wishihadinvisbility's Journal, 07 May 16

You can do it - just keep your doggie with you! 

Remodeling is stress, but worth it in the end! Good luck! 

Ah, vinyl plank flooring, I am assuming like Traffic Master, works great! We put it in our rentals; peel and stick. You could even do it yourself. The toughest part are the cuts, but it can be done with a box knife. Pain about the mold situation, hope you can get it resolved without too much headache. Sounds like you've been outside your comfort zone quite a bit lately, breathe deep, take a little "me" time and then onward.  

I had black mold last summer. The ice sheared off our plumbing stack and the rain came in allowing a huge mold problem before we discovered it. We had to replace 16 feet of our front wall and replace the whole bathroom! What a headache, and in the same month my husband had a bad accident and was in the hospital for 9 weeks. So, it was a double whammy. I hope that you have caught the mold problem early and can correct the water leakage that is allowing it to grow. Sometimes life sends us challenges. It seems that you are doing a great job of working on your weight issues, and facing the house improvements with some courage. Keep up the good work! 

SeaRoyhill, I was thinking of a click and lock vinyl. Something similar Smartcore vinyl at Lowe's. I'd of course probably find someone locally for the install, and maybe even check out some flooring stores around here. Oh man, Erika, the whole bathroom, too? I hope it's early enough, but of course I have a feeling it's worse than it is. We've had a lot of heavy rain/storms lately. Maybe it's an easy fix, but I don't think it is. Until then, I hope the weather stays warm but not too hot since I won't be using the AC until the mold issue is squared away and ducts are cleaned out. 

Not all visibly black mold is the toxic black mold. Have it tested by air quality specialists before you get talked into more work than you might need. The inspector will check all the surrounding rooms for spore levels. The toxic stuff is reallllllly bad and the spores travel so that's why you can end up removing whole bathrooms where the mold isn't even visible. I once was going to buy a condo and my inspector saw mold under the bathroom sink. My realtor was there and commented that maybe it wasn't the bad kind that makes you sick. However, the current owner had a series of prescription bottles right out on the counter, which I gestured to and said, "maybe it's already making this person sick." And I guess it was the bad kind, because later on I saw pictures of that unit online and the whole bathroom had been replaced. I hope yours isn't the bad kind but the good news is that you know it's there and can fix it. I kind wonder if that condo owner hadn't known and might have been being treated for some mysterious illness that couldn't be diagnosed.  

Trackin64, I chose a local company that has excellent reviews on angies/bbb and is google trusted - even the woman on the phone said it might not be the toxic black mold - but I wonder because last year is when I got REALLY sick and my boyfriend at the time and I thought my depression was just getting worse - but this was different. I couldn't do normal things like take a shower without being exhausted after. Shortness of breath, taking the dogs out was so hard for me, I felt itchy - almost like invisible bugs were crawling on me, slow healing time, easily bruised - it got so bad my boyfriend was bringing me meals in bed. Finally I had enough and decided to really try to clean my life up and got off anti-depressants, benzos - eating better and slowly I started to feel better, but now I wonder because I work from home and I'm always in here. How long has it been there and if it wasn't just the medications/unclean eating and depression that was causing all that? I'll find out and go from there. Hopefully clean/fix this place up and have it be my happy little home for now. 

oh, my - seeing what you've been through I would wonder too if the mold was the source. Sounds like you've got excellent help to sort it out. I am very sensitive to mold. I once lived in a place where unbeknownst to me the roof was leaking and it was a very very rainy winter. I kept having recurring "flu" complete with fevers and sweats. Other family members were experiencing this too, but it was worst for me. When mold began to show up on the inside walls we just thought it was from so much moisture. We moved out of this rental and later found out about the roof leak there. I didn't know about toxic mold at the time and I'll never know if that's what it was.  

Scary stuff! I'm very sensitive to mold, too. But if some of what I'm experiencing is related to mold, it did light a fire under my butt to start living more healthfully. Silver lining! 

Yes, indeed. If your boyfriend did not experience any illness, perhaps it is NOT the toxic mold. The toxic kind will affect everyone in the household, but it does so in varying degrees. I saw a really terrifying 20/20 (or some such) show on a house that was totally infected with this mold and how it affected family members. It was an extreme case and the house (a small mansion, really) is permanently unliveable.