I noticed that I have a mold problem in a restroom in my home (under the sink inside the cabinets). I noticed a stench and finally found the problem. Apparently the faucet is leaky and in the five years Ive been there, the tiny waste basket (left under the sink by the previous owner) finally overflowed (yes, it took 5 years) and caused the floor wood in the cabinets to sag. basically everything inside the cabinets is covered with a thin layer of mold, and I saw tiny insects eating it (termites?). I rarely use this restroom, and thats why it was not noticed sooner. It is decked with show towels from the wifey and everything. Hardly used. Anyway I emptied the waste basket filled with stagnant water last night and replaced it back under the faucet. I feel sick today just from looking under there and breathing that mold and maybe touching the waste basket (although I washed hands thouroughly afterward). I didnt put on gloves because I wanted the wife to quit b****ing asap. I dont know whether I need to call a contractor or simply just throw away the contents of these cabinets (cleaning supplies bought for this restroom, again rarely used) and just use soap and water and a towel to remove surface mold and see what happens. The restroom is not our master bath but still very close to our bedroom and my wife is freaking out over it saying it is cancerous etc. What should I do? Is it safe to try to do this myself? I know some people may have experience from the flood. Thanks!
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=D7453276-4A57-4AA1-BD6C-E93C3632D583 Absolutely nothing. Mold does nothing to harm people. Just like second-hand smoke, it's a myth to psychosematically make people feel sick.
Read my link. Propaganda is a powerful tool. The nation's top allergy and asthma doctors, meeting in San Antonio, say there is no evidence whatsoever that mold growth in homes and businesses is a health risk. "There is no evidence whatsoever that toxins caused by mold have caused any health problems, now or ever," Dr. Emil Bardona of the University of Portland in Oregon and a leading expert on mold borne disease, told the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology meeting in San Antonio. The College's research mirrors similar studies performed in recent months by the Texas Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all agreeing that while indoor mold might aggravate certain types of allergies and asthma conditions, mold is not a health risk. "Mold is not a major indoor allergen," Bardona said. "It's actually more of a problem in the out of doors where it's much more prevalent." Bardona and other allergy and asthma specialists attending the convention say the mold hysteria which has lined the pockets of attorneys and so called 'mold remediation specialists' and prompted a huge increase in Texas homeowners insurance rates is based on 'bad information.' "If mold was going to harm us, we would have been harmed thousands and thousands of years ago," he said. "Mold makes up 25 percent of the earth's entire biomass, and are nature's natural garbage can. Without mold this planet would be swimming in waste." Allergy doctors say while the presence of mold in a home is evidence of a water leak and could amount to a structural problem, the climate which has people ripping out entire walls when mold is found due to fear that it will cause health-threatening diseases is 'ridiculous.'
I suffer from seasonal allergies, and recently have had bad sinus headaches in the morning. Probably because I sleep next to that restroom. Although I would never tell the wifey this. I plan to clean it up tonight myself with some gloves, and soap and water, maybe some bleach, and a painters mask. I hope I will be alright. I still feel ill to my stomach just from sticking my head under there and examining it last night. That stuff is potent and nasty!!! EDIT: I forgot to mention there is still about an inch of free standing stagnant water in the sinkhole of the sagging wood :X
My Father worked for an engineering company that handled houses with mold and worked with the insurance companies to settle the cases and stuff like that. Our old house had mold problems. Basically they come out do some tests and send it over to the Insurance companies and they take care of the rest. They moved us out of the house gave us a fully furnished luxury aparment near downtown, paid for everything in the hosue to be sent to a special cleaning service company and basically tore down our old house except for the frame and rebuilt it from the ground up. We were in the aparment for about 8 months fully paid for and other things were paid for as well. The insurance was just happy that we didn't have any breathing problems. I can get you the information about the company and you can contact them if you would like. They come out and check everything and if it is related to cheap workmanship of the house that they built then the can go further with all the insurance stuff.
I would like to think this problem is limited only to the inside of those cabinets. Could it have already spread throughout the house?
Did you even bother with my article? Or are you in such a "panic" mode that you can't rationalize that the nation's top allergy and asthma doctor's stated that mold is NOT a health risk?!?
Ill get the info for the company that does all that stuff for you if you would like...then you can get all the info and stuff from them.
The leak was so slow that it took 5 years to fill the waste basket and spill over creating this problem. When we moved in we noticed a small waste basket under the sink, but it was brand new. So my wife was like hey we can still use this for cleaning! and we left it there. I can honestly say that I probably havent been in those cabinets for close to 1 year. That is how rarely that restroom is used. The other day I opened it after running out of contacts and hoping that I had misplaced some in there. I put my contacts in in that restroom when wifey is getting ready in ours some times just to stay out of her way. That when I noticed the disgusting mess!!!
Toxic Mold is the biggest crap. On some real estate we allegedly had some and it turns out its just a little clorox and a rag will clean up anything, though i got $100,000 bills to do the 'repairs', which they justified that it would be covered by insurance. Its made up by law firms and companies to take advantage of the public and force these silly suits on insurance companies and have them turn around and raise prices to consumers.
dont worry about insurance...... cause they dont cover mold anymore; not in Texas at least. the epidemic was becoming entirely too costly for insurance companies to continue coverage so they nixed it a few years ago, and rightfully so. we got lucky since we got our mold taken care of about 2 or 3 years ago while it was still covered. insurance paid for all costs including moving us to a very nice house, and almost let us do an entire renovation to our house - i'm talking knocking down interior and exterior walls and what not. they backed out at the last second, though. we got lucky.
