[slickshift]

So I'm telling my buddy about this basement I'm redoing
It stinks
I musta bid on this one in the winter when all the smells were froze
I was telling him if Satan himself had to work down there he would be like, "Hey Stalin, here's five bucks, head down to Wal*Mart and get a few AirWicks would ya, this place stinks!"
So he tells me (my buddy tells me, not Satan) to look out for toxic black mold

Now I'm no stranger to mold, but I have been hearing about this nasty stuff that is highly toxic and people can't get rid of
They closed a school around here because of it

Of course I find a blob of a black something on a rotting VCR stand, whip out the cell and describe it to him-it's black mold
He has me mix up a batch of bleach and water and spray the area with it
I then removed the piece (along with a bunch of other disgusting stuff)

I'm sure I've run into this stuff over the years, and just didn't know it was so toxic
He tells me it can effect your respiratory system etc...
This was a small piece of furniture and I was able to take care of it
I was wearing a mask anyway for the smell (it's a heavy-duty Darth Vader deal, even works for smells)

My questions are:
How toxic is this stuff really?
What is a good procedure when encountering it?




PS Once I removed the moldy and mousy stuff and got the 2 years broken dehumidfier working again, after about 2 weeks it no longer smelled like Satan's Underpants
The water problem was apparently fixed years ago, the mouse problem more recently, they just left everything down there
And D-Con says the mice will scamper away to die...that's a load

 

[Glasshousebltr]

The mice taking off does happen, the poison makes them search for water, But not all of them.

A customer had one die right in the middle of the living room floor, but she had them so bad they fought for turf, no ********************, you could hear em fighting all over. I must of seen 100 in the few weeks I was there, they would peek out to see if you where watching, then run for cover.

De con worked though.

Bob

 

[noreast05]

Mold beware. There are 10's of thousands different kinds of mold spores out there. We live with them everyday of our lives. Some are deadly. Most are not. Mold needs water/ moisture to grow. You say the mold was taken care of...........was it?

Over a year ago I walked of a project because they didn't want to deal with the mold issue properly. They just wanted to cover it up. They found another contractor to do the work and the problem came back. They are currently in the process of demolition of the new work. Come to find out the contractor did not know there was a problem, apparently the interior designer ....."acting" general went in and sprayed the area with bleach before hiring the new contractor. Who is liable the poor contractor that did the work. A big mess. I recommended to them they need to have an expert come in and test, then take the proper course of action for mold remediation. But of course they didn't want to hear that. I'm glad I walked.

I'd be interested in hearing how others may have dealt with a situation like this.

Stay away from interior designers acting as generals

 

[TimNJ]

Noreast05 is right. You can't be too careful anymore. You have to check your liability insurance. A lot of companies are putting in riders in the policy to exempt coverage on ANYTHING considered toxic. They want you to specify that you want the coverage then they can have an excuse to really jack you up.

As far as toxic...I have been doing remodeling for 30 years and have come across mold that has been every color under the rainbow and I'm still here. Go out in the woods and lift up a dead log and you'll find black mold growing.

 

[carpenter 1st]

the mold probably won't hurt you, especially decked out like vader. you might want to check this out some more though. if there is still mold,not just mold stains,there's probably still a moisture problem. be careful. you might get stuck with some warranty work later.

 

[carpenter 1st]

p.s.-slick, did you ever find out about what we talked about?

 

[slickshift]

Thanks guys
Yeah I have been dealing with mold for years
Apparently not all black mold is Black Mold, the highly toxic kind
When you do a google all you get is ads and of course they are all "It'll kill you as you stand" type deals
I gather that it's more toxic for someone who lives or works where it is and the effects are more subtle, but nasty none the less
I do have an allergy to mold, so that doesn't help

 

[slickshift]

p.s.-slick, did you ever find out about what we talked about?

Not yet

 

[Teetorbilt]

I grew up with the stuff and never heard of anybody croaking from it. IMHO, this is a cash cow that someone discovered about 20 yrs. ago.

 

[slickshift]

Well I guess it actually does exist
It's called Strachybotrys chartarum or Strachybotrys atra
Here let me paste up something...

"Black Mold" is a term commonly used to describe a slimy, greenish-black substance which can result in serious health risk. This infamous mold is also known as Strachybotrys chartarum and more often as Strachybotrys atra. It has been closely linked to the death of babies from respiratory bleeding, and as a contributing factor to illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. According to the CDC(Center of Disease Control), this mold is responsible for over "100 cases of lung disorders".
Virtually everyone has one type or another of mold somewhere in their home. Although not all types are toxic, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish types without lab testing. Thus it is imperative to treat and remove all molds as if they're potentially harmful. Regardless of the type of mold found, a home containing mold is not essentially a healthy home.

It goes on to say stuff about the spores and don't touch it, treating it with bleach...
It does say the CDC considers any area with over 2' of this stuff "heavily infested"
This was one of the few sites that wasn't selling something, it was a "health" section

I'm just not one of those "I saw it on the internet-it must be true" kinda guys

I figured some guys around here must have come up against it

 

[K2]

I think mold affects only some people and I'm one of those people. I remember back in the 90's doing a big strucrual repair in a crawl space. I was walking around half sick and half in a daze for about 3 weeks. Even ended up in the ER one day and they were sure nothing was wrong. After people started talking about mold I bought a house that had a section with rotton moldy joist that needed demoed. Thats when I knew what my illness from the 90's was. The other guys were not affected but I bought a respirator and finished that part of the demo myself without too much trouble. Ran into some more recently and before i realized what I was into I'm walking around in a daze. >This mold was better hidden than most. Around here in the 50's they used a 3/8 drywall board with holes in it and they put about a half inch of portland based plaster over it. In my case this basement would flood. The board behind the plaster would grow a black sooty type mold about a foot or two up the wall. The plaster never showed any signs of a problem. One of the guys I was working with said it was dead mold,(because the basement had been dry for about 10 years), but i think as soon as the black soot hit my lungs it became very alive. Again I seemed to be the only one affected and a respirator finished the job without problems. I've never run into the black slimy mold and don't really care to and I believe I am only affected when doing demo on mold. > I will add that my health has always been excellent with some minor respiratory issues. A month of bronchitis is pretty much a sure thing every year with a touch of asthma and some hay fever. Anyway that's my story and you won't convience me that the mold problem is something made up by the lawyers. Wear your equiptment. RT

 

[Teetorbilt]

I'm not saying that it doesn't exsist, I'm just curious as to why it was not discovered a long time ago. I grew up in the Bahamas and So. FL when the only place with A/C was the movie theater. Temps were generally in the 80's, so was the humidity and rain coming in through the windows was welcome some nights. Mold? We had plenty of it in technicolor but I don't recall anyone dying from it or even getting sick for that matter.

I think that 100 cases of lung disorders equals about the same number of people stomped to death by elephants during the same time span.

 

[K2]

Yea, well my banjo playing doctor friend says the same thing as you but i would never listen to a banjo player. RT

 

[Mike Finley]

I got sick as hell off of mold in my studio about 15 years ago. Sinus pain got so bad they did a catscan of my head, they thought I had a tumor, ended up getting shot of morphine to stop the pain. Ended up being a wicked sinus infection caused by mold spores. So mold can effect you, I have no doubt.

I also deal with mold almost on a daily basis doing bathroom remodeling. It is a rare bathroom that I don't find black mold somewhere, usually close to the two corners of a bathtub near the floor, or the bottom corners of a shower door, or after pulling a toilet.

Haven't gotten any ill effects yet, so as someone stated there must be different versions of this stuff.

 

[Teetorbilt]

Rob, I also play the banjo, have a 5 string Orpheum.
"You never hear a sad note from a banjo", Steve Martin

 

[ProWallGuy]

I grew up with the stuff and never heard of anybody croaking from it. IMHO, this is a cash cow that someone discovered about 20 yrs. ago.

I agree 100%. I have been to countless seminars/classes on mold, as commercial vinyl in hotels in the SE have become breeding grounds for the stuff. I don't buy into the recent hype. Mold has been around since the dawn of time. I think its mainly lawyers looking for quick $$$$$.

 

[slickshift]

Well, I charged her $150 extra for Black Mold Treatment and Removal

It set me back a few hours-had to run back to the shop for the sprayer and bleach
OK, maybe an hour...prolly 45 minutes

I figured a mold expert would've been $175 to walk in the door

 

[K2]

Rob, I also play the banjo


I'm sorry to hear that. :cheesygri We'll have to get together and pick. RT

 

[ProWallGuy]

Another thing about mold I learned in the afore-mentioned classes. If I wish to remain out of the 'lawsuit loop', when I encounter mold growth that is 10 sq. ft. or larger, I must advise the homeowner of the situation, and have them contact their local health dept. They must have an 'industrial hygienist' survey the mold, and make the proper recommendations for removal. Once again, this is done to remove myself from the lawsuit loop. Last thing I need is some hypochonriac decide they are sick from the mold, and needs $1,000,000 +++ to feel better.

 

[PPro]

I thought I had black mold growing in out crawlspace one time, and had a company come check it out. It looked just like black mold, but the guy said it wasn't. He said that the actual dangerous "Black Mold" isn't as common as everyone thinks. He sprayed it with some bleech and it never came back. (Was on the inside of the small plywood access door).

Probably just regular old mold, but definately have a pro check it out.