Sick Houses

Identifying Water Damage and Mold

Environmental Hazards, Mold in Homes, Sick Houses

By Cesar Collado

When looking for a new home, anyone who suffers from chronic illness should be interested in identifying red flags that identify structural or unhealthy microbial contamination. In addition, the must find clues for further investigation of toxic substances in your home. In my opinion, anyone suffering from chronic illness, autoimmune or inflammatory diseases, young children, elderly, and pregnant women, should avoid any home where you identify red flags.

Because the real estate industry has such clear objectives in terms of selling as many homes as quickly as possible to maximize income, human safety is not a primary concern. In reality, my experience has shown me that they will often minimize health concerns and inspections. It has been very clearly pointed out to me by real estate professionals that Sickhouses.com is not a welcome collaborator. Fortunately, I have found some professionals that identifying the need for matching safer homes with people that have chronic illnesses.

Home inspection services do not always have the expertise and training to identify microbial issues. Mold inspectors have limited training and certification. There are only a limited number of building professionals that truly understand the cross discipline sciences and industries that contribute to a safe or unsafe homes. Knowledge of building science, materials, moisture and ventilation physics, HVAC and ductwork utility, mycology (to identify specific bacteria, fungi, and the toxins they produce, etc.

My Ultimate Objective

My goal here is to help a buyer identify red flags that suggest that home being avoided altogether because of the potential to make the occupants sick(er). Some home issues are very obvious in the sense that proper reparation may be costly (10’s of thousands). Less obvious is the further contamination in the home that result from the specific issues. It is simply not worth the risk. Water damage is by far the biggest risk factor in any home that is considered for purchase. It almost always leaves bacterial and fungal growth, even if dormant when dry.

Identifying the source of the mold is a critical step to validate you physician’s or your concerns. However, the source of mold can be systemic or concentrated to a specific part of the home. Even when that is the case, physical laws enable mold to spread throughout a home.

Accepting this fact is difficult as it may require a significant investment to fix your home. In the meantime, you and your family must live in it. What can you do? If you are seriously sick from mold and mycotoxins or diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) or Lyme Disease, your physician will likely recommend that you get out of your home, take nothing but the clothes on your back with you, and spend significant time in a safe environment to see if symptoms improve.

This is obviously ideal except for the fact that we all don’t have the financial resources to do so. That doesn’t change the prognosis or the need to get out of the home. Physician recommendations simply are not followed for a variety of practical reasons such as financial constraints or that we may be renting the home or apartment.

Science and Medicine are now recognizing that the body needs clean air to heal. If you are mold sick in a contaminated home, continuous breathing of mold spores will maintain an assault on your immune system and prevent the body’s natural healing process and detoxification from occurring. The only way for the human body to remove toxins is to excrete them. For that to happen, clean air, food (proper nutrition and supplements), and water is needed to heal.

Time and Cost-Effective Steps You can take to Identify Home Issues

First and foremost is to ask questions in the beginning to the realtor. Unfortunately, they may not provide clear answers. There are two questions that should always be asked, even if they are not answered.

To the best of their knowledge the home had any extensive water damage due to flooding, leaks, or weather?
Do any of the occupants suffer from allergies, sensitivities, autoimmune disease or other chronic diseases? This question has privacy issues; however, for what is likely one of your biggest investments in your life, you have nothing to lose.

You can ask the real estate agent to take the questions back to the listing agent and owners.

Recognizing that we are not all comfortable inspecting or fixing our homes, we must rely on some practical steps we can all do to identify potential problems and provide some band aid solutions to remedy.

Safety Equipment and Helpful Tools

To inspect your home, you only need a few supplies and an able body to assist you if you are too sick. For starters, you need a bright LED flashlight. LED light allows colors to be seen more clearly than other forms of light. Other supplies needed include a hygrometer (measures humidity) and a phone camera for documentation, and safety equipment (N95 mask, Tyrek suit, goggles, and latex gloves. You can buy all for < $25). Optional equipment includes an infrared camera and moisture meter.

Start With The Outside of the Home, Followed by The Unfinished, Then inside

Outside:

Walk around your home to see if there is any water, puddles, or moisture settling against your home.
Look at the topography of the neighborhood and imagine flooding conditions. Where will the water flow. It is better to buy a home on the hill rather than at the bottom. Water flows down. If the home is on the incline, take a closer look to see if there are swales (small ditches to help water flow around the home vs into it. Any type of drains that force the water away from the home.
Check around all gutters and make sure all water is steered away from the home. Identify any portion of the roof where gutters and flashing is absent. Many builders leave unprotected portions of the roof, often at the front door.
Inspect windows and entrances for rotting wood from water.

The Basement, Attic, or Crawlspace:

Check for visible water under the home in the crawlspace. Ideally, a well built home will appear clean due to a vapor barrier.
A moldy smell or stench can often be detected in basements and crawl spaces and may be enough to have it checked out by a professional. If you do enter the crawlspace, proper safety equipment is essential to avoid a particularly harsh exposure that can make you sicker.
In a basement, check the water heater and HVAC system for leaks or evidence of leakage. If the entire HVAC unit is dusty and moldy, there will likely be a systemic mold issue in the home as the HVAC will distribute through the duct ventilation. Check for moisture in concrete. Moisture will stain and it can travel through concrete. Check all visible pipes for leaks and condensation.
Check to see what type insulation and ductwork is used. Is the insulation the typical blown loose fiberglass insulation? Is it neatly packed in a clear or colored wrapping.
Use a hygrometer to check the humidity. Higher humidity in unfinished space is common so be prepared to get a dehumidifier and a fan for air ventilation in basement. A humidity reading above 50% is a concern and action should be taken to lower the levels so that mold will not grow.

Inside your Home:

With a flashlight, you can inspect walls, ceilings, floors and carpets for water stains or moisture. Moisture stains are often visible. Take pictures and measure the stain for documentation. Walls exposed to water can appear to be swollen and be soft to the touch. If you have wallpaper, peel back a corner to look for mold. Do the same with baseboards.
Inspect wood floors for warping, buckling, stains, & rotting.
Inspect all carpet for discoloration or dampness. If carpet is damp, it is likely that carpet pads are damp as well. This can be a major source of mold and must be professionally removed, fixed, and treated.
Inspect windows for interior condensation that indicates excess interior humidity inside or faulty seals. Check internal windows and door frames for mold spots, paint erosion, stains or rotted wood.
Check your thermostat or use a hygrometer to determine humidity. Humidity over 50% is conducive to mold growth. Keep in mind that common dust is all that is needed for mold to grow with moisture.
Inspect all visible pipes under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. and check for water or water stains, which can indicate that a pipe or sink is leaking.
Check bathroom tiles for missing or loose caulking, moldy grout, mold and mildew spots.
For any area where there is plumbing, potential for roof leaks, or water damage (below sinks and behind and below sinks, an infrared camera is helpful in identifying moisture behind walls and ceilings and below floors.

Attic

If you find ceiling stains, check the locations directly above the stains for water leaks.
Check all attic pipes for excess condensation. Insulating them can prevent the excess moisture, dripping and subsequent mold growth.
Check the attic for stains, especially where the roof meets the walls. Check insulation for dampness. Check flashing around roof vents and chimneys.
If you suffer from sinusitis or respiratory disease, loose fiberglass insulation is a continuous concern. Microscopic fiberglass shards can be inhaled and form divots in lung and sinus tissues. Your immune system will identify and mobilize to the area creating a larger crevace. After that, bacteria and mold can form a matrix of biofilm which is impervious to antibiotics. This leads to chronic sinusitis or chronic respiratory disease.

When mold is visually found or the source of the musty odor is obvious, it is helpful to tap test areas of concern in the the home. ImmunoLytics Mold Test kits can be sues for visual observation, or to send for testing by the laboratory. All of this information will enable you to properly evaluate mold remediators.

Once you have inspected your home and taken pictures, take some time to review them to determine whether they are small enough to fix yourself or hire a handyman to fix them. This is very cost-effective maintenance to avoid future, bigger problems. Regardless of the job, I have yet to be in a situation where I could not find a very helpful YouTube video to walk me through step by step. If you discover a significant source of mold confirmed with visual or odor evidence, it is my opinion that you should pass on the home if the specific repairs exceed $25 K. You can almost count on that amount being doubled if the mold has been systemically distributed into the home. You will not know if the problem is local or systemic to the household at this time. If you really want the home, it is likely best to have a professional inspect for mold to determine the size and scope of the issue.

This process can be frustrating for home buyers. He current “hot” real estate market where homes are being sold at a premium, on the listing day, or sight unseen make it impossible for families with members who have chronic illnesses to participate. The health risk, financial costs, and human costs are too high in my opinion.

For Renters

All of the internal inspection steps above are practical for renters. A proper inspection with pictures will be conducive for landlords to address the issues. In cases where you discover mold, it is always more effective to test for mold with an ImmunoLytics test kit that has been properly documented and lab tested for a more urgent response from you landlord. Once the issues are fixed or if there is a long delay. You can use any of these Bio-Balance fogging and misting kits to address the systemic mold in your indoor air

Fogging rooms with the Bio-Balance Fog Kit (for <750 sq. ft.)
Fogging the entire home with Bio-Balance Deluxe Package (for <3000 sq. ft)

These solutions will reach all areas of the home including corners and crevices to reduce the fungal air count dramatically, down to close to zero. These packages do not replace identifying the source of mold, removing it, and fixing it! To earn more about Bio-Balance DIY Fogging solutions, click HERE.

Maintenance fogging using a cold fogging solution that aerosolizes Bio-Balance Maintenance Misting Soltuion diluted with distilled water is a quick and easy way to fog regularly to reduce fungal air count and surfaces in the home.

The Bio-Balance Home Maintenance Miste r is an inexpensive way to spot fog rooms, furniture, carpets, cars, of closets. This fogger weighs less than 5 lb. so you can ably reach all areas including cabinets and above furnishings to fog your home.
The Bio-Max Commercial Maintenance Mister can be used for entire homes or regular maintenance fogging. This fogger weighs less than 10 lb. and comes with a shoulder harness to carry the weight with a delivery hose to allow for agile fogging throughout the home like the smaller fogger.

Bio-Balance Home Fogging Solutions