36 replies to this topic

[TheCG]

After today...that wall is coming down over the weekend, one way or another. I'm in my office on the opposite side of the house, and having to keep eating ginger to keep from throwing up. I'm going to talk to my husband about it tonight, and probably call Dad tomorrow.

[lumabean]

I hope this is able to be remedied asap, it sounds as though things are reaching an even more dangerous level for your health. Is there any way you could stay with family until you can get the wall taken care of? If you get that reaction on the other side of the house, I can't imagine what it will be like sleeping with the wall right there near you.

Hopefully this will be remedied soon and you can be comfortable and healthy in your own home.

[MomM]

I'm relieved to read you are going to start working on it right away!

Edited by MomM, 06 November 2012 - 08:42 AM.

[TheCG]

1352166941[/url]' post='391834']
I hope this is able to be remedied asap, it sounds as though things are reaching an even more dangerous level for your health. Is there any way you could stay with family until you can get the wall taken care of? If you get that reaction on the other side of the house, I can't imagine what it will be like sleeping with the wall right there near you.

Hopefully this will be remedied soon and you can be comfortable and healthy in your own home.

I'm actually the best in the bedroom, as that's where the air filtration is running 24/7. I probably could stay with family, but that would just cause more issues (my mother and I do great, as long as we're not constantly around each other).
Next week I'm going to work 5 hours away for at least a few days, so that should give anything we stir up a bit of time to settle back down before I have to stay in the house for extended periods of time.

[Philbe]

Be sure to get yourselves GOOD masks to wear while you're removing this stuff! And don't re-use them...even on a daily basis. Use it for a couple of hours, and then disgard and get a new one! Use heavy plastic to seal off every heat/air vents...hang heavy plastic to seal off doors to every room in the house...use a vacume cleaner to suck up all the dust AS YOU'RE REMOVING the sheetrock etc. to try and keep dust at a minimum. Then discard the vacume bag in a plastic bag. Cover all exposed skin with clothing of some sort that you can throw away, and wear eye protection. Try not to spend more than 2 or 3 hours at any one time being exposed, and again...change your mask!

[TheCG]

I talked it over with my husband during lunch. We're realizing that most of the days when I've had issues have been hot. That means I didn't turn off the AC and open up the windows like I do on nice days. I didn't do it until late yesterday.

We're still going to check the wall, but we think it might be the ventilation system. If it is, then it's just a matter of either 1) waiting until we have enough money to pay someone to come clean it or 2) asking Mom and Dad for that as my Christmas present - early.

[CrabGrassAcres]

Whatever is in the house is very likely to be in the ducts and the carpet. I eliminated the ducts here. I put in wall electric zone heaters, hard wired thru the breakers. They are nice because you can heat one area and you can have one room (daughter's) a lot warmer than the rest of the house. We use window air.

[TheCG]

Yeah, I think the carpet will be going away soon. Not this weekend, but not too much longer after that.

[Jeepers]

Make sure whomever does the ripping out wears protection. At the very least a mask.

I'm taking this all in because my basement is very damp and could harbor some nasties too. It's unfinished so 'out of sight out of mind' so to speak.

[TheCG]

Hubby will be wearing a mask, and goggles if I can get him too. He figures he'll cut a whole up high. That way, he can just put in the medicine cabinet he wants if there isn't a problem, and if there is a problem, we can spray diluted bleach or something in there to try to reduce its growth rate.

[TheCG]

We cut a hole above the toilet (hubby's going to put in a medicine cabinet anyways...). Can't see anything in there but dust and fuzzies. I'm assuming the black woven cloth (yes, I can see that it's woven, not a carpet of mold) is insulation or the vapor barrier?

We're going to get a petri dish from Home Depot tomorrow and let it hang out in there to make sure it's not mold.

I have an air duct cleaning scheduled for November 20 (that's when we'll be able to afford it, and leave the house for a few days to let things settle if need be).

I've been doing fine the last few days, but I've been turning the AC off during the day and it's been cool enough that it doesn't run much at night.

[lumabean]

That's good news with him being able to check that out, and that it's a hold he'd have to make anyway for the cabinet, and that the air duct cleaning is not all that long away. One step closer to having this taken care of for you is always a positive.

I wonder if it could be even something related to a filter or something in the actual workings of the a/c unit itself even? Just tossing that out there as an idea because when we took out window a/c unit out, there was some mold starting to grow in there. I am not sure how central air works, but I would think it has to have hardware and filters of some sort, they may be worth checking as well, esp. since you feel better when the a/c is off.

I hope that it's remedied when the cleaning is done so you can feel better,and not have the worry and expense looming like that anymore.

[CrabGrassAcres]

After you get the ducts clean, see about getting some zeolite granules to put in them. They reduce contaminants.

[TheCG]

That's good news with him being able to check that out, and that it's a hold he'd have to make anyway for the cabinet, and that the air duct cleaning is not all that long away. One step closer to having this taken care of for you is always a positive.

I wonder if it could be even something related to a filter or something in the actual workings of the a/c unit itself even? Just tossing that out there as an idea because when we took out window a/c unit out, there was some mold starting to grow in there. I am not sure how central air works, but I would think it has to have hardware and filters of some sort, they may be worth checking as well, esp. since you feel better when the a/c is off.

I hope that it's remedied when the cleaning is done so you can feel better,and not have the worry and expense looming like that anymore.

We are changing the filter every month, as the doctor advised me to do after the last bout of pink eye. They are cleaning the mechanical stuff as well. They says it's 100% cleaning efficiency, but for some reason I'm a tiny bit skeptical on that. I said something about wondering why it just started affecting me lately; my husband looked at me like I'm crazy and said that I've been tired and getting sick ever since we moved into the house. Hopefully this will do the trick!

[TheCG]

After you get the ducts clean, see about getting some zeolite granules to put in them. They reduce contaminants.

Where do you put them? And where do you get them?

[CrabGrassAcres]

http://rocket4774.tr...il_specials.htm http://www.refreshin...es-25-pound-box Here are a couple of places that have it. You can hang bags in your air ducts or blow the loose granules into it.

[lumabean]

Just wanted to pop back to wish you well on the cleaning today ~~ hopefully this will take care of everything and you and your husband no longer get sick form whatever it is that's causing the issues.