Fighting mold in the LowcountryBy Prentiss Findlay (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Melinda Ballard felt so bad that she wondered if she had cancer. Eventually, she learned her illness was related to mold in the leaky Dripping Springs, Texas, home where she lived before moving to Charleston. "You almost feel like you're dying because it's such chronic fatigue," Ballard said. She purchased a home here and took up the cause of mold-related health and financial issues for homeowners through her locally-based non-profit organization, Policyholders of America. She said that she fields hundreds of e-mails and phone calls daily from homeowners with questions about mold. Problems with mold in houses here are not unusual, experts say. "Everybody in the coastal region should run a de-humidifier in their house. Almost every house that we check on, all the levels seem to be elevated. It's rampant," said David Swinea, president of Cleanx Corp. of West Ashley. Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier. |
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Comments
This article has 1 comment(s)
Posted by STREETLAW on August 30, 2008 at 3:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Great article on a problem that many new to this area may not be aware of. Perhaps the person who sold you your home, the Realtor who brokered the deal, or the closing attorney should have made you aware of the potential for a problem if you lived in a neighborhood which is known to be flood prone.
And God help you if a landlord is involved because they will tell you nothing.
In many cases, the only cure for a mold problem is to let the fire department burn it down for training purposes. But that would be quite a fire. Over 20,000 houses and apartments in the Charleston area have a severe mold problem.
Trouble is, most people put the blame on allergies. And no one calls an a mold mediation specialist to come test their home. In fact, they often would just as soon not know because they will then be legally obligated to disclose the mold when they get ready to sell the property.
DHEC needs to initiate a massive inspection of all properties in low lying areas and see if a mold issue exist.