Posted by Don on January 03, 2005 at 21:07:03:
It would seem to me that there is simply not enough heat circulation and/or heat. Who pays the heat bill? Perhaps a contractor can add pipes where they are needed.
Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by bill - OH
Posted by bill - OH on November 25, 2004 at 22:38:01:
Tenants informed me of mold in a house and claim that they will not try and clean it but the kids are already sick, etc. I told them to move but no dice. What are my obligations on mold appearing on a house?. I understand that you may be able to take care of it with some bleach and water. There is some mold in the walls in 2 rooms of the house.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by Ray S
Posted by Ray S on November 26, 2004 at 21:49:37:
Hi Bill, I have had to deal with this a couple of times. First of all I think this is very serious and I am only speaking for myself. I would try to guage the intentions of the tenants. If I felt like I was dealing with people that could be reasoned with I would take the following action. 1) Offer them another place to stay if you have one. 2) I would look at the actual mold situation. Normally it’s limited to a small area. Usually this can be easily cleaned up. The EPA site has a good write up on how to remediate mold. Basically you Isolate the area, to keep from spreading the mold. Remove material that has mold in it and remove surface mold with Vacuum with Hepa filter. You use clorox or mildicide,etc. Then use sealer. If this covers several areas and or the tenants are difficult to deal with, you need to have the people move and bring in professionals. By the way I would document everything.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by Mike (St Louis)
Posted by Mike (St Louis) on November 26, 2004 at 10:22:38:
Be prepared to get sued. I have been down this exact same path. In my case, tenants refused to move because they were gathering evidence. Resulted in a multi million doallar lawsuit against me. this is serious, take action.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by River City
Posted by River City on November 26, 2004 at 07:32:13:
I attended a Mortgage Bankers conference in April where mold was addressed. Most mold will not hurt you. Maybe you should call your county inspection office and ask them if someone can come out and inspect the house for the mold problem. Chances are this mold is harmless and the inspector will put this in writing. If he says it is a problem, I would suggest that you tell the tenants that they will have to move out so you can treat the mold.
I would also insist that your tenants see a doctor to see if the mold has caused any medical problems. Be prepared for your insurance to cover any medical expenses. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by bill - OH
Posted by bill - OH on November 27, 2004 at 18:44:06:
There is some mold in the closet in a bedroom upstairs in a corner and also in the opposite corner of the bedroom. There is a large amount of moisture in the house. The bed in one bedroom is against the wall and the wall which is dried everywhere else is wet around their bed(area touching the walls). Part of the moisture has to be from the disconnected dryer vent which has the basement walls wet to the touch. They do have a lot of furniture which prevents air from circulating and the areas with mold are those areas that they have furniture against except for the closet which also has no air movement.
I am going to clean the spots with water and bleach and use Kilz to seal it but I am not sure that the mold will not come back. The tenants do not want to move at this time and of course all the kids are “sick” due to mold.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by REG/Va.
Posted by REG/Va. on November 27, 2004 at 24:09:55:
Here’s a question I have a friend who lives in an apt. were a mold has appeared on the cieling above her toilet were the upstairs units toilet is. It’s a big black circular stain and in bedroom closet mold grown and has ruined shoes and some of her clothes. It also appears to be growing in her hall closet too.
What are her rights and by the way the landlord/ property manager is very slow to fix anything he that he isn’t paying for (ex. if it’s a leaking sink or a running toilet he’s there the next day) if it is something like an eye to the stove that won’t cut off. don’t hold your breathe.
She informed the landlord and assistant manager they had someone come to the apt. and they took a look, but that person didn’t even say what they were going to do or even how long before anything was to be done.
She has taken pics of the bathroom and damaged clothes.
Thanks in advance,
REG/Va.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by Ray S
Posted by Ray S on November 28, 2004 at 01:46:30:
The Dryer could be a major contributor, I don’t know anything about cold climate mold and basements. The Relative Humidity has to stay below 50 to 60%. They make a sealer for mold remediation. It’s not Kilz. You mix it with water and use a pump up sprayer. What type of heat do they use. Normally the heat will dry out the air. Make sure you have no other sources of moisture. Make sure that you don’t have any plumbing leaks. One way is turn off all water and watch the meter for movement. Look for leaks in the supply side(meter) and the drain side(shower pans, toliet wax rings etc). Third source would be water penetraton - roof - basement. Consider running a dehumidifier. I’m curious, Let me know what the fix is.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by bill - OH
Posted by bill - OH on November 28, 2004 at 17:25:56:
We are trying to get the basement dried up first by venting outside. Heat is gas furnace. There are no pipes in the areas where mold is.
Running a dehumidifier is a good idea but it should not be necessary on a “normal” home. I am thinking that cleaning the mold and then running a dehumidifier to see if it comes back, I have never seen a dehumidifier needed on anything but basements and mold is upstairs, although it could be caused by the humidity in the basement.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by Ray S
Posted by Ray S on November 29, 2004 at 24:06:13:
One of the things that concerned me the most is the way you described the Moisture in the affected room. Is this home New construction. It’s possible that moisture is having a hard time escaping. If it’s real tight construction You might consider using a fresh air Supply from the outside. You would use fresh air from outside. This air would be drawn in on the Return air Side of the furnace. This air being at a colder temperature would have considerably less moisture than inside Heated air. It would effectively be bringing in dry air and forcing Moist air out. This is used on new construction in some places to make sure they have a steady supply of fresh air. You can control the amount of air by using a damper. You also need to measure the humidity to make sure that as you try different things that your making progress. In my experience it’s always a water leak.
Re: Mold in rental - action to take - Posted by bill - OH
Posted by bill - OH on December 03, 2004 at 12:57:43:
It is not new construction. It is over 60 years old. The house is all cement blocks on the outside. I wonder if these houses need be sealed with some water sealers although I never had problems with moisture until these people moved in and I have owned the house for some 15 years.
They do have 3 kids and it is only 2 bedrooms so they have a lot of furniture and maybe there is no air movement sufficient to dry things out.