Some Homeowners Blaming MAC For Mold

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Feb 28, 2006 8:49 am US/Central

Some Homeowners Blaming MAC For Mold

VIDEO

http://wcco.com/consumer/local_story_059093953.html

Pat Kessler

Reporting

WCCO - Minneapolis,MN

(WCCO) Imagine a home improvement that makes your house essentially

worthless. It has happened to families in the Twin Cities, all

because they were hoping to reduce airplane noise.

Relatively new windows have been installed to help reduce airplane

noise. Outside, the window sills are so damp fungus grows in the

middle of winter. What's inside the house is even worse and some are

blaming the people who run the airport for the mess.

" I'd like to think that we've made a nice home, " said homeowner

VanBalen. " But there's a lot of things that you just don't see. "

Days after moving into their Minnehaha Creek house last March,

VanBalen and got sick.

" It's one thing you have a cold in the wintertime, but this is

springtime, summertime, fall, constant, " VanBalen said.

VanBalen found mold during a basement remodeling project, where

water was leaking from windows sealed years ago against airplane

noise.

When the house was soundproofed under a government noise reduction

program, building construction expert Tom Irmiter said the windows

were improperly installed.

" They simply slid this window into the opening, " Irmiter said. " So

the only thing that is protecting the opening from water intrusion

during the rain is this caulk. "

The house on Minnehaha Creek may not be the only on with that kind

of trouble. Because of the airport flight path, more than 7,000

houses have been insulated against the noise, so it is anybody's

guess as to how big the problem may be.

" I'm thoroughly disgusted, " said homeowner Kermit Wallace.

Wallace's windows were installed in 2000 and he has had problems

ever since.

" They said because of the rain and the snow, there's nothing that

they can do about it, " Wallace said.

The company that oversees soundproofing for the Metropolitan

Airports Commission said it does not require window openings to be

wrapped or sheathed before installation, even though that is

required in new houses.

" Most contractors, if they're installing windows in an existing home

are doing what we are doing, " said Chuck , the director of the

sound insulation program. " We are installing the new window in the

existing rough opening. "

Lawyer Childress said that is the problem and he blames MAC

for VanBalen and 's mess.

" They tried to achieve a result for soundproofing without regard to

the moisture problems that were being created, " Childress said.

To cover a lingering musty mold smell, VanBalen and

constantly light candles, never feeling quite " at home " .

" We just want to go back to some semblance of a normal life that

everybody else has, " VanBalen said.

On Monday, VanBalen and filed a lawsuit in Hennepin County.

MAC said their problem is one of a few isolated cases.

Whether the soundproofing program works or not, travelers are paying

for it through the " passenger facility charge " , which is a fee of

$4.50 tacked onto plane tickets.