Just a reminder to you folks experiencing a lot of rain.

Dry it up ASAP. Don’t let it sit around, or you’ll be fighting that mold battle.

I tried to post the national news report here, but they’re not publishing that embedded code, so just take it from me. There is a lot of heat going on, and a lot of rain. That is the perfect formula for mold growth, so keep your eyes peeled, and if you need to, call your trusty inspector to sample.

Guilford County Health Dept has a moldy school on their hands.

Oak Ridge Elementary is going to be closed this summer for mold clean-up after being directed by the health department to:

• Clean and repair the heat, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system
• Analyze the school’s dehumidification system
• Continue to fix problems identified in previous reports, which include removing carpets and repairing roof leaks.

A survey of the school reveals symptoms of mold exposure including headaches, dry eyes, unusual sneezing episodes, difficulty breathing or asthma attacks and nosebleeds.

We’re still seeing the effects of last years floods, not just in the homes where the flooding occurred, but also in the people who live in those houses. Mold presents a set of symptoms which are often misdiagnosed. Like coughing.

Though parasitic fungi such as Athlete’s foot are readily diagnosed, easy to catch, difficult to control.

Bleach works for getting rid of surface mold, but it is helpless against hidden mold, mold in the walls, or in crawl spaces. Fanning without filtration just stirs it up and makes it worse. Apart from the mycotoxins, it doesn’t matter to our lungs if a spore is alive or dead when it is the spore itself that is the irritant.

To dry up the mold, dry up the water. That could be a hard thing to do during the rainy season. Rain can expose your house to all kinds of stresses. The leaking roof is the first thing you think of–but then there are also joints in your house-any place two surfaces come together. The home’s unseen water barrier. And then there are windows, especially old-style windows. All of these different locations can be places where water intrudes, but don’t overlook leaky pipes and appliances.

And where ever water goes, mold can follow.

In the California area, if you think you have mold, give us a call; we can test for mold (and toxic gases.)

Byebyemold

In spite of low-income housing residents who fell ill with swollen eyes, flu-like symptoms and respiratory problems two days after moving in, and county-commissioned lab tests identifying four mold species (including Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium) listed by the federal government as species of particular concern, Rio Arriba County is denying a mold problem.

Symptoms of that mold exposure include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, conjunctivitis, lacrimation, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath…not surprisingly similar to illnesses suffered by residents.

County Commission Chairman Elias Coriz said “A certified person found no mold” but official lab tests do show dangerous molds.

You can deny your nose all you want, but that doesn’t keep it from sitting right there in the middle of your face.

Re: Marceau v. Blackfeet Housing.

The U.S. Supreme Court has chosen not to examine if the federal government bears responsibility for toxic, mold-infested homes built on the Blackfeet Reservation with federal money.

American Indians say the houses sickened their families with asthma, sinusitis and other ailments.

What will the Supreme Court do if these houses were built with Toxic Chinese Drywall (which they may well have been)?