my apartment is too moldy to live in :(

Hi you all.  I want to thank every one who has been in contact with me since my last entry.  I really thank you for being concerned about me.  I have been away from journaling because so much has been absolutely insane in my life. 

I don't want to jam everything that has been going on into one entry (my entries get too long, LOL), so right now I will just tell you about how the move to my new apartment has been going (or hasn't, I should say).  Basically, when I moved into my apartment, before actually looking at it, I was told there was a "pinhole leak, with very little damage" in the laundry room beside the kitchen.  

Well, it has been a nightmare.  John and I signed the lease on August 31.  Then we did the walk through.  We were horrified to find out that the laundry room had pretty considerable damage.  It was NOT a pinhole leak.  Many of the walls were soaking wet.  A portion of the ceiling was cut out. A plaster board shelf under the hot water heater was soaked.  Over all, many many feet of the laundry room was wet.

The maintanence man assured us that he would cut out the wet walls on Friday, August 31 (this was the weekend before Labor Day) and that he would dry it over Labor Day weekend.  Then he would apply mud on Tuesday and Weds. after Labor Day weekend then pain it on Thursday.  This was acceptable to us.

I went and looked at the apartment on Saturday, the day after we signed our lease, and the day after he said he would have the walls cut out.  To my horror, he had cut out NONE of the offending walls.  Black mold had already begun to grow on the walls!  Black fuzzy mold.  It was Labor Day weekend and I had no idea how to get in touch with anybody.  

On Tuesday after Labor Day weekend John and I went and talked to the Assistant Manager of the apartments.  She said she would fix the problem.  She called out the maintanence man, who lied about something.  Too long of a story.  I think he just didn't want to take out the walls on Friday b/c he wanted to kick off early for Labor Day weekend.  I reminded the manager again that John was a stem cell transplant patient and that he couldn't live in mold.  The maintanence man said he was going to patch over the walls at this point whether they were very wet or not.  We informed him that he would NOT, that the plasterboard needed to be taken out, so that the walls underneath could be dried out, or the mold would grow inside the walls.

To make a long story short, which I am not, LOL, the workmen have been trying to dry the walls for days (both plasterboard and innerwalls and two by fours).  Actually, they are NOT DRY even today.  It has been over a week.  Well over.  Day before yesterday, there were VERY GREEN two by fours in the apartment in a section they had cut out.  The apartment building was not taking care of the situation.  So I snapped photos.  I would love to show you all the photos of the severely molded wood but I am on my father's computer and can't put pics into his documents.  The pics show moldy wood and two by fours.  It also shows extensive water damage on several walls (in which they have yet to cut out), and mold growing on the water heater, and mold growing on a shelf they never took out.

On Friday, Sept. 7, I got HUD involved.  I called the apartments and told them so.  I also told them I had photos.  

On Friday John and I went and visited HUD.  They were VERY negative towards us.  The woman who was head of HUD told me she didn't believe me, basically that I was lying.  She told me that there never was any mold.  She said she had spoken to the landlord of the apartments who told her I was lying. This was after the assistant manager of the apartments, Amber, had told John in the morning of Friday, that she had "seen the mold, would spray it, and had extensive experience in this type of thing." The woman from HUD refused to look at my photos.  I had 20 of them.  I proceeded to drop them down in front of her.  Sher recoiled back.  I said, look at this green mold on the two by fours!  She stated that "Mold is not green.  Not that color green."  I said, "Yes it often is."  Then she said, "I think that is fresh wood.  Have you ever heard of green fresh wood?"  I dropped my mouth!  How could apartments that are 10 years old have green fresh wood in them?  At any rate, she said many, many things that were insane, and I believe she has already made up her mind in the case, she is going to side with the apartments.  She basically told me so.  She said she would make her decision on Monday.   

BTW, On Friday night John and I visited the apartment.  They had sanded off some of the mold, and bleached it.  There was a big bleach stain on the kitchen floor, about a foot by a foot.  Hmmmmmm.  A lot of the walls were very wet.  Paint was bulging off of them and peeling in places.  

You know, if there is proper mold removal, John and I are willing to live there.  We actually love the place in a lot of ways.  BUT THEY MUST remove the wet walls, and the mold under them.  They MUST scrub the other two by fours and put mold remover on them.  Also take out the moldy shelf and scrub the water heater.

That would be acceptable.  That's IF John's oncologist says it is ok for him to live there.  On Friday morning Dr. Claxton faxed HUD a letter, as well as the apartment bldg., saying John should NOT be living in that particular apartment.

Okay, to make a long story not so short, LOL, the woman we spoke to at HUD said she would make her decision on Monday, whether or not the apartment is livable.  I am concerned that she will say it is, b/c the apartment management cleaned up one small section.  But thus far they have refused to remove and clean up the rest of the wet/moldy walls.  BTW, I am positive they are moldy underneath.  A friend of mine took off a small piece of wall, and it had green mold growing underneath.

Okay, so like, if the woman from HUD rules against me and John, and John can't live in there, maybe we will have to do the legal thing and go to a hearing to overule her decision.  Maybe I will have to get a lawyer. 

I have a major headache right now, b/c of all this.  We have already paid rent for this month and we have not been able to live there.  When I go in, even for a few minutes, I get a severe headache for several days.  I also get a sore throat, am unable to clear my chest for several days, and get confused and angry.  That is definitely how mold effects me, and I can't live that way.  John and I are still at my parent's house.

We have not been able to move in most of our stuff to the apartment, b/c we did not want it stolen by workmen.  Also, another moving truck has to be paid for at some time.  We also have not been able to move in our washer and dryer, which Catholic Charities so kindly gave us the money to pay for.  Hopefully the appliance store will hold it for us.  There are other complications in this whole matter, but I won't bore you.  Ughhhhhhhhhhh.  Why does my life have to be so complicated?

At any rate, we are trusting the Lord to work things out.  One day at a time.

There is other news on the home front, it has to do with John.  But I will explain soon, hopefully next entry.  Sorry I have to leave you hanging.

Loving you all,

Krissy :)

Tags: mold, mold removal, landlord