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Old 01-15-2014, 02:29 PM
 
2,845 posts, read 5,993,717 times
Reputation: 3749

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Why didn't the LL ask them to turn it down then? I mean did you ever invite her into your unit to hear the humming? That would drive me crazy. We had that issue once, turned out the downstairs neighbor went away for a few days and forgot to turn off his kitchen fan. I text him and he was like oh sorry! But was out of town.... It was a few days of torture until he got home.

 
Old 01-15-2014, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Silicon Valley
18,813 posts, read 32,304,245 times
Reputation: 38564
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seezur View Post

I am the first and only person on the "waiting list" to switch units so when summer rolls around and I have the time and manpower I intend to move to a 3rd floor unit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seezur View Post
So here's an update to my situation, and suggestions are welcome.

I went and visited my landlady about the top floor unit in my building but it had already been rented.



The landlady is really a stellar person. I'm thinking when I show her the pictures she will have it removed.
No. Your landlady is not a stellar person. She told you you were first in line to rent that unit, and voila! she lied.

Now you are going to trust her to remove mold?

Unless you are talking about some other unit?

Even if she tried to get rid of the mold, as OregonWoodSmoke said, are you sure you want to rent a place even for just a few months worrying about mold? The odds of it being toxic are about nil, but just think about how you will be living with it.

I'm going to agree with the posters above who suggest you just stay put until your lease expires. You'll just have to go study somewhere else.

Why? A good landlord reference. And breaking your lease will cost you money. Didn't you say it's only 3 more months? You can handle that. I know it won't be ideal, but you can handle it. Get that fan, earplugs, and go study somewhere peaceful.
 
Old 01-16-2014, 07:43 AM
 
66 posts, read 214,055 times
Reputation: 65
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seezur View Post
So here's an update to my situation, and suggestions are welcome.

I went and visited my landlady about the top floor unit in my building but it had already been rented.

I also spoke to my noisy neighbors and suffice it to say, they were not very amenable to change. In fact I heard them outside talking about me and using some choice words; blood is in the water and now more than ever I need to move out.

As my landlady and I were talking about breaking my lease, she realized that, in another building, there was a tenant moving out. Turns out he's already in NYC and the apartment will be ready for cleaning likely before the end of the month (depends on when his friend picks up remaining furniture).

The building that this unit is in is comprised of senior citizens and a few local professors from my college. My landlady left the door unlocked today so that I could inspect it. Floor plan is the same except smaller window in main living room, extra window in main bedroom and different closet locations and materials. From today's two visits it seems very quiet, and the one old lady blasting her TV is a floor below and across the hall. Definitely ideal in terms of sound. The building is one of their older buildings (about five/six are made of brick, including the one I visited today, while the 3-4 new buildings, like the one I'm in now, have plastic siding).

The landlady is going to repaint the interior and put in new carpeting, along with general cleaning. I could be in this unit 3 to 4 weeks from now.


So now that you have the updated backstory, here's the issue:

Upon inspecting the unit again I noticed that, in the bathroom, there are 3-4 patches of blackish colored mold, presumably because the fan broke and the tenant took showers without it. The walls in the bathroom are wallpapered. The mold is mainly on the wallpaper with some of it reaching the ceiling. The patches are about 6"x7". The mold also accounts for the funky smell I noticed when I first walked in.

I am allergic to mold, plus, allergies aside it's probably unhealthy. I've also read that mold is more or less impossible to get rid of, at least completely (spores remain in the air). Basically, should I move to this new unit, with the knowledge that mold can reoccur?

The landlady is really a stellar person. I'm thinking when I show her the pictures she will have it removed. I'm just not sure if I should ask for a professional company to come in and make sure that it isn't in the drywall/fan/whatever. If I don't take this unit I'll end up breaking my lease as the next top floor unit won't be available for 3 months.

Is mold a show stopper? Should I throw away an otherwise ideal unit and break my lease and commute instead? I know you can't answer this for me but opinions/suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

I would suggest asking the landlord to have maintenance completely remove the wallpaper. Have them clean and repaint the wall with a mold proof paint from home depot. It should be fine. Also make sure the landlord fixes the fan to ventilate the bathroom prior to moving in and you should be ok.

I lived in a place where the entire basement would flood with water up to knee levels. During the summer months, the mold was so bad it was growing on the walls and all in the crown moulding. Smell was pungeant. It could be smelled as soon as you walked into the house. Landlord had the area patched up outside where the water was getting into the basement. He then had the place cleaned up with mold killer. Removed the moulding where the mold was growing, repainted the entire basement with mold proof paint and brought one of those machines that pulls the water out of the air. We didn't have any issues after that. I am also sensitive to mold myself and am allergic to penicillan.

Its up to you. Just remember that no place will be perfect and there are no guarantees even if you break the lease and move out the next place might be worse. You will have some noise living in an apartment how much noise will depend mainly upon the construction of the buildings. The thing is to find some place with an environment where you can feel comfortable and that it meets at least some of your needs. If the landlord is willing to work with you and you can stay and avoid having to come up with more money to look for something else that might be worth considering.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 09:13 PM
 
5 posts, read 42,765 times
Reputation: 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kim in FL View Post
You need to learn that on these forums you're going to get opinions you don't like or agree with.....if you dont' want opinions, don't ask for them.

I also know you're changing units..good for you, but I doubt your issues with the unit stop at the mold. And as someone already said..if you truly have an issue with mold (and you know this is mold for a fact) then don't move there.
Yeah the issue is your opinions are about something no longer relevant; I'm moving, and was asking about mold experiences, not what you feel about noise/subwoofers/common courtesy, but I suppose I should have started a new post to deter you. What other issues would I have other than the mold? It just seems like you're being passive aggressive and not really contributing anything useful. But since this is all taken care of maybe a mod can close this thread, I know there's a slim chance I'll be posting in it again.


Good news though! I'm moving into the new unit sometime in the next two weeks. New carpets have been put in, the moldy wallpaper was torn down, walls scrubbed and painted (all of them). There is no sign of mold and I didn't get itchy skin etc. from being in the bathroom. I've been over there a few more times and it's whisper quiet. The tenant who lived there before me was throwing away whatever he didn't take so I even get a free, new in box full size mirror. This unit also has a ceiling fan in one of the rooms. Movers will be coming early February and then I should be all set up.

The landlady really is nice. I originally wanted to stick out the noise thing and try to deal with it, and told her I would want a top floor unit during the summer. After I realized the noise was never ending, I politely asked for the top floor unit (which she had rented since I said I'd wait until summer) and she was more than willing to break my lease with minor penalties and no bad blood, but instead realized she indeed had an open unit.

She asked if I wanted new carpeting, I said yes, she installed the carpeting. She also did send a memo to the noisy couple, but they didn't change their blaring TV marathon habit. She could have easily not done any of these things so I really appreciate her going the distance.

One last story before I go: the couple above me who never shuts their TV off. Well they both smoke cigarettes, which is fine by me. The other day the woman comes up from the laundry room and asks if I have any cigarettes. I say no, but since I'm going out to a store, I offer to drive her to the gas station. She tells me not to worry, her husband is coming home from work to bring her some.

I leave. I come back, ten minutes later, and she runs down from their unit (I realized she was just greeting whoever was coming into the building to try to bum cigarettes) and awkwardly realizes it's me. She then tells me that usually the cigarette butt depository outside is unlocked, but this time she couldn't get into it. I really didn't know what to say, so I kind of just stared and ended with "good luck". I think I'll be much better off surrounded by old people. I don't mean to pass judgement, but at the same time, what kind of life are you living that is comprised with endless TV watching and smoking other people's old cigarettes at the tender age of 28-33 (complete guess)? She seemed pleasant but it really made me feel bad for her.

Anyways thanks a lot for all who have contributed; it's been very helpful. Luckily things have worked out. Bye!
 
Old 01-25-2014, 10:13 PM
 
2,845 posts, read 5,993,717 times
Reputation: 3749
What's dumb is as soon as someone ELSE moves into the apartment, they'll have the same problems, hopefully THEN the LL takes action.
 
Old 01-25-2014, 11:20 PM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,440,395 times
Reputation: 23222
Thread Closed at request of original poster...
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