Guest guest Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 A few months ago I moved with my family to the west coast of Canada. We're renting this house and I smell mold. The basement has no heat vent from the furnace and only one window. It's a 20 yr old home. There are a couple of small damp looking areas in the basement, but nothing too much. The basement has a mustly smell (so I've been leaving the window open). The other possible source area is coming from the rooms above the garage. I know this house had been left vacant at one point. I checked window ledges and found back mold on the metal window ledges. So I cleaned it with just water. It came off- but I still smell mold in the home. No one else can smell it- not even mykids- or the landlord. I have always had a radar for mold smell though. I have 20 lbs of zeolite in mesh bags around the house and a hepa filter with the ozone cleaner thing on the filter too. I'm curious if anyone here has any recommendations. The sad thing about this- I moved out west becasue of health problems. The Dr's kept telling me it was Fibromyalgia etc, but I recently got to a Dr who specializes in treating Lyme disease. As it turns out I've had Lyme for a few years! What I thought was a small rash of posion Ivy after camping in Ontario, was actaully a tick bite. It was a bullseye shaped rash, but I never did see a tick, so I didn't think anymore about it. People with Lyme I've found out are also more sensitive to mold. WHich makes sense since the body is already so sick. I've had worse headaches since we moved in and am a little overwhelmed what to do. Please share anything that you think would help. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Shari: Start by going to www.moldwarriors.com and buying the book. Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker is pretty much the patron saint of this listserv/website. You'll learn a lot. Your experience is typical of so many others... -Haley Shari <callshari@...> wrote: A few months ago I moved with my family to the west coast of Canada. We're renting this house and I smell mold. The basement has no heat vent from the furnace and only one window. It's a 20 yr old home. There are a couple of small damp looking areas in the basement, but nothing too much. The basement has a mustly smell (so I've been leaving the window open). The other possible source area is coming from the rooms above the garage. I know this house had been left vacant at one point. I checked window ledges and found back mold on the metal window ledges. So I cleaned it with just water. It came off- but I still smell mold in the home. No one else can smell it- not even mykids- or the landlord. I have always had a radar for mold smell though. I have 20 lbs of zeolite in mesh bags around the house and a hepa filter with the ozone cleaner thing on the filter too. I'm curious if anyone here has any recommendations. The sad thing about this- I moved out west becasue of health problems. The Dr's kept telling me it was Fibromyalgia etc, but I recently got to a Dr who specializes in treating Lyme disease. As it turns out I've had Lyme for a few years! What I thought was a small rash of posion Ivy after camping in Ontario, was actaully a tick bite. It was a bullseye shaped rash, but I never did see a tick, so I didn't think anymore about it. People with Lyme I've found out are also more sensitive to mold. WHich makes sense since the body is already so sick. I've had worse headaches since we moved in and am a little overwhelmed what to do. Please share anything that you think would help. Thanks FAIR USE NOTICE: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Shari, You may want to invest in at least one big HEPA air cleaner for your living space (bedroom is best) and I would also do whatever it takes to remove any porous materials (that includes fiberboard and plywood and ESPECIALLY sheetrock) anything that shows any sign of having grown mold in the past. Aggressive vaccumning with HEPA vaccumn cleaner can also help a lot. But don't stop when your smell goes away, keep it up. If you start getting symptoms of mold exposure, get a HEPA air cleaner, not just so you can breathe cleaner air, but also because they snarf up spores which might otherwise germinate somewhere given enough moisture. Watch out for condensation on old single-paned windows when its cold, its smart to clean these frequently with ammonia. Do your best to keep humidity down, making sure that you have bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans and use them when showering or cooking things that emit a lot of water.. (boiling, steaming, etc) Ultimately, I think that unless your basement tends to flood, or you have a major condensation problem, (usually caused by inadequate or nonexistent insulation) the above should be enough to keep the worst away. Everyone here will agree.. be aggressive about dealing with ANY water issues, as that smell could indicate that the building had mold issues in the past which were covered up. That increases the possibility of them 'coming back'! With that unpleasant possibility in mind, Id be especially proactive about weatherproofing before the rains start, or you might get a nasty surprise when the big rains start in the fall, or right after them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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