The medical community agrees: mold makes people sick. People that have breathing challenges, shouldn’t live in damp, moldy buildings. We are not medical experts, so we’ve added some links at the bottom of this page to interesting medical studies on mold and health.
Remember the Salem witch trials in New England 300 years ago? Ergot, a fungi made them do it. This toxic mold grew in the stored grain feeding the town. That Ergot poisoning made everyone tragically crazy. Fortunately most of us don’t store untreated grain in our kitchens or is it used by our favorite restaurant. But water damage that creates mold growth can cause an allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. Or worse. Whether it’s your family or your rental, fix the water problems sooner rather than later. It will safe you grief and money.
Mold hypersensitivity may happen in living or working areas that have water damage. Initially these symptoms may be mild, things like sniffles and a sneeze or two. Usually, if the mold in the building is removed and properly cleaned proven with successful clearance testing, the occupants usually return to complete health. If occupancy goes on the symptoms can become worse with lung infections and asthma-like symptoms. Often people living in water damaged buildings have a wide variety of health symptoms. Some people will also develop multiple chemical sensitivities.
Take the photo above as an example. Had the building owner replaced the original window when it began leaking the cost would have been under $1000. As it is now, an abatement company needs to come in and erect plastic containment around all the areas of damage. Install and run loud air cleaning equipment day and night while all the building materials that are damaged are removed from the wall, floor. ceiling, an all impacted building materials. The standard is to remove all building materials 2 feet past any signs of discoloration or water staining/damage. That’s expensive.. These materials are removed outside to a dumpster without cross contamination of the clean adjacent areas. Then those areas are cleaned up. The areas are retested to for mold clearance. Oh yes, the outside of the building was damaged, also. Think asbestos building permits for the entire project. Along with lead-based paint. And then there’s the rebuild. Probably cost $175,000+ and take six months to a year. It’s San Francisco.
We often work for landlords that have problems with tenants. The tenants meet us during the inspection and between one to three days after our visit, we get a call. The tenant wants the our report. Information is only released to any third party with our client’s written authorization. The exception is we comply with all subpoenas. After we receive a subpoena for Production of Documents and Records we contact our client before any action is taken. This gives our client’s attorney the opportunity to prevent disclosure, if appropriate.
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