Renting and Mold (Sherwood: condo, mattresses, loan)

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by soyu

@hamellr That would suck terribly. Did you get sick?

Never sick per say, but I was terribly run down all the time. The mold wasn't as bad as what you've got, a 2x2 patch on the roof, and all around a metal framed single pane window. It was bad enough though that there was dry rot in the wood around the frame.

The problem was compounded by the fact that the complex went through three owners in two years.

[Nell Plotts]

That apartment was recently constructed, your landlord needs to know about the mold to keep it from becoming a larger problem. If you are putting your mattress on the floor and that is where the mold is appearing there may not be an adequate vapor barrier between the former garage cement floor and the apartment floor. I am sure that the garage floor appeared dry before the conversion but keep in mind that it was exposed to the air. I don't think the building code really addresses this so the owners may not be aware of the problem.

If you can catch the Income Property program on HGTV you will see how the floor is handled in basement apartments. There are floor materials designed for that purpose that the homeowner may not be aware of.

[Sherwoody]

soyu,

I sent you a private message with a link for a local business that may be helpful for you. If you didn't get it let me know and I'll send it again.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by soyu

@AndyAMG

I really appreciate your detailed reply and tips.

This house was converted from a garage of a home. I think it was completed in the summer of 2012. We moved in in late-September 2012. On the surface, it looks very decent. My aunt is supposedly friends with owner of the PM co. so we figure they wouldn't rent us a bad place and if anything happens would be easy to work with. But the owner is not involved with the management of the rentals at all. They have one manager who manages supposedly hundreds of properties in the Portland Metro area. She's a nice lady but often not responsive because she's so slammed. We have notified her about the mold so hopefully we will hear back from her on Monday.

We've had our mattresses for less than a year. We bought them brand new. So sad.

I've also contacted Community Warehouse to see if they can give us two replacement mattresses. So right now I'm just hoping they will get back to me on Monday too. Never wished Monday could come sooner...

This is an easy one if the garage floor is concrete. Get your mattress off the floor. Yes you are making your child sick. Mold in Oregon can even kill. You should be concerned. I don't know why you have the mattress on the floor. I suspect it is finances. There are a dozen agencies will give you a bed frame. I have one with Queen Mattress you can have. Depending on the age of the garage the concrete in the side wall and floor will take about 30 years to cure and stop putting moisture in the area around it. Even then, never put the mattress directly on the floor. And cardboard feeds mold. Let the property manager know "NOW".

[soyu]

@hamellr Glad to hear you didn't get sick. This mold thing is making me depressed too.

@Nell Plotts Thank you for the info about the flooring. It will be helpful when I talk to my PM manager. I understand more about why mold was growing under and around the mattresses and the mold on the window frame. The oddest is the mold in the closet corner. The closet was/is 90% empty with nothing touching that corner.

@Steve Pickering I sense a little hostility from your post... I apologize if I mistaken. I am posting to try to figure out what to do. I am not downplaying the severity of the mold issue. Please don't say stuff like "you are making your child sick." It makes me feel incredibly bad for not being financially capable enough to move them to a cleaner and safer environment immediately. I am working on it. I have contacted my PM manager and Community Warehouse but they're both closed on the weekend.

Thank you for offering us your queen bed and the info on the cardboard. I will remove the cardboards.

[RedRican]

Question - is the floor bare concrete or does it have a finish product (carpet, wood, tiles, etc.) The reason I'm asking is that if it is carpeted, you may have mold growth on the carpet, backing and/or pad. The same goes for other finishes. Even if you get rid of the mattresses, clean the basebaords and use rails; you may still have a mold problem that may not be immediately noticeable (behind drywalls, baseboards, etc.). On the window, I read something about you having mold on the plastic. I'm assuming you are putting plastic to prevent drafts; however, this will cause condensation between plastic and window, no matter if they are new, especially if is a window that doesn't get enough sun light. You also want to open your shade/curtains daily, these can also trap humidity/moisture and cause mold growth on your window panes, trims and shades/curtains.

Also, it is recommended that temperature be maintained between 68 and 78 degrees and relative humidity 20-60, preferably 30-50%. You may want to install a dehumidifier to help remove some of the moisture from the air.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by soyu

... ...
@Steve Pickering I sense a little hostility from your post... I apologize if I mistaken. I am posting to try to figure out what to do. I am not downplaying the severity of the mold issue. Please don't say stuff like "you are making your child sick." It makes me feel incredibly bad for not being financially capable enough to move them to a cleaner and safer environment immediately. I am working on it. I have contacted my PM manager and Community Warehouse but they're both closed on the weekend.

Thank you for offering us your queen bed and the info on the cardboard. I will remove the cardboards.

Nothing Hostile here. My offer was genuine Sorry you feel the way you do about my comment, but your child is in danger from the mold. It was not meant to attack you, but to sound the alarm. I have destroyed my lungs and health because I did not heed the warnings from those who know. Like you we have an investment we choose to keep. The mold has caused permanent diagnosed illness even though we have mitigated the issue in very way possible. I wore a respirator while they removed the five kinds of mold this old 1930’s house had. Still got sick. Even after a complete renovation and removal of all the walls, ceilings, floors, and roof, we still have spores in the air. Some areas like the Apartment in the Daylight basement, and my Amateur Radio Shack will always need a watchful eye as the floors are concrete and although sealed the potential is there.

[Minervah]

One suggestion I would like to make, if you have carpeting on your bedroom floor or are planning on it, don't do it. Many years ago when I was a kid with allergies and a slight case of asthma, my allergist told my mom that one of the worst things an allergic kid could have in his or her bedroom was a carpet. This especially in a climate that tends to have an abundance of mold. Mold seems to love carpets of all kinds.

I don't have kids, but I do have breathing problems and have always rented so my concern has always been for myself. Any apartment with rugs in the bedroom have been dealbreakers for me. I discovered I have a lung disease called pulmonary Sarcoidosis which the asthma was masking and mold in the walls of an apartment triggered it. So I understand how one has to be extra careful about these things.

Although my apartment was old, new ones are not exempt.

Consulting an allergist who specializes in environmental allergies and there are many here in the PNW is a good idea.

[Steve Pickering]

We put a carpet down over sealed concrete and New Vinyl. It molded within a month and was very expensive. We took it up and stayed with the vinyl. Keep in mind this is 20 year old concrete in a daylight basement Apartment. Probably much the same as the converted garage.

[soyu]

@Sherwoody Yes, I got your Direct Message. Thank you for all the helpful tips.

@RedRican This converted house has laminate floors all over and vinyl floors in the bathroom. I also feel like even if we get rid of the surface mold, there could be mold hidden underneath. We've cranked up the heater to 75F. Our property manager loaned us a dehumidifier last week. At that time we've cleaned up all the mold. Today we found that the mold has came back. This house doesn't get much sunlight at all. It's shaded by like 6 really tall pine trees. We did use plastic sheets to cover a couple of the windows because they were very drafty. Oddly the ones that weren't covered molded. However we have removed all the plastic sheets now because someone told us the same thing you said. Thank you for the detailed response and tips.

@Steve Pickering Thanks. I apologize for mistaking your intent in the previous post. Sadly, my children and I are still living here. We got a dehumidifier and we moved the mattresses away from the walls. The mold came back anyway. I didn't get anywhere with the Community Warehouse because they require a social worker go out to their warehouse with me. It took a couple weeks of phone tags to figure that out. The "inspectors" that my PM manager sent out were basically handymen...and they just loan us a dehumidifier as a fix and kept on reiterating how this is a new house whether built from the ground or converted from a garage and nothing could possibly be wrong with it.