Archive for April 2005
Mold problem � the truth behind the lies
April 30, 2005, 7:04 amThis is an interesting letter I came across while surfing the web. It’s indicative of the passion and energy that people bring to this emerging health issue. Explicitly, it makes an argument that needs to be made, and is increasingly being repeated by people who have been personally affected by household mold. To quote:
I was wrong. The middle school that my children attended had a mold problem due to a roof leak. We were warned of the problem after the fact. My twins were both diagnosed with mycotoxicosis (systemic fungal disease). Within six months both children suffered from bloody noses, acid reflux, asthma, and chemical sensitivity. One of my children has been recently diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis while both suffer from Fibromyalgia.
By the time the school was announced a �health hazard,� bloody lesions were found in the stomach lining of my younger child during a routine test for acid reflux problems and an unexplainable digestive disorder. Both suffered from severe memory problems that I don�t think they will ever recover. None of these illnesses run in my family or my husband�s. The strange thing is that over 65 percent of the students at this school became ill with the same or similar problems, including several cases of multiple sclerosis (MS). Since I removed them from that school and they have been attending a new school, many of the original symptoms diminished but they will be forever damaged, mentally and physically.
That is when I started researching this stuff. I discovered that the mycotoxins from some of the molds found at the school have been documented by the U.S. Army as weapons of mass destruction. The World Health Organization and Merck Manual have recognized and identified the neurotoxins found in many of these molds for years.
Source: Amador Ledger Dispatch
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the News category)
National Asthma & Allergy Awareness Month Seeks to Educate Allergy Sufferers About Prevention
April 28, 2005, 3:34 pmThis is a great announcement, and a great initiative, as it helps to raise consciousness about how to take care of ourselves, and those of us who suffer bad allergies or asthma. I had asthma, and still have bad allergies, so I’m happy to see this sort of campaign. To quote from the press release:
May Patient Education Campaign Focuses on Indoor Allergens
WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire/ — Spring-cleaning is alive and well, according to a recent survey by The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). According to the study, sixty-seven percent of allergy sufferers clean their homes and work environments in the spring to help prevent their allergy symptoms.
The Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America wants to make sure that these allergy sufferers are cleaning effectively and is dedicating this May’s National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month (NAAAM) to indoor air quality patient education.
“Allergy and asthma control begins at home for more than 50 million Americans who have allergies, and the 20 million who have asthma,” said Mike Tringale, director of Marketing and Communications for AAFA. “When allergy sufferers clean properly, they can manage their indoor air quality, and lessen the nasal congestion, coughing, sneezing, headaches and severe, flu-like symptoms, they often experience.”
AAFA stresses the importance of using appropriate and effective cleaning methods to address the most common indoor allergy triggers; dust mites, pet dander and common household mold. For example, simply sweeping the home could actually make allergies worse because it may stir up pet hair and dust mites.
“With indoor allergies, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure,” said Dr. Jay Portnoy, chief, Section of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, Kansas City, MO and author of a recent article on indoor air quality published in the Annals of Allergy. However, Dr. Portnoy states in his article that some indoor allergy triggers, like common household mold, are often overlooked and ineffectively addressed.
“People are often surprised to find out that their allergies can be triggered by common household mold,” says Dr. Portnoy, “The Mold Doctor.” “I recommend that people who have mold allergies take simple actions to avoid exposure and reduce growth by managing moisture and cleaning regularly and properly.”
To manage common household mold, AAFA recommends:
- Running the air conditioner during humid months;
- Fixing leaky pipes to limit moisture in the home;
- Using exhaust fans to increase kitchen and bathroom ventilation;
- Cleaning and killing mold spores on hard, non-porous surfaces with an
EPA-registered cleaning solution containing low concentrations of
bleach*; and
- Removing moldy soft surfaces immediately.
While soap and water may remove the mold stain from hard, non-porous surfaces, highly allergenic fragments still remain, quickly reproduce and potentially trigger allergies.
Fore more info see: http://www.aafa.org/
—Administrator | 2 comments
(posted in the Resources category)
The Long Term Impact of Mold on Affordable Housing
April 24, 2005, 7:57 amThis is a fascinating article that looks at the long term impacts of mold, and related litigation. Explicitly, it addresses the current lack of affordable housing in Nevada County California, a result of an almost total stoppage of new condominium construction. The reason new construction has stopped is due to expensive insurance policies that are a result of litigation related to mold and other building defects. To quote:
The 1980s real estate boom fueled a vicious cycle that, despite the efforts of lawmakers and industry leaders, created astronomical insurance costs and continues to make condos nearly impossible to construct.
Thousands of condominiums - individually owned, attached dwellings - sprouted up in Southern California and the Bay Area in the early ’80s. Some of those dwellings and the many other new homes weren’t as soundly constructed as they should have been, however. Mold, rotting walls, cracked foundations and other problems appeared in the nearly new structures.
Alerted to the flaws, lawyers pounced.
Soon, insurance companies were pummeled with construction defect lawsuits. Some of the lawsuits were legitimate, while others stemmed from small, easily fixable omissions.
In response to the onslaught of lawsuits, rates to cover home builders skyrocketed.
“Due to fear of litigation, the insurance market pretty much dried up,” said Janet Huston, spokeswoman for California’s Housing and Community Development Department.
Source: The Union
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the News category)
The increasingly severe health impacts of exposure to mold
April 22, 2005, 5:22 amThis is a really interesting, yet at the same time rather alarming article about the health impacts of exposure to mold. One of the things it notes is that due to rising awareness of the effects of mold, diagnosis is being reached earlier and earlier. This is really good, given that it can help people with their suffering, however it does help raise the alarm on the importance of dealing with the mold crisis effectively. Here’s some quotes:
“In one of the first widely publicized case of mold-related illness, a medical doctor in California was diagnosed, but only after months of suffering. Eventually, his $2 million dollar house was burned to the ground, as it was the only known means of mitigating the mold. As a result of complications from the mold exposure, the doctor suffered irreparable brain damage.”
And another on the reluctance of people to realize mold is a serious problem:
Many in the real estate community, as well as the community at large, dismissed mold as a friend of the plaintiff in a society that has become overly litigious. Greg Goodman, a loan officer with Countrywide Mortgage, was one of those people. He had been one of the top producing mortgage lenders in the United States for 15 years. His assessment of the mold situation is as follows:
“I have been around a lot of houses, and I always thought the buzz over molds was just hype. No big deal. After all, people have been building houses for millennia with mo serious mold issues.”
Recently, Goodman encountered a mold problem. His young son and wife were stricken with an unknown illness last year and were incapacitated for six months before being diagnosed with mold. He and his family are still being treated and have more than $75,000 in expenses that insurance won’t pay.
Source: Nashville City Paper
—Administrator | 1 comment
(posted in the News category)
NCCU mold suits get attention
April 15, 2005, 8:12 amLawsuits regarding mold can be drawn out and expensive affairs. While my interest in this area is new, and my research only just started, I’m quite amazed at what’s going on out there. Check out this story from North Carolina:
Nine months after litigation arose from a mold outbreak at N.C. Central University, a number of lawyers gathered with Durham’s senior judge on Thursday to figure out where the lawsuits are headed.
It was only the second court session since the state Attorney General’s Office sued four contractors in July, seeking to recover roughly $7 million spent to repair mold damage in two NCCU residence halls. The other session was in January.
Everyone agreed on three points Thursday:
– The cases should be declared “exceptional” so that one judge can oversee them from now on, providing continuity to the litigation as it moves forward. Otherwise, different judges would have to make decisions at different times.
– Opposing lawyers so far are getting along fine.
– The cases will not be ready for trial before this time next year at the earliest.
It all began in 1996, when NCCU hired contractors to build two dormitories on campus, named New Residence Halls One and Two.
After students moved in during January 1999, officials noticed damp spots in the buildings and concluded that the heating and cooling systems were not functioning properly, according to the pending litigation.
Next, the discovery of a potentially harmful mold infestation in 2003 forced the university to close the dorms and find temporary alternative housing for 512 students.
Source: heraldsun.com
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(posted in the News category)
Home Plagued By Toxic Mold
April 13, 2005, 5:33 amThis is an increasingly all to common story, that has a high degree of tragedy to it. Sometimes dealing with mold can be quite a costly endeavour. To quote from the article:
For four years now, the Traynor family has been waiting to go home. Before they can walk in, though, $75,000 worth of work needs to be done to a house that was recently assessed as being worth $100.
The problems started with a 2001 water pipe break. Within days mold started to grow in the basement of their Green Township home. Paige Traynor-Welsh says her insurance company, Farmer’s Insurance, hired crews to clean the mold two separate times, but both times missed it.
She says the mold got into the duct system and soon, her entire home was covered black spots of mold. Her children had trouble breathing; she got rashes and lost her hearing. An environmental test run on the house showed it had dangerous levels of toxic mold, or mold that releases toxic spores. The house and everything in it was contaminated.
But that was only the beginning of the nightmare. She says Farmer’s failed to pay off her policy or contribute to the $75,000 it will take to clean the mold out. She says the insurance company did nothing, while she lived in her car because she couldn’t afford to pay for a new place to live.
Farmer’s declined an interview for this story, saying it has no comment due to a pending lawsuit. Traynor-Welsh is currently suing the company.
She’s telling her story in hopes others will learn from her ordeal. She says she wishes she would’ve checked with the Ohio Department of Insurance before she bought the policy on her house, because there are other complaints against Farmer’s.
She also says, if you have mold damage, be sure the company that comes to clean it is licensed. The company that worked in her home twice, was not.
Source: ONN. Ohio News Now
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the News category)
Media Reporters Don’t Get It Right When It Comes To Mold
April 12, 2005, 5:30 amNow here’s an interesting press release, that seems to counter some earlier information we’ve come across regarding the use of dogs and the detection of mold. Given that we’re new to this area, and just learning, it is quite fascinating to find contradictory information, which of course frames an emerging debate on how to deal with these issues. To quote:
The people who spuriously use “mold sniffing dogs” in their new mold testing businesses do so with dire consequences to their customers, as well as to the dogs. Most customers, we believe, have the ability to sift through the hype about these animals and make intelligent decisions to hire a professionally trained, equipped, and properly certified and insured inspector to assist them with their indoor air quality problem. Unfortunately and regretably, it appears media reports do not possess this same ability to sift through the hype and report on the fact.
(PRWEB) April 11, 2005 — The Mold Consultants, LLC has placed on their website a hard-hitting criticism of the unwarranted fancy that media reporters have for the so-called mold-sniffing dogs.
The Mold Consultants, LLC is a credible, experienced, certified, and reputable indoor air quality consulting and testing company that specializes in mold. Its reputation has been built since 2002 by providing high-quality and low-priced services to well over 500 homeowners and renters. The company is also known industry-wide as a leading authority on contemporary issues relevant to the mold industry. In that regard, the owner of the Company, Mr. Jim J. Hobuss, has written a scathing article lambasting media reporters who report on the hype of mold-sniffing dogs, without doing due diligence to check their facts prior to publication.
—Administrator | 1 comment
(posted in the General category)
Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc. Expands Eastern Regional Operations
April 8, 2005, 6:12 amFrom the Builder’s or Contractor’s perspective, getting sued for mold can be troublesome, if not an explicit risk to your business. It’s interesting therefore to read this press release, that describes some of the services offered by Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc. To quote from the press release:
AKRON, OH — (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — April 7, 2005 — Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc. (www.berthowe.com) a full-service construction-litigation support firm, specializing in construction defect claims, general construction investigation, and dispute resolution, has expanded its eastern regional operations, adding increased client services, educational seminars, as well as two new southeastern offices.
“With expanded services in the Akron office, as well as new offices in Louisville, Kentucky, and Columbia, South Carolina, Bert L. Howe & Associates (BHA) is now uniquely positioned to provide multi-disciplinary construction claims support to insurers, attorneys, property managers and owners throughout the Eastern United States,” said Christopher Gallo, Construction Management Specialist with BHA.
On February 22, 2005, Ohio Governor Bob Taft signed into law a bill that requires homeowners to provide written notice to builders before filing a construction defect lawsuit in order that the builder might settle the claim. Nevertheless, the home-building industry has seen a dramatic increase in construction defect litigation since the early nineties. In response to this trend, BHA has made significant investments in the development of proprietary software and systems which are uniquely tailored to providing construction claims professionals with an integrated litigation support resource.
Plus, with the introduction of BHA’s new Axiom Service Packages, BHA is now able to provide top-level expert support services, while simultaneously reducing expert-related expenditures. BHA’s credentialed construction professionals include recognized experts in the fields of repair cost estimating, forensic architecture, and civil/structural engineering to name just a few.
“The approach at BHA is to provide a single point of reference for construction-related claims support,” said Gallo. “Relevant experts are brought together under one organizational umbrella to ensure effective inter-expert communication while minimizing duplicative administrative and operational costs.”
As a service to the community, BHA will also be hosting a number of free professional development seminars aimed at attorneys, owners, and construction claims professionals. Seminars include:
- Investigating Construction Defect Claims:
A multimedia presentation developed in 3D, demonstrating the entire construction sequence from site acquisition to project completion with emphasis on components/systems that are typically involved in construction defect claims.
- Understanding Mold Claims:
A discussion of the circumstances surrounding mold proliferation, coverage implications, mechanism(s) of failure, determining proximate causes, and establishing liability.
- Site Drainage:
Covers the methods and systems employed in surface and below-grade drainage systems with an emphasis on forensic investigation, design requirements, site drainage issues, and the implications pertaining to resultant damage.
In addition, BHA is providing select professional groups and organizations with free professional development seminars beginning this spring.
Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc. has been an industry leader for 15 years, serving the mediation needs of insurers, HOAs, and legal professionals in a wide variety of construction dispute issues.
For more information on BHA or BHA seminars, please visit www.berthowe.com
Contact: Chris Gallo of Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc. at
+1-800-928-1822, cgallo@bhaakron.com.
Source: Send2Press Newswire - Thu, 7 Apr 2005, 05:00 EST
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the Resources category)
Does your insurance policy provide full coverage?
April 4, 2005, 9:54 amInsurance is certainly something that can be both valuable, and costly. In the case of the latter, it’s good to read your policy carefully, to determine if indeed there is value. In the case of Household Mold, here is an interesting article that stresses the importance of ensuring your insurance has enough coverage to deal with that worst case scenario. To quote:
Or consider what happened to Ken and Gail Fieldston, whose $2.1 million Tenafly home was damaged 18 months ago by an electrical fire in the attic.
The Fire Department “heroically” saved his house, but the fire caused extensive smoke and water damage. Fieldston contacted Chubb Insurance Co. immediately, and an adjuster inspected the house the next day.
Fieldston was confident that his “deluxe extended replacement cost coverage” policy - at a cost of $6,677, double what it was five years earlier - would cover the damage, as well as living expenses while repairs were quickly made.
But Fieldston said the adjuster’s offer of $820,000 was totally unrealistic. Local builders put the cost of rebuilding the house to its original standards - as called for in his policy - at closer to $2 million. “I am insured to full value and they used an appraisal based on national books, which are very inaccurate” when setting prices for Bergen County, he said.
Making matters worse, mold and mildew developed throughout the house from water used to douse the blaze and from leaks in the roof, Fieldston said. Professionals he hired said the house should be torn down and rebuilt, but Chubb proposed gutting the interior only, while retaining the exterior wood shell, and spending $127,000 to encapsulate the live mold.
Fieldston rejected the plan and sued Chubb in Superior Court in Hackensack in February.
Source: North Jersey Media Group
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(posted in the News category)
Canine Mold Detectives and Infrared Cameras
April 1, 2005, 2:53 pmThe detection of mold is not necessarily easy, especially if the mold itself is resident inside of the walls and ceilings of the house. It’s interesting therefore to find this press release, that talks about two alternate approaches, using a combination of infrared cameras and trained dogs. To quote:
Lab Results LLC has become the first company in the US to combine infrared thermal imaging and Mold Dogs™ in the search for mold and moisture problems in commercial and residential buildings.
Infrared thermal imaging is a proven, non-destructive, non-invasive method for detecting moisture in walls and roofs, which can promote mold growth and rot. Lab Results LLC’s certified infrared thermographers, certified Mold Dog™ handlers and certified mold inspectors can now diagnose a building from multiple perspectives and find hidden mold and moisture problems early.
Infrared technology is especially useful for inspecting flat roofing systems and synthetic stucco systems, which rarely give any visual clues as to their condition or the location of leaks and moisture retention. Litigation involving synthetic stucco, or exterior insulating finish systems (EIFS), is rampant nationwide.
EIFS exterior cladding is blamed by plaintiffs for retaining moisture that gets behind it and thus helping to allow mold growth and rotting within exterior wall cavities.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan and his wife, Juanita, filed a lawsuit in March against the maker of a synthetic stucco system, Sto Corp., alleging that the system admitted and trapped moisture that led to extensive rot, mold and other problems at their Highland Park, IL home. Dryvit Systems Inc. also has been involved in multiple litigations and has agreed to settlements in some cases.
—Administrator | no comments
(posted in the News category)