X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00800000 X-Mozilla-Keys: Message-ID: <5411DB15.2010300@sbcglobal.net> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:25:41 -0700 From: Richard Childers User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; FreeBSD i386; rv:10.0.3) Gecko/20120327 Thunderbird/10.0.3 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: ggoade@ci.fortuna.ca.us Subject: Regarding Latex Paints, etc Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------050703080908060301060401" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------050703080908060301060401 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gary, Thanks for coming by yesterday to see the mold. I know that mold is a controversial topic. Lawyers salivate over it. Hours of arguing - at $500/hour, that's a cash cow. I don't want to play the blame game. (Although that may come, later.) I want to engage in a failure analysis - I want to describe the problem so clearly, that it can be recognized from afar, and avoided in the future. So, my summary: It seems to me that the management of the apartment complex lined the inside of this apartment with a thick layer of latex paint in an attempt to keep previously-observed molds - and bedbugs, perhaps - at bay ... and by so doing, they eliminated one path by which humidity is intended to vent - breathability. It seems to me that by (perhaps removing, and) failing to replace the window screens and making it unsafe[r] to open windows, the management of the apartment complex eliminated another path by which humidity is intended to vent - opening the windows and letting fresh air in. However, the front door is opened frequently, and so is the sliding glass door (which, by the way, is installed inside-out, I forgot to show you that). When you were here yesterday, the window in the smallest bedroom was wide open, also. The fan is in operation whenever the light is on in the bathroom; and as you yourself commented, on the previous inspection for bedbugs, two months ago, how nice it was to not smell old cooking - and so obviously we use the fan, embedded in the hood, above the stove, on a frequent basis, as well. And so I submit that the humidity in the apartment in inherent in the combination of architecture, [lack of window] equipment, and choice of paint - not a result of our venting wash water down the sink. Personally, I think the drywalls are decades old - and have absorbed so much humidity that they have become permeated with mold, and mildew, and maybe mycelium, as well as moisture. They are past their effective lifespan for use on the North Coast and should be replaced because they are a hazard to the health of residents. But that's just my opinion - based on some of the things I've seen here over the better part of a decade - I don't have anything hard to back it up, just yet. When you arrived yesterday you arrived at probably the very worst time possible - our clothes washer was venting straight hot water into the sink, and considerable steam was being produced as a byproduct. And yet, running the washing machine on straight hot water has only been occurring for about six to eight weeks - ever since the bedbug diagnosis was confirmed, and we began taking countermeasures. I say this because *the mold that you see surely took more than six to eight weeks to develop* - in fact, it was already there when we disposed of the childrens' bedbug-infested bunk beds, and moved to sleeping bags and folding cots. I also wish to note that the mold is not present in the kitchen or anywhere else in the house - yet - only along the base of two walls, in the two bedrooms, that are on the shady side of the building, and, for this reason, are totally unheated by the sun. Let's talk about sources of humidity for a moment. There is no other way for a person suffering a bedbug infestation to get a reliably hot wash of clothing. Consider: - As a user, I have no control over the temperature that commercial machines deliver. - The commercial facility's owner has no incentive to deliver pure hot water to the consumer when they can mix it with cold water and deliver sufficiently warm water for use washing clothing and other fabrics. - There is no way to open a commercial machine while in operation to ascertain the actual temperature of the water inside, to assure that bedbugs are actually threatened by the operation. - The apartment complex has made no effort to deliver a hot-water-only configuration for clothes infested by bedbugs; they are relying upon the dryers to kill the bedbugs and eggs. The ONLY way that one can affirmatively wash clothes and be confident that they are being washed in adequately hot water is to have complete control over the water heater, the intermediate plumbing and the machine itself. Which is what I have been doing, for six to eight weeks now, while waiting for the "all clear" from management. As you may have noticed, we're living out of plastic boxes - we've been doing this all summer, now. So, OK, we have one source of extreme humidity, for maybe six to eight weeks, once or twice a day - followed by the sliding glass door being opened, while we go outside and hang up the clothes, to dry. That's it. If we eliminate that, will the mold go away? I don't think so. I've never lived somewhere where I had to wash the walls with bleach every three months to keep mold from growing. In closing, I want to say 'thanks' for the pointer to smurfboard. If (when!) I get the opportunity to build a house, I'll definitely keep that in mind. The stuff I was talking about is called "colloidal silver" - *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloidal_silver* - I have heard of it being incorporated into housepaint so as to create a surface unfriendly to molds and mildews, and, of course, it's being used a lot, these days, in wound management, too. Colloidal silver is not part of the building code - but it ought to be. .. Maybe next century. (-; Regards, ~richard 707-725-7995 --------------050703080908060301060401 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Gary,

Thanks for coming by yesterday to see the mold.

I know that mold is a controversial topic. Lawyers salivate over it. Hours of arguing - at $500/hour, that's a cash cow.

I don't want to play the blame game. (Although that may come, later.)

I want to engage in a failure analysis - I want to describe the problem so clearly, that it can be recognized from afar, and avoided in the future.

So, my summary:

It seems to me that the management of the apartment complex lined the inside of this apartment with a thick layer of latex paint in an attempt to keep previously-observed molds - and bedbugs, perhaps - at bay ... and by so doing, they eliminated one path by which humidity is intended to vent - breathability.

It seems to me that by (perhaps removing, and) failing to replace the window screens and making it unsafe[r] to open windows, the management of the apartment complex eliminated another path by which humidity is intended to vent - opening the windows and letting fresh air in.

However, the front door is opened frequently, and so is the sliding glass door (which, by the way, is installed inside-out, I forgot to show you that). When you were here yesterday, the window in the smallest bedroom was wide open, also.

The fan is in operation whenever the light is on in the bathroom; and as you yourself commented, on the previous inspection for bedbugs, two months ago, how nice it was to not smell old cooking - and so obviously we use the fan, embedded in the hood, above the stove, on a frequent basis, as well.

And so I submit that the humidity in the apartment in inherent in the combination of architecture, [lack of window] equipment, and choice of paint - not a result of our venting wash water down the sink.

Personally, I think the drywalls are decades old - and have absorbed so much humidity that they have become permeated with mold, and mildew, and maybe mycelium, as well as moisture. They are past their effective lifespan for use on the North Coast and should be replaced because they are a hazard to the health of residents.

But that's just my opinion - based on some of the things I've seen here over the better part of a decade - I don't have anything hard to back it up, just yet.


When you arrived yesterday you arrived at probably the very worst time possible - our clothes washer was venting straight hot water into the sink, and considerable steam was being produced as a byproduct.

And yet, running the washing machine on straight hot water has only been occurring for about six to eight weeks - ever since the bedbug diagnosis was confirmed, and we began taking countermeasures.

I say this because the mold that you see surely took more than six to eight weeks to develop - in fact, it was already there when we disposed of the childrens' bedbug-infested bunk beds, and moved to sleeping bags and folding cots.

I also wish to note that the mold is not present in the kitchen or anywhere else in the house - yet - only along the base of two walls, in the two bedrooms, that are on the shady side of the building, and, for this reason, are totally unheated by the sun.


Let's talk about sources of humidity for a moment.

There is no other way for a person suffering a bedbug infestation to get a reliably hot wash of clothing. Consider:

- As a user, I have no control over the temperature that commercial machines deliver.
- The commercial facility's owner has no incentive to deliver pure hot water to the consumer when they can mix it with cold water and deliver sufficiently warm water for use washing clothing and other fabrics.
- There is no way to open a commercial machine while in operation to ascertain the actual temperature of the water inside, to assure that bedbugs are actually threatened by the operation.
- The apartment complex has made no effort to deliver a hot-water-only configuration for clothes infested by bedbugs; they are relying upon the dryers to kill the bedbugs and eggs.

The ONLY way that one can affirmatively wash clothes and be confident that they are being washed in adequately hot water is to have complete control over the water heater, the intermediate plumbing and the machine itself.

Which is what I have been doing, for six to eight weeks now, while waiting for the "all clear" from management.

As you may have noticed, we're living out of plastic boxes - we've been doing this all summer, now.


So, OK, we have one source of extreme humidity, for maybe six to eight weeks, once or twice a day - followed by the sliding glass door being opened, while we go outside and hang up the clothes, to dry.

That's it.

If we eliminate that, will the mold go away?

I don't think so.

I've never lived somewhere where I had to wash the walls with bleach every three months to keep mold from growing.


In closing, I want to say 'thanks' for the pointer to smurfboard.

If (when!) I get the opportunity to build a house, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

The stuff I was talking about is called "colloidal silver" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloidal_silver - I have heard of it being incorporated into housepaint so as to create a surface unfriendly to molds and mildews, and, of course, it's being used a lot, these days, in wound management, too.

Colloidal silver is not part of the building code - but it ought to be.

... Maybe next century.  (-;


Regards,

~richard
707-725-7995

--------------050703080908060301060401--