MOLD In Portland Apartments (Pendleton: apartment complex, lease, condo)

[lookinforhorseparadise]

In my extensive and wide ranging Portland area apt search (by distance) I have been online constantly and as part of my process when I locate a possibility, I do look up reviews. Now I realize one must take online reviews with a grain of salt. A bad review might be one person's idea of retribution for having lost their deposit for something they did, for example. Or a good review may be actually be posted by a company employee masquerading as a tenant. However, when I start to see a trend, say 39 or 40 out of 45 reviews being negative, I do take things seriously. One reoccurring negative issue is mold. I have seen this mentioned again and again in older communities of garden style 2 story buildings of block construction. Many have been in SW Portland but not only limited to that area. I myself am very allergic to mold and I once spent a week in the hospital at 30% lung capacity while living in a (unbeknownst to me at first) moldy home. In that case the mold was not visible on the walls, but wood floor joists and insulation were moldy due to a water laden dirt crawlspace under my bedroom. So I avoid mold now, like the plague so to speak. After coming across so many mentions of mold today, I am wary. There are of course many older buildings in Portland. Are they all high risk for mold, or is it primarily these garden style apartments? I think a lot of the units may have been ground floor, but once it takes hold it may have worked it's way upward.
Have you experienced mold issues and if so what type of unit were you living in at the time?

[oldtintype]

I think a lot of mold happens because people don't open their windows enough.
I haven't had mold but I lived in a building that developed a problem due to a burst pipe, but that happens everywhere. It was specific to a unit the pipe was closest to. There are lots of molds in Portland though so your allergies could be problematic just breathing outside air.

And there are a lot of molds that are no big deal, and then some that are dangerous. You probably had the latter in your home.

[Nell Plotts]

One way to see if mold is likely to be an issue is to examine the bathroom carefully looking for growth above the shower or tub. See if there is adequate bathroom ventilation, one why to check that is to turn on the fan and hold a piece of paper near the vent - see if it flutters or pulls the paper.

[Minervah]

The apartment next to mine has a mold issue in the kitchen. The cabinets have mold in the backs of them. My apartment is continually damp feeling but so far no mold. Our side of the building gets little sun. The other side gets lots of sun all day long and those apartments do not have that issue. You wouldn't think it to be the case but our bathrooms have never had a mold problem. Maybe because those are small rooms and the electric heaters dry them out. I use a stand alone heater and always keep the window cracked. My neighbors use their electric baseboard heaters in their bathrooms even in the summer. They say that keeps it dry enough to avoid any mold problem.

It's a very old building and I think it may have something to do with the ground settling or something like that. My living room and bedroom are affected the worst and feel damp even in the dry weather. This wasn't the case nine years ago when I first moved in.

Mold is everywhere but it isn't usually the really dangerous kind. I think it is only bad for those with respiratory problems. Most people seem not to be affected by it. It has become more and more of a problem for me and I have had doctors actually advise me to move from Portland not necessarily to a very dry climate but to one that does not have as much continual dampness as Portland has.

I would imagine the newer apartments would have a lot less of a mold problem than the older ones.

[classicanne]

I have had some mold in the bathroom, but that's because of not having ventilated it properly (and I didn't think about using the heater in there to be sure things were dried out -- d'oh!) the past two winters. I had the flu this past winter and the winter before, and used the bathroom like a huge steam room to help with my lingering cough at that time, but I should have dried things out better afterwards.

I have also had a little around the sliding glass doors from dampness during the rainy season, but it's easily wiped away, and there have been no other problems mold-wise. And my apartment complex was built in 1969, btw.

[Kung pao]

[SIZE=4]First off, I felt compelled to write this to anyone thinking about buying or renting and moving into any place that you suspect has mold. Black mold and mycotoxins spores are highly dangerous, sometimes you will not see visible signs, and you may not be able to smell it either[/SIZE][SIZE=4], but it could be hidden behind a wall. If you see mold, or smell mold run and run fast do not look back. If your in a lease and the building is making you sick you can get [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]out of your lease, see your doctor he can write you a letter. No one [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4] can force you to stay somewhere that is killing you. There are laws that protect you.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=4] I'm writing this to not scare people, but rather wake them up to reality of dangers of black mold. [/SIZE][SIZE=4]I think to look at the professionals for knowledge on doctors, biochemists, or environmental scientist. I would not look to a landlord, for any answers on black mold[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]
According, to one of the foremost authorities on mold 25% of people are allergic mold and 75% are not allergic to mold these are the people that the body carries the mycotoxins out, for some reason some people bodies do not do that . My doctor says, that 75% are not allergic "yet"...I think the implication here that being exposed to toxins have long terms effects that may break down your immunity, so when you need your immune system to kick in it may not because it has been weakened. Everyone wants immune systems to be strong. Who knows what the long term effects are to mold even if you have no allergic response to black mold today. Do you increase your likelihood of getting cancer by earlier exposure, since mold
The aflatoxin mycotoxins which Aspergillus produce are among the most powerful carcinogenic

Many individuals cannot ever return to a house that has mold, even it was cleaned up by professionals because they had previous exposure.
Who knows what lurk behind those wall unless you have x-ray vision and then there are the older places well many are fine some well have visible signs of mold and that is dangerous. Many times there is mold and you cannot see it

I am listing a few symptoms and of course the symptoms will vary from person to person. The early symptoms is your bodies early warning signs that something is wrong: sore throat, cough, rash, dizziness, itchy eyes, itchy skin, headaches, fatigue, insomnia, restlessness, wheezing, and sinus infections.

Then it progresses, you may not be able to work , drive at this point, weakness, exhaustion, joint pain, blurred vision,nausea, weight loss, dry heaves, interstitial cystitis, heart palpitations, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity, and chemical intolerance, memory issues, psychiatric issues ,
seizures, coma, heart attack , cancer and then of course death.

In the book I read, the MD mold expert Shoemaker wrote, that by the time the patient arrived to his office they were so sick that they were ALL were going to end their lives, it was just a matter of when if they did not get well. Lucky, he was able to help them be cured.

Today, many houses now are air tight, any place you live needs to breathe it to be healthy and should be built during the warmer months,

In Portland, Oregon it rains a lot , so there may be leaking in some building which may result in black mold so it is better to be cautious. As most Portlander know about even the new condo has pipes leaking litigation issues, I would run from that so fast. I looked at sorts of places, new old so many had leaking issues, and some had mold I was stunned.

I thought that moving into a newer place your
safe, but a Harvard research showed mold was in 50%
new and old places, so proceed with caution when looking at places.

The other side of the coin, is that even living in a warmer place, like Arizona has valley fever, caused from spores blowing in the wind

In the bible if a house had mold in it they would burn it down. Problem solved.

[/SIZE]

[SIZE=4][/SIZE]

[Bluesmama]

Something I've never understood is why so many homes in this area - old AND new - do not have a window in the bathrooms.

[Leisesturm]

The complex we just moved from had the bathroom sandwiched in between the kitchen and back bedroom. No window, just a high tech fan that we were admonished to run for at least one hour after showering. The complex behind ours had bathrooms on the rear wall and they had windows that looked into our master bedroom. The glass was frosted of course but that did not prevent us from seeing movements and any bathroom window that was open even a crack would let every single sound louder than a pin dropping to carry into our bedroom in high fidelity. Forgive me if I think bathroom windows are overrated. Our new complex has a window in the bathroom. It doesn't look onto anything but it is drafty and I had drafts when I shower. Forgive me if I think bathroom windows are overrated.

H

[j_k_k]

I wonder if a dehumidifier would help with mold. Part of the problem is the high ambient moisture content, right? To get mold in Pendleton, where the humidity is low most of the time, takes some focused effort. So if you consistently lower the indoor humidity, in theory, it should help make it harder for mold to grow, goes my logic. Not the only factor, of course, but one worth considering...or am I missing a major puzzle piece?

[NWGirl74]

I've lived in two apartments in the area with mold problems: one in NE and one in Vancouver.