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Mold in houses seems to making news these days. There was a bit on one of the evening news magazines that I happened accross the other night (20/20?) and the following articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and Time Magazine (I don’t know how long these links will stay good, so my apology if they go dead…):
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/lloyd/
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,165155,00.html
If a house you build happens to end up at some point with toxic mold (real or imagined), I would guess that it could make for some interesting legal implications…
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Casey, If there's lawyers in the wood pile I'll bet imaginary mold will do just as well as the real thing. Joe H
*The problem is real, but I dislike how it gets handled.These people have their own health going down the tubes and are unwilling to spend their own money to fix it. Someone else should pay for their misfortune, and they are "victimized."I have had a few people call me to help them fight with their builder and I basically tell them the problem is real, you are not imagining this stuff, but don't wait for the builder.By the way -people that sample for mold are usually wasting their time and your money. Fixing the problem is usually cheaper than a correct regimen of testing. This is because the occupants are a time weighted average of the environmental problem. Testing is a one point test, so to properly assess for all the variables one must test alot and test often.Killing the mold, removing the mold, drying out the house, and removing the food is cheaper and can be done by a do-it-yourselfer.I was told at Affordable Comfort (I don't remember by who) that when one of these "mold scares" hits the papers there are invariably a few Building Science type people that try to buy the house. We know how to manage, control, or eliminate the problem. And buying a million dollar home that is "valueless" by the owners own admission seems like a cheap way to get a big house. The problem is that the lawyers won't let them sell. They need the money shot for the TV. If they had no moldy house, they wouldn't be able to put on a Tyvek suit (for the TV camera) to go in and feed their goldfish!When in Milwaukee for the last AC conference there was a big news story about a local house that had mold problems. I called the TV station and explained that the best people in the world to fix the problem were all at one hotel, and why not have us out to fix the place. I got no response, because there's no money in fixing the problem, but there is money in farming the problem.-Rob
*good post , rob...comforting to think there is a little common sense still out there...asbestos... radon....lead.....now mold...keep watching your back, brothers and sisters
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Mold in houses seems to making news these days. There was a bit on one of the evening news magazines that I happened accross the other night (20/20?) and the following articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and Time Magazine (I don't know how long these links will stay good, so my apology if they go dead...):
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/lloyd/
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,165155,00.html
If a house you build happens to end up at some point with toxic mold (real or imagined), I would guess that it could make for some interesting legal implications...