Mould..Who is responsible?

[Dazz]

Yep, fully acknowledged Mr Fence - very biased....can't help it....it's human nature to want to improve.

Whether people are scared or not is up to them.....most have no clue what the rules of the game are before they purchase. Most assume a reasonable position, only to discover much much later that reasonableness doesn't even come into it.

IMO, best to know what the sucky rules are and go from there, rather than blissfully wander around assuming the rules are on your side and you are protected.

......back to fighting the mould....

 

[INVSTOR]

Their is heaps of info on the internet regarding how bad mould is. I had some tenants who didn't clean the bathroom for 9 months. When I asked them to clean it they would only use orange oil. It was way beyond being cleaned with such a mild cleaner. Bleach was the only solution. They refused to use it and carried on they would have to wash their kids in laundry for a week or two, so I cleaned it and that was the arrangement. While I was cleaning it their one year old child walked out of her bedroom beside the bathroom with the grossest green thick boogies running over her lips. I'm not a fan of mould.

 

[Dazz]

I asked them to clean it....they refused to and carried on, so I cleaned it and that was the arrangement.

Thanks Invstor for a dose of reality. Sounds like the real world.

 

[INVSTOR]

Thanks Invstor for a dose of reality. Sounds like the real world.

Yes and the tenants had planned on taking their boat out for the day because they didn't want to be around my cleaning fumes. The toddler was too sick so they went for a walk along the river and park instead.

 

[INVSTOR]

Allergic reactions

One of our daughters is allergic to mould

As with most allergies i.e. itchy, red, watery eyes, blocked or runny nose, uncontrollable sneezing, headaches and disturbed sleep, wheezing or an asthma attack, a scratchy throat, hives.

Apparently:

Re: your quote above.. The cornices in my workplace are rotting and covered in black mould. My desk gets covered in dust and black chunks (spores). The carpet is starting to grow white fungas below cornice. Gross!

 

[redwing]

Re: your quote above.. The cornices in my workplace are rotting and covered in black mould. My desk gets covered in dust and black chunks (spores). The carpet is starting to grow white fungas below cornice. Gross!

Nasty..and that's just the stuff you can see

In the UK Mould is classed as a category one risk to health, as assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System2004.This is the same class as asbestos. Landlords, councils and housing associations are legally bound to clear any outbreak within a 28 day time frame under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1998.

I saw a cartoon a while back of an insulated house with something like a ten star energy efficiency rating, inside the homeowner was sweating his box off and mould was growing everywhere

 

[HiEquity]

My wife got her coughing back recently. We thought it might be a relapse so we went for a scan and the result was - pneumonia! Quite a relief it was "only" pneumonia! Then the baby got sick, then the middle child, then I got sick...

All the same symptoms deep in the lungs - I'm thinking this is a bit odd. Life isn't much chop with the whole family down. Then today while cleaning the house we check behind a roman blind (south facing window...) in our bedroom and it's just covered in mould! Start running around looking behind things and the same behind the bathroom cabinet...

Main infestation seems to be coming from a new window we put in last summer - I suspect the previous window leaked so much air it kept any mould at bay but now the new one is so air tight with an alloy frame and no eaves over it a nice condensation enclave developed behind there. @#$%@!#$!

Mould definitely does make people sick!

 

[vaughan]

Pneumonia is not caused by mould.

The most common cause is bacteria, followed by viruses (about one third). Fungi can cause pneumonia in people with weakened immune systems but it's uncommon. Even less common are parasites.

There may have been mould in your house but it probably didn't cause your illness. If the illness is being treated with antibiotics, and they are working, then it's definitely bacterial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonia

 

[HiEquity]

Fungi can cause pneumonia in people with weakened immune systems but it's uncommon.

Hi vaughan

My wife is the one with the diagnosed pneumonia - the rest of us are just coughing and sick in the more typical sense. She is also the one who has just finished chemotherapy recently - so you may be right but the mould is just too much of a coincidence for my liking.

Back to the cleaning duties!

 

[INVSTOR]

Redwing and HiEquity - I heard this lady on the radio this morning, her book sounds worthy of a read if you are into living a healthier lifestyle! http://www.buildingbiology.com.au/index.php/General/Media.html

 

[BrickR]

Pneumonia is not caused by mould.

The most common cause is bacteria, followed by viruses (about one third). Fungi can cause pneumonia in people with weakened immune systems but it's uncommon. Even less common are parasites.

There may have been mould in your house but it probably didn't cause your illness. If the illness is being treated with antibiotics, and they are working, then it's definitely bacterial.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonia

You are right. Most people oftentimes neglect about checking their corners and unders or just anywhere about moulds.
I remember when I kept sneezing everyday in every week for almost a month. I thought it was from the dust but later on I found out it was from a mould under the table that's been there for like 3 weeks and I never noticed it until I moved the table.

Back on the topic, there are plenty of ways to consider about having a mould in the house. Could be from a rotten food or from a dead animal/insect corpses.

 

[menty]

You can't put up somewhrlybirds on the roof?

 

[Elizabeth]

First up - where is the mould? Is it on the ceilings, on the tops of the walls or from the base of the walls up? It could be one of 3 things

1. There us a leak - you can generally tell as the mould is situated in one particular spot, and it's generally around a window or on a ceiling. Once you've rectified the leak, run a dehumidifier in there for a couple of days (or until the water in the air appears to be subsiding) then treat and repaint the ceiling/wall. Also, check the guttering. If this is full and it's raining, water overflows into the roof cavity and this continual dampness can cause mould.

2. Ventilation - this you can tell because the mould is everywhere - through clothes, on walls, furniture. Again, a dehumidifier helps with this (we have this issue in our apartment) as do leaving windows open a little, especially in the winter months. We put a little piece of dowel in our window for security and leave it open a couple if inches during the day when it isn't raining - it's worked really well. One thing to note is that this type of mould spreads so you'll need to clean EVERYTHING! Excessive heating (usually gas heating more so that electric) which makes the walls sweat can also contribute to this type of mould growth.

3. Rising damp - unfortunately - this needs a specialist. A builder will generally suggest stripping back the external wall, replacing the damp coursing and also allowing ventilation in the sub floors. It's expensive so fingers crossed it's one of the top two!!

Best of luck,

Liz

 

[jim1964]

http://www.news.com.au/national-new...estation-in-home/story-fndo4cq1-1226604546091

Interesting if your into mould.

 

[S.T]

Interesting article.

Has anyone ever had mould levels tested in a house?

 

[INVSTOR]

Interesting article.

Has anyone ever had mould levels tested in a house?

I think I have. I volunteered to have allergen Levels tested by a uni student as part of their study. I remember one of the questions I had to answer was, "do you hang up wet washing in your house?" they set up some little machine in kids bedroom and results were all good.