So - we are currently in the process of having the house remediated for mold. The first company I contacted came out and said they would remediate without the air testing.
The second remediation company I just contacted said he recommends we hire an independent inspector first to run all the appropriate testing since there are health concerns involved before he comes out to give us the quote for the remediation.
I've done research online about this but I am wondering should we spend all of the money and have the house tested? Part of me says if we are going to do this we should do it right.
We don't have alot of money and I am wondering if it's even worth it, I guess I just don't know what it would even tell us at this point. We have a pretty good idea of where all of the mold is (I think). Your thoughts are all appreciated.
6 weeks this Saturday since I've left home with my furbabies! Feeling a little homesick this week.
-------------------- Diagnosed with Lyme 4/7/14
KB Posts: 87 | From Townsend, MA | Registered: May 2014
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hiker53
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One of the best ways to test for mold is to get a company that has a dog that can detect mold. I am serious.
But I would have an independent inspector come out. I had two different ones come out--the first one looked and said I see mold and then gave me an enormous cost to remediate it.
The second inspector actually took samples and grew them out--nothing grew from the house, but the outside shed had mold. I wish I had used the mold detecting dog in retrospect, but it was expensive.
Hiker53
-------------------- Hiker53
"God is light. In Him there is no darkness." 1John 1:5 Posts: 8890 | From Illinois | Registered: Aug 2004
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Thanks Hiker - I'm also in a little bit of a pickle here since I have a husband who is still living at home and I don't think he fully understands the extent of what we are dealing with. Or he does and just doesn't care.
Also, not that I want to air my life's woahs here (you guys get this stuff), It's just another thing for us to argue about. That's why Im really trying to figure out if the extra $1000 (maybe more) is worth it.
I guess I shouldn't really care at this point because it's my health & life and I should just be shelling out the dough. Then there's another part of me that says why am I even bothering. Ready to be done with this and we have only just begun.
-------------------- Diagnosed with Lyme 4/7/14
KB Posts: 87 | From Townsend, MA | Registered: May 2014
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posted
I checked into ERMI testing and decided I would want to do it before and after. That way, if they don't do the remediation correctly, you can show them the results.
I THOUGHT it was about $250 for the testing??? (Each time) I didn't scope it out carefully, as I may not need to do it. They are going to clean our AC unit because they found out it was really dirty. ("new" condo we are leasing)
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Catgirl
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posted
We found the air testing to be valuable. Ours was expensive, but in the long run it probably saved us from getting screwed by a mold remediation company.
We checked practically every room (including garage), and the mold that is in my body does not match the type or miniscule amounts that showed up in testing.
That told me I must have acquired it somewhere else--probably our last house, but could have been from my old job, or places I frequent. It's good to rule things out with air testing. That way you will know for sure either way.
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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quote:Originally posted by Catgirl: .... but in the long run it probably saved us from getting screwed by a mold remediation company.
- Exactly my thinking on this.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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lpkayak
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I put money into remediation
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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lpkayak
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There is a cheap but good place you can get good test resultsbut they wont stand up in court cuz they send you stuff to do test and then send you results
If you follow the directions you will know if the results are good
I can find the name of the place if you need it-it will take me awhile to find it
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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I really appreciate it guys. This is so overwhelming and the constant battling and feeling of uneasiness is enough to drive me mad. I feel like I have to walk on egg shells around my husband. Plus on top of that, I'm somehow supposed to keep some sort of normality while on all of these meds!
My next question...
We have the carpet in the basement being ripped out (we didn't install it, it was there when we bought the house).
We also have carpet upstairs in the master bedroom. My question with that is, should it be ripped out or can it just be cleaned?
We do have mold behind a couple of the walls in the master. The bedroom is also where I have had a couple of severe attacks. The husband says it should stay. I'm saying the carpet's not safe it should go.
The remediation company told me carpet is good because it catches all of the bad stuff floating in the air. That made me a little mad.. so remind me of HOW exactly that is safe again for someone who is so ill.
-------------------- Diagnosed with Lyme 4/7/14
KB Posts: 87 | From Townsend, MA | Registered: May 2014
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lpkayak
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That is a stupid thing for a company to say. You need REMOVE all visable mold. Carpet is mold food unless it is polypropolene
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I know!!!! And she said it in front of my husband too. So obviously he thinks the carpet is fine.
He said we will do anything that the experts tell us too. But this is the one thing I think I am going to make my battle because I'm not going to be comfortable until the carpet is gone.
So many bad memories in that bedroom
I'm def going to get a second opinion on all of this before it goes down
-------------------- Diagnosed with Lyme 4/7/14
KB Posts: 87 | From Townsend, MA | Registered: May 2014
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lpkayak
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I had 3 mold remrfiators come_they all said it came from different problem with different fix
One was everything for 1500,
One 10-15000
One 20,000 plus....they wanted to tske roof off and redo it
I learned about it...from sources that werrnt in business of making money off reno
Bought good quality ozone machine
Had frieds and family help with demo(we used repirators and negative air flow)
I found source of most of it was simply wax ring on toilet needed to be replaced###FOR TEN YERS!###
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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lpkayak
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So the rxperts didnt know what the heck they were doing
I have taken my time renovating...going slow with dufferent prodycts til i found what worked and didnt work
I ozoned regularly for a year after removal...and kept humidity down and two years later i seem to be ok
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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According to Dr S of MD, who is the mold expert, ERMI from Mycometrics is the best test to determine the mold counts in your house.
[ 07-25-2014, 03:05 PM: Message edited by: Lymetoo ]
Posts: 486 | From USA | Registered: Jan 2012
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lpkayak
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Catgirl-how did you find out what kind of mold is in your body?
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
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From what im reading about ermi i have mixed feelings. It doesntsound that great but i respect dr s so maybe i am reading it wrong
Its really easy to manipulate air testing. Run ac and airfilter in closed house before testing or open all windows on humid day and bring a moldy log in the house before testing
It doesnt make sense someone who really wanted to understand how much mold they had would do this...but when i did testing to see if i could get sellers to pay for remediation the lawyers just laughed it off and said air tests dont stand up in court because they can be manipulated
Im just saying this for those who think a test result will get their remediation paid for-it wont
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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MichaelTampa
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posted
Kbone -- Some things are just really hard to clean well and not worth saving. Carpet is definitely in that category. Cheaper to rip out, throw away, clean foors, and reinstall carpet or other flooring than to clean the carpet properly. If you have had bad air circulating in the house, all carpet in the house is suspect, since the guy stupidly but correctly said, the mold can collect in all the carpet.
lpkayak -- I am in the same boat as you in terms of being not so sure on ERMI, but not for the same reason. The ERMI testing is not testing of air. It is testing of dust. You clean an area, then let the area go unvacuumed/undusted for a couple months, then send in the dust from there. The theory is that this is measuring how moldy the dust is. Since it is over a prolonged period of time, it isn't as fickle as bringing in a professional mold tester who tests your air over a period of 5 minutes. The thing that makes me question it, is, so that tells you how moldy your dust is, but, it doesn't tell you the average of how moldy your air is, since you might have more or less dust than average.
Posts: 1927 | From se usa | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
Get rid of the carpet!!! Get a laminate floor. They are not expensive.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
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posted
tile that looks like wood is nice and you can as crub the heck out of it.
I'm with you on the husband thing. if my mom were alive I'd be going home for several months.
but in his defense, when I saw black mold in our garage from his plastic car liners on the floor, he immediately took them out and then bought the concrete chemicals and cleaned the whole garage himself. he did say it was cheaper than paying somebody and me going to a doctor. uh huh...
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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lpkayak
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Re ermi...who would want to let mold build up for mounths? That sounds crazy. The more and longer it is there the more it can spread and the bigger your clean up will be
When reading about it i saw the word dust but also thought they called it air test
Ive been really tired and having eye problems lately so maybe i read it wrong
But it is well documented that air tests can be manipulated and wull nit stand up in court
I live on a slab and have found an answer to the concrete wicking up moisture
It wiuld be like this in most basements too
The subfloor is called dricore.com. it is expensuve but really works. You can.put almost any type of floor on it-but you cant glue to it
Carpet, floating laminent and vinyl all work good
I ended up with vinyl plank and i am getting lots of compliments...ppl think it is wood. All you need to put it down is a knife. Labor shouldny cost much
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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lpkayak
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posted
Kbone-i dont want to be a pain but do you and your husband understand if house is moldy spores are floating around. They land on stuff...clothes, toys,blankets pullows etc
If you move and take thise things with you you can infect the new luving space...it wint be a problem if humidity is low and it isnt dark...but that has happened a lot. Those who deal with mold know you have to throw a lot away or you will cotaminate new place
Also if you have mold in your house often you will contaminate your car
There are sime basucs of mold that are worth learning cuz the "exberts"are not all that educated about mild
What happens is you spend all kinds of money and the problem really isnt fixed
I know i should find the epa paper on it
You also have to be careful hirung the mold remediation company to do the testing...they are not invested in silving the problem. They just want the job so wull say anything
The triuble is the independent testing cimpanies are very expensive...and even their results dont stand up in court cuz like lyme testing is unreliable
I stull like the lab i used in MI i think. I think it was called IMS or something like that-they send you equipment and tell you how todo the test and you send it back and they give you results
Its very reasonable for what yoy get...but like lyme you need to pick and choose what tests are most umportsnt to you and not throw all your money into testing ...you need money to remediate
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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steve1906
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16206
posted
I think this is the Co. lpkayak is referring to.
Directions >From Boston: Route 2 West to exit #33 for Route I-190 South. Take exit #7 for Route 117 - Leominster/Lancaster. At the end of exit take a right onto Route 117 West towards Leominster. Take first left onto Jungle Road. We are approximately ¼ mile on the left.
Directions >From Worcester: Route 290 East to Route 190 North. Take exit # 7 for Route 117 – Leominster/Lancaster. Follow above directions from exit.
Mold on Carpet If you can see significant mold growth on wall to wall carpeting in your home then you need to get rid of the carpet. Unfortunately there's no way to completely remove mold from fixed carpeting. And ignoring mold on the carpet will only lead to the problem getting worse.
Wet Carpet The same goes for carpet that has been soaked right through. Once the padding on the bottom of carpeting gets wet it takes a very long time to dry out, much longer than the 24-48 hours mold needs to grow. Even though the top layer of carpet might seem to dry out fairly quickly, the layer of padding underneath stays wet long after.
Replacing Part of Carpet If only a small section of your carpet got wet or has mold on it then you can cut out and remove just the affected part of the carpet. When you're cutting out the carpet make sure to cut an extra 12 inches on each side further than the moldy or wet part. You can then replace it with a new section of carpet, as long as you don't mind the slight cosmetic difference of having a section which might not perfectly match the rest.
Make sure to let the floor dry out properly if it's still wet before you insert the new piece of carpet. It's also a good idea to HEPA vacuum too, once the floor is dry, before you install the new section of carpet.
If it was me>>>>>I would definitely remove (wall to wall) carpet if you know it has mold.
Steve
-------------------- Everything I say is just my opinion! Posts: 3529 | From Massachusetts Boston Area | Registered: Jul 2008
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lpkayak
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Thanhs steve buth cimpany i used was from minnasota i think. Maybe i can fund them
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
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posted
Yep... imslaboratory.com
248-669-2280
They answered many questions for me on phone
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
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lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
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posted
Ok-here is info on remediation-it is objective-not from.someone who just wants to make money off you
You really need to get them to do it right cuz it is very hard to get good results taking them to court
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