Moldy apartment–need advice

[cvmom]

My friend lives in an apartment complex in Carmel Valley. She has been struggling for two years with allergies and breathing problems, which she feels is due to mold. She has often seen mold on the windows, in the bathrooms, in her closet, etc. Finally the owner swapped the carpet out, which helped, but it was still an issue. Now they have found a leak in the drywall which I bet is the real root cause. However, they have done no remediation other than open it up to the air for a few days. They plan to come replace the drywall on Tuesday.

I know that when we had mold in our house, the restoration was a huge deal, costing thousands, so this approach definitely doesn’t seem sufficient.

What would be the most effective way for her to approach her landlord and request better mold remediation? What should her request include?

Thanks for any help.

[FlyerInHi]

What floor is the apartment on? First/ground floor can be humid from ground humidity. Best to replace the carpet with tiles.

What about the leak in the wall? Was it fixed?

Other than that, your friend should frequently open the windows and air out the space. Running the AC helps. Cooking, showering and breathing in a small space causes humidity build up.

Btw, flood/mold remediation is a huge scam.

[HLS]

[quote=FlyerInHi]

Btw, flood/mold remediation is a huge scam.[/quote]

Is there anything that you are not an expert on ??

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold_growth,_assessment,_and_remediation

[Coronita]

Wouldn’t it be easier if she just requested to break her lease and find a more healthy place? i believe she could break her lease without any penalties….Not sure..

[FlyerInHi]

Yes mold is a problem. But there is no need to succumb to that scare tactics of the mold remediation companies and pay them big bucks, especially when insurance is involved (easy for them to scare homeowners to collect insurance payments).

Step by step eliminate the sources of moisture. Logically understand the process and the sources of moisture.

I bought 2 flooded condos. They are perfectly fine now after I did remediation myself.

A lot of people have humid homes because they don’t air or use AC. People are often sources of humidity. That’s why museums run AC/dehumidifiers.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=flu]Wouldn’t it be easier if she just requested to break her lease and find a more healthy place? i believe she could break her lease without any penalties….Not sure..[/quote]

If I were the landlord, I would suggest she breaks the lease. Then I’d look into it and fix what needs fixin’

[XBoxBoy]

cvmom,

I’m no doctor or expert, but I have personal experience with mold and health. Based on that I have a simple message: Please tell your friend to move out! Find a new place. Whatever it takes. Short of massive remodeling, this place will not be okay for her.

My wife developed asthma from a place we lived in that had mold. It took a while to figure out this was the issue. It took even longer for my wife’s asthma to subside to a manageable level, but even now exposure to mold causes her asthma to flair up. The longer your friend is exposed to the mold the more it will impact her immune system and the easier it will be for her symptoms to reappear.

When this all happened to my wife, we approached the landlord and basically offered that we would go quietly without fuss. (Cleaning the house on the way out) He thought for a minute then agreed. Hopefully, your friend’s landlord will be the same. The landlord is going to want her to move out rather than sue him over health issues caused by his apartment. (Which is an option) So, the landlord has some interest in settling this without legal wrangling.

But most importantly, if your friend has developed allergies and breathing problems she is now going to be much more sensitive and should look for a new place.

Some suggestions for allergy sufferers:
Slab construction rather than crawl space
Hard floors, no carpet.
Carefully inspect for any mold. (Back of bathroom cabinets, etc)
Minimal cloth curtains, shutters and blinds are better for allergies.
A hepa vacuum cleaner.
A good hepa air filter (Blue Air)

Allergies like this are a real pain as exposure to the allergens weakens the immune system and makes it easier to get colds and other symptoms.

Good luck
XBoxBoy

[ocrenter]

[quote=flu]Wouldn’t it be easier if she just requested to break her lease and find a more healthy place? i believe she could break her lease without any penalties….Not sure..[/quote]

Agree.

Issue at hand is the renters are already having medical symptoms. I’m sure there’s a lot anxiety attached to the apartment due to the medical symptoms as well. Would not be surprised if the renters continue to feel uneasy about the apartment.

Best thing to do is move.

[FlyerInHi]

I would add that concrete slabs release moisture. That’s why when you remove linoleum off of slab, you get that moldy smell. So avoid moisture sensitive flooring such as carpet or even wood (if you don’t have good moisture barrier, wood will get moldy). Go with stone/tile.

Get a thermostat with humidity sensor and set it to run AC to dry out the air above a certain level of humidity.

In Florida, if you leave houses unoccupied without AC, mold will grow in several months.

For allergies sufferers, like me (I sneeze and get runny nose but that’s about it) it’s not all about moisture and mold. Dust, pollen, pollution suspended in the air are also bad because you breathe them in. Higher humidity can be good because it causes dust molecules to fall the ground. Rain is great in lessening air pollution.

I second getting rid of textile stuff such as carpet and drapes.

[cvmom]

Very good advice, all, thank you so much.

Yes she would like to move but she has not been able to find anything even near the same price point, or she would be gone already. She has a kid in high school and therefore really wants to stay in CV.

Assuming she decides to stay in the apartment, it sounds like you all think that no matter what remediation is done, it will not be sufficient. Depressing but still good to know.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=cvmom]
Assuming she decides to stay in the apartment, it sounds like you all think that no matter what remediation is done, it will not be sufficient. Depressing but still good to know.[/quote]

If she does stay would suggest this:

Find all sources of moisture. Leaks in the roof, or from apart above. Leaky sinks, etc. Places in the bathroom where caulk has dried out and water can get behind boards. Fix those.

Removal of all materials (wall board, studs, baseboards) with mold or exposure to the moisture. You can’t just dry out moldy areas, you must rip them out and replace them.

Thoroughly dry out any areas with moisture.

Replace all materials, making sure that enclosed areas are dry and will stay dry.

Remove all carpet and replace with materials less likely to hold moisture or mold.

I have my doubts the landlord will do those things, but there they are.

[Jazzman]

I ended up in hospital for an operation due to household mold. It can lead to chronic infections and a lot of discomfort. Your friend must let her landlord know immediately and be prepared to be rehoused while remedial work is being done. It can be a big operation. I believe there is legislation in CA concerning mold, which may be worth googling before confronting the landlord.

[Doofrat]

I used to live in Carmel Valley in a TownHome, and it always had issues with mold that needed to be remediated periodically.
The main issue was the shower in the master bedroom. It was a lame design because all the steam would just go into the bedroom and there was no fan. We never used it unless we had guests, and instead used the shower in the center of the unit that had a fan.
Second problem was the windows. They were single pane windows with a metal frame. Anytime it was cold outside, moisture would condense on them causing mold. I’d clean these with a 10% bleach solution twice a year to mitigate it.
The blinds would also get a bunch of mold on them and required cleaning as well.
If she is seeing mold on the windows, then she definitely needs to clean it with bleach. The issue there is that due to temperature differences between the window and the air inside, air tends to circulate past the mold on the windows carrying spores throughout the house.
When cleaning these windows, you don’t need to use a lot of bleach, you can just dip a q-tip in a bleach solution and hit the worst areas first. Just make sure you do it during a day when you can leave the windows open to air out, and wash the bleach off with fresh water on a sponge 10 minutes later.

[cvmom]

Thank you so much for all the detailed advice! It will be used!

[HLS]

There is a difference between mold & mildew.
The term ‘mold’ is often used incorrectly.

GENERALLY black mold will grow worse over time and needs to be treated professionally (of course some people are experts and can do it themselves and claim that there is no longer any problem)

Mildew is generally easier to clean and is often a housekeeping issue.
Steam from a shower is probably mildew, long before it is true mold.
It’s common for most people to claim mold at the first sight of anything black on a wall or ceiling.
The point is, there IS a difference.

FROM HGTV:
Mildew is a surface fungi that can easily be identified as a patch of gray or even white fungus that is lying on the surface of a moist area. Mildew is easily treated with a store bought cleaner and a scrubbing brush.

Mold, on the other hand, can be black or green and is often the result of a much larger infestation. This type of fungus can appear almost “fuzzy” — especially when it is found on food — or even slimy in nature.

Here are a couple of good links that explain the difference.
http://www.mold-advisor.com/mold-vs-mildew.html

Difference Between Black Mold and Mildew

OSHA Fact Sheet
https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_Hurricane_Facts/mold_fact.pdf

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