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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Mold!

I was talking on the phone with Michelle late last week while I was walking down my hallway. My home is mostly covered in Pergo wood flooring, which I love. It's warmer than tile and easier to clean than carpet. It's a laminate flooring, installed directly over concrete, atop of a cushy liner which makes it very comfortable to walk on.

As I walked by one of the bathrooms, I stepped in a puddle. Again. This the was third time in a day and a half that I had stepped in that annoying puddle, I thought crossly to myself, reaching for a towel to mop it up. Then I stopped. "What? What is it?" asked Michelle.

"I think I have a problem," I said, or I said something similar to that. My mind racing furiously, I wiped up the water, then stepped on the board again. Water welled up from underneath, through the cracks. "Oh crap!" I said. "I think I have a leak. I'll call you back."

I called the boyfriend, who rushed home to see what was happening. Later that day, with 1/3 of my hallway torn up (the Pergo was ruined) we determined that there was a small, slow leak in a nearby wall. It may be the result of a leaky pipe, it may simpy be the accumulation of water over a long period of time and our recent bout of warm weather may have accelerated the mold.

I woke up that next morning to see a few bumps on my face. I hadn't had acne like that since I was a teenager! Miffed, I applied Clearasil and went about my daily routine. But the next time I checked, the bumps had spread all over my face. I looked like a raspberry! That's when I realized that I was breaking out into hives. I switched from Clearasil to cortisone cream but it didn't get better.

I'm allergic to anything that is alive or ever was alive. I can eat all foods, thankfully. But when it comes to mold, I'm especially allergic.

So that's when I decided to pack everyone up and stay in a hotel for a couple days while the house dried out and the mold died. I called Michelle to tell her, and asked her to throw a comment up telling everyone that I was AWOL for a short time.

If you think staying in a hotel is fun, try staying in a hotel room with two pent-up kids who haven't been allowed to go home all day. Kids who have just seen Over the Hedge and think it's a fantastic movie (who said kids had good taste?). These kids were w-o-u-n-d-u-p. Tighter. Than. A. Top.

They decided to reenact The Matrix, jumping between the two beds and slinging pillows at each other. I tolerted that for a short time before I calmly told them that I was about to skin them alive. Then they settled down into a nice, quiet game of "he's poking me, no I'm not." By the time my boyfriend got to the hotel room (around 10 pm) the lights were out and the kids were lying there quietly, in fear for their lives, while I was reading a book by the light from the bathroom.

"How come the kids are in bed?" he asked.

"Because they need to be," I snapped.

"Uh, OK, then," he replied, tiptoeing to the bathroom.

The next night the kids went to their other parents' houses and we stayed in the hotel by ourselves. He had worked on the house all day, I had gone through another day with the kids. I had taken them to see X-Men 3 (this one was somewhat bleak and very disturbing). It seemed to sober them up a bit. Jim Marsden a.k.a. Cyclops was killed off early in the movie so if you're going so that you can see Jim shine, don't bother. He apparently ticked someone off. It was also strange to see the nerdly Kelsey Grammer as Beast. But these problems are just the tip of the iceburg (as you'll see if you click on the link to read an excellent review of the movie).

It's hard to sleep in a strange bed, but I took a couple of benadryls and was out like a light. Early in the morning, someone opened our door and started to come in. "We're sleeping in here," I hollered, but by then we were wide awake. The hotel has no idea who did it, or how it was done. But it was enough to make us pack up and head home again to the embrace of The Mold.

Here we are, several days after the initial discovery, and I still have bumps on my face. Too bad that's the only thing I have in common with a teenager.

We're back at the house, and we'll see how we do. The boyfriend thinks he got all the mold, but on the advice of a friend (thanks, John!) he's going to tear out a little more to see if there's any more lurking there. With any luck, it's been caught in time.

Goodness knows, I don't want to spend another night in a hotel room.

22 comments:

High Power Rocketry said...

God that is horrible. I have also had a bad history of mold in the house, but this was on everything, just an environmental issue. A sick house. The area is always humid, in the summer the most. And with lots of wood, the whole house just gets into this cycle of more mold preventing any kind of cleanup: the spores must have been in the billions.

But things are all better now, and here is how: new paint on everything, with lots of anti-fungal in them. I redid the insulation in the attic, threw out all 500 lbs of the old stuff, and found several squirrel nests in the process (how do they get in?), and finally there is a dehumidifier in the basement which was once very damp.

And so far (1 year and counting) no mold problems. I think once you break the cycle, and drastically reduce the levels of spores, you hit a tipping point where the mold dies, and all the of the spores go away. Now we probably have little more than the normal background level of spores, and that isnt very likely to start the problem up again.

Ed said...

With modern hotels with the key cards, it is very easy for someone to open up your room door. I have had that happen to me before when some clerk types in the wrong number when programming it. I've gotten to where I always attach the chain as well.

Home repairs always seem to come when you least desire them. Hope you get it all fixed.

The Lazy Iguana said...

It is that squishy may under the floor. That stuff soaks up water, and even the smallest crack will allow water to get under the floor. And because this IS Florida - the end result is mold. Tons of it.

By the way - that "Over The Hedge" movie. You have a bunch of furry brown animals trying to get over a "hedge" and into the white people's nice yard.

And what is congress fighting over now? IMMIGRATION REFORM!! Am I the only one who has connected the dots here?

michelle said...

Welcome Back Saur!

The group on sweetnsaur are calling you. Check out the second thread down.

Notsocranky Yankee said...

Wow, sorry to hear about the mold. I hope you don't have any more problems!

Saur♥Kraut said...

Notsocranky, you and me both!

Michelle, OK! I saw it. You're actually more qualified than I, and I'll happily back you! ;o)

Lazy Iguana, that's exactly it! The boyfriend thinks that it's just a tiny, neverending leak that built up behind the wall, then found it's way out into the floor. The liner trapped the water between the liner and the pavement, and only now did it begin to ooze up. Good thoughts on Over the Hedge... Hmmm.... :D

Ed, You know, that was the weird thing. This particular hotel (very nice and new) had no chain or bar! I won't be staying there again!

Reverb, I think I'll pay to get it tested? Or buy a kit at Home Depot today?

Alex, *whew*!!! You really did a thorough job. I wonder if I need to do the same thing. I hadn't thought about the insulation but it's a very good idea, truthfully. It's pretty old. I'm soooo glad we don't have basements in Florida, though. Talk about an invitation to mold!

High Power Rocketry said...

Yeah if you were to seal the house off, and have central air, you might also be able to manage with a dehumidifier. But if you had central air, that alone should make a big dent if you keep the house cool: the humidity would also drop.

mckay said...

sorry to hear about your home troubles and hotel woes. hope all gets back to normal soon and that you don't get too sick.

btw, the raspberry image is hilarious. i remember drinking that stuff as a kid!

and i'm very glad my 4 year old is too young for Xmen. he wants to see king kong and pirates of the caribbean, so i'm pretty lucky in his choices of 'big kid scary movies', as he calls them.

mck.

Ellen said...

Yikes... that whole mold dilemma is frightening! I am always on the hunt in my house for the very same thing, because I know you can get extremely sick from it.

If you plan to do any painting, use "KILZ" as the primer base (it has a mold killer in it) and then paint over it with your regular color. It works great, as I've had to apply it to areas that did get invaded at times, and never had a repeat incident.

Good luck.... and I hope your face clears up, too! (I also remember the "Funny Face" drink from when I was a kid.)

Grant said...

Good luck battling the mold moster. =)

Daniel Hoffmann-Gill said...

I also have a leak, it is also making mold.

DAMN IT!

Stephanie said...

Good grief, woman, that's awful!

...and creepy about the person popping in for no apparent reason..

Wierd.

Lee Ann said...

Wow, I am sorry about the mold and the bumps! I am allergic to it too.
I hope it is all gone.
I saw X-Men III and thought about you when I saw Marsden (yummy). I enjoyed the movie. A little slow at first, but I found it quite entertaining.

LZ Blogger said...

Speaking of strange beds. I was on the ROAD in sales for many years, not only did I not sleep well, but when it was time to get up, I couldn't remember what city I was even in! Who knows how much mold was in the HOTEL room? ~ jb///

Dave said...

Saur,

I hope your face doesn't scar. I have the same reaction with those self-tanning products.

Excellent post.

Kristie said...

man oh man, that sucks!! What a pain in the arse!! I hope your face clears up soon and that all the mold has left the building. My son wasnt big enough to go crazy or drive us crazy the last time we were in a hotel for a few days, but i remember being younger with my sisters and my parents on the verge of killing us..so i can only imagine what fun that must have been!! Hope everything works out!

btw- this mornings appointment went well...i am going to post about it after this. thanks for checking in on me.

Jamie Dawn said...

That's DRAMA, Saur.
I'm glad the mold only affected your face and not your airway. Gasping for breath would not be pleasant.
I hope all the mold is gone. What a PAIN!
We've spent a lot of time in hotels as a family.
Tight quarters make for some memories that's for sure, and not all of them are good memories. :)

Linda Jones Malonson said...

Poor baby ...I feel you! We found black mold in the air condition, after I got real ill and had to go in the hospital. Saur, mold is no laughing matter. Boy have I missed you. It seem like I have been ill forever. But I am looking forward on catching up a little on one of my favorite blog!

By the way, I am not surprise your readership is builing, you are a very interesting person.

Nihilistic said...

I liked X3, but was a little shocked at some of the plot turns...It wasn't the best of the 3, although the special effects - Awesome!

michelle said...

Well? How are you?

jj mollo said...

Please be aware that the mold spores found in Tutankhamon's tomb, undisturbed for thousands of years, probably led to the so called "Mummy's Curse", resulting in the death of Lord Carnarvan and others. It may have been all that was remained of food provisions for the journey to the world of the dead.

Are you sure there are no bodies under the floor?

Saur♥Kraut said...

Update: rash is gone, mold seems better, house remains torn up. :P Ah well, at least I don't look like a raspberry anymore...