Re: Newer buildings and <<growing>> mold problem

[Guest guest]

I have been in 6 places since I got sick and all but one were old, so

I am not a lover of old houses or apartments. Especially if you rent, I

guess I think about how many leaks they probably had during the 20 or

30 year, and maintenance does not dry out in between walls when there

are leaks so I guess it is a crap shoot, really. I have been in

expensive places during this year that I didn't have my own place and

most people have some kind of mold that I visited. Either musty dens,

or roof damage, or stinky fish tanks. People just don't respect what

mold can do and most of these people are sick in some way and even

there pets. You hear " oh you have to die from something. "

>

> I contacted two air quality people in area that work together. I

> picked them, to meet with at least, because I read an article they

> wrote on the web and thought they sounded pretty smart and were

> located in Cincinnati. They will be out in a couple of weeks as

> they are out of town. However I talked over the phone about

> problems and one thing I thought was interesting is when I mentioned

[Guest guest]

My problem with older structures is that you don't know how many

insect infestations have come and gone though the years. How many

leaks been ignored and than finally repaired. How much pesticide use,

what types of pesticides. Rodent problems and feces and what not. Just

seems your better off to start with a new house and not allow moisture

problems. Than you have the best of both worlds, no mold and none of

the above types of issues to deal with.

Although I have heard a lot about tightly sealed houses and mold, the

theory the moisture gets trapped in the house, a pit fall of having an

energy efficient home. I would think as long as the ac is running

this wouldn't be a problem, and assume the problem is when you run the

heat and the moisture has no where to go but into the walls?

Where older homes would just leak the humidity out, newer ones don't

leak instead the vapor changes to liquid on the first relatively

cooler surface it comes into contact with?

I imagine eventually they are going to phase out paper drywall and go

with the new stuff that discourages mold.

If they ever did this, that would be a real plus for newer homes.

On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:24:05 -0000, you wrote:

>I contacted two air quality people in area that work together. I

>picked them, to meet with at least, because I read an article they

>wrote on the web and thought they sounded pretty smart and were

>located in Cincinnati. They will be out in a couple of weeks as

>they are out of town. However I talked over the phone about

>problems and one thing I thought was interesting is when I mentioned

>it was an old house, built in 1938, person said that they both live

>in old houses. Second time he said that he explained further, that

>they both chose older homes <<because>> as he put it newer homes

>have more problems than older homes as far as indoor air quality

><<Or>> mold, don't remember which he said. This has been brought up

>before, such things as mold loving dry wall, etc, so more people who

>have studied this avoiding new construction, which would mean if

>true that perhaps growing problem with allergies, asthma, illnesses

>are various kinds, including increase in cancers could be due to

>newer building practices as has been brought up here before I

>believe. Just thought I'd mention what these two said. As he said,

>not that they are problem free at all though. He said in opening up

>a wall to do something, he ran into a 'mumified dead squirrel'!!

>

>I looked at sooo many apartment and screened with my mold cultures

>and ended up in very old apartment building which isn't perfect

>either but smelled better and tested better than any place else I

>looked at.

>

[Guest guest]

Some (more expensive) new houses are built out of more natural 'green'

materials, especially in more sophisticated environments like college towns

and some cities where people can afford to do so. But elsewhere in the

country there isn't the kind of knowledge required to know that, say, some

paints and some building materials like fiberboards and some plastics are

bad and the industries involved are agressively preventing much information

on why they are bad from reaching people so many people just get sick and

they don't know why. People just can't afford to let buildings leak air like

they used to, the heating and cooling are both so much more expensive. (I

think that is the real cause of so many more people gettng sick from mold

now)

Its also easy to say older materials are safer than even the best new

'green' materials but I think that assumption would be at best highly

misleading and at worst dangerous because MANY 'ingredients' in older

buildings can be seriously toxic or grow mold or produce VOCs when they get

moldy.

However, older homes that have been maintained well and which are in good

condition are likely to have had much of whatever toxic was in them already

leach off or have been removed or painted over long ago. (which means that

they still can release lots of say, toxic lead paint or latex paint dust

when they are being remodeled) The most dangerous things in old buildings

are probably mold, lead paint and asbestos. They all are significant dangers

but they all can be dealt with if they are found. If a building is

'fundamentally dry' and has not had major flooding or leaks for extended

periods then cleaning it up will be more economical than building 'healthy

new'

But they all could be expensive propositions if one doesn't choose carefully

or get a very good deal at the beginning to start out with.