i think the mold problem is being taken care of

Hi you all.  Wow, it has been a long time.  I've been commenting in journals here and there when I have had time, which hasn't been very often.  Sorry.

John and I had to do major battling with the apartment management to resolve the mold problem in my new apartment.  We are still at my parent's house and the workmen at the apartment are still working on removing the mold and repairing the walls in our laundry room at the new apartment.

A lot transpired since I last wrote.  More photos had to be taken of the mold and water damage.  The workmen would do some work during the day.  And I would then sneak in at night and take photos of the mold.  It's my place, the rent is already paid, but I wanted to inspect the progress while they weren't there.  That way they couldn't just patch it up, and lie about what they were doing.  And I could get the proof in photos.  I wanted to prove, in court if necessary, that they were just patching over the mold, because John and I confronting management directly wasn't working.  I felt like a spy, LOL.  John couldn't come into the apartment with me to look around and take the photos, because he couldn't be around the mold, even with a mask on.  So it was pretty stressful, because I had to go in alone, but I went in the room and took the photos anyway. 

That was not this Sunday but the previous Sunday.  Then on Monday I called a lawyer.  Thanks you all for the suggestion!  The lawyer told management, who own a lot of properties in the town where John and I live, that they must remove all the mold from our apartment, remove the water damage, and rebuild the walls and paint them.  Management at our particular apartment was also called.  They were told they better get on the ball.

Funny.  Suddenly a new workman showed up, ready to do all kinds of work for us.  I told him exactly what I wanted done.  Which walls needed to be done, because I could see the mold damage.  There was some black mold on the surface of the walls, so I knew there would be some green mold on the 2 by 4s, just as there was on the other section of the wall.  I showed him that, the water damage, the moldy shelf.  I showed him exactly what I wanted done.  He agreed with me.  He told me exactly what he would do in the same situation, before I could even get to it.  We matched exactly.  I was happy.  We made a verbal agreement.  BIG MISTAKE.  I left happy at that point.

He told me it would take a week or two to finish the repairs as they were large.

I left happy.  But because I had had experience, LOL, I continued to take photos during the week at night.  Okay, I am trying to sum this up, LOL. 

On Thursday night, I went to take my photos.  That is when I noticed, to my horror, that one wall was patched up that shouldn't have been.  Some of it, however still remained  cut out and unpatched.  I looked inside.  To my horror I saw green two by fours!

The next morning (Friday) I called the head workman W. up (the one I had just spoken to, who had been so agreeable to the necessary mold removal.)  W. proceeded to lie to me, contradicting himself allover the place.  His contradictions made me know he was lying.  I told him I wanted certain parts of the wall cut out that contained water damage with mold on it and behind it, as he had promised a few days prior.  He admitted that the wall had contained mold, but said in a snotty voice, something like, "Look, I'll do it, but you know it is just going to take longer before you can move in."  I told him that that was fine, and that I didn't want to live with mold.  I didn'twant the mold to kill John.  He grumbled and said he would take care of the job the way I wanted it.

I wondered why he was so agreeable in the first place and then had changed.  I think he thought he could get away with doing less and that I wouldn't check at night.  That he would just patch the one wall, paint everything, and that I would not have checked and thought he would have done ALL the walls.  Well I am NOT that stupid.

What I am thinking is that the management (at highest level) might have tried to force him into finishing early.  She is the one who originally went to HUD and told Betty there was no mold.  The one who originally lied.  I think she was trying to fool HUD and even the lawyer.  The lawyer told me to return if I didn't have satisfaction in getting the mold removed.  Trust me, I would have gone back to him if the mold wasn't taken care of!

I think everything is ending on a great note, though. 

Valerie and I went and looked yesterday (they usually don't work on Saturdays, LOL), and it looks like W. and the workmen have done what John and I told W. to do.  Three more sections of the wall have been cut out.  The inner parts of the wall appear to be mold free, and have been or will be painted with mold resistent chemicals.  The plasterboard will then be put back on.  And the whole thing will have to be repainted with mold resistent paint (two coats).  The shelf will need a little refinishing also.  

Okay, so this will take awhile.  We hope to be moved back in by the weekend. 

Should we ask for most of this month's rent back, LOL? 

Love you all,

Krissy 

Tags: mold, mold removal, moving, rent, I hope we get to move in for real this time