to tell him that we need to be put up in a hotel room for now. I don't want the kids breathing in this air all night long.

 

[mickeysgal]

OP, I am very familiar with a home nearby that was condemned due to the presence of cladosporium. Black mold is dangerous in any form. One bad thing is that it may cause illnesses (cancer, respiratory diseases, etc) that may not make themselves known until years down the road.

This is why we walked from the contract on the house that had toxic black mold. Even though the owners were willing to fix it, I was not convinced that they would take it seriously enough to get anyone other than a basic carpenter in there to swap out the damaged drywall and insullation. There was mold on the drywall, insullation, studs and the sill plate. All of that had to be removed and replaced. I never wanted to worry years down the road whether if we ever got sick that it was from staying in that house. It was so bad, the air quality inspector told us not even to linger in the room with the mold. It was present in all the room and the ducts.

 

[aprilgail2]

If my children were having nosebleeds and I was ill due to the place I was living I would have up and moved YESTERDAY! I would never take a chance on my or my childrens future health even if it meant taking a loan out to move, risking my childrens health because I don't want to spend the money to move is just something I would not gamble with.

 

[Planogirl]

My brother and his family had this show up in their home due to an undetected leak in the wall and they had to move out while that whole side of the house was basically knocked down and rebuilt. It was hard to get rid of and quite expensive and they still think that some of their kids' issues might be related to the mold.

I feel for you.