Toxic Intruder: Black Mold Panic Has Families Fleeing Their Homes

— Believe it or not, families around the country are fleeing their homes — or having them destroyed — because of an insidious intruder they say is making them sick.

The invader? Black mold. Its technical name is Stachybotrys chartarum — stachy for short — and it's got a lot of people panicked.

In Oregon, the O'Hara family asked their local fire department to burn their $450,000 home to the ground after black mold was found inside. "It's basically just a house that poisoned my family," Mark O'Hara said.

In Hawaii, a $95 million Hilton Hotel tower has been closed since July because black mold was found in some of the rooms.

In a July 2001 story Time magazine said toxic mold is spreading "like some sort of biblical plague." The New York Daily News called it "killer mold."

Whatever you call it, across the country, black mold is causing people to abandon buildings, close schools and leave beautiful homes sitting vacant.

In Seabrook, Texas, the Hammond family lived in tents in their backyard for almost nine months, waiting for their insurance company to settle their claim and clean up black mold they say they discovered in their home.

Beverly and Mike Hammond say a bathroom leak caused the black mold to grow. The Hammonds lived for months with a "potty tent" that served as an outhouse. "As soon as I saw the mold, then we, you know, hightailed it for the tent," Beverly Hammond said.

They say the mold made them sick, causing fatigue and joint pain, and will only go in their house with a respirator.

Melinda Ballard's mansion near Austin, Texas is considered by many to be the "ground zero" of the current mold hysteria. Like Diane Fortner, Ballard once thought of her estate as a dream home. Ballard now refers to it as "Toxic Tara."

Ballard says it all began with a leaky roof and some burst pipes. She claims her insurance company lied to her, delaying her request to have the wet materials in her home replaced. That's when she says the black mold began to grow under the kitchen floorboards and spread to other areas. Finally, she and her family left.

"On April 23rd, 1999, we walked out of that home with nothing more than the clothes on our backs," Ballard said.

Ballard is suing her insurance company because of the black mold. She invited 20/20 to look around her home, but insisted we wear protective suits and respirators.

Ballard's case made news last year when a jury ordered her insurance company to pay her a staggering $32 million for acting in bad faith. The judgment is now being appealed.

In addition to making her house unlivable, Ballard claims, the mold also caused serious health problems.

She said her son, Reese, was gasping to get air into his lungs, coughing up blood and suffering terrible headaches. She said her husband, Ron, had similar symptoms, including what she calls early Alzheimer's.

Ballard said, "I know men forget their anniversaries and they forget things like that, but they don't forget what kind of car they've driven. They don't forget where they live. … He did."

"You can see mucosal bleeding, like bleeding from the nose and the ears, you can see hair loss … and there are some individuals that feel that indeed cognitive dysfunction or the inability to think, is also the result of the inhalation of fungal spores," said David Straus, a microbiologist at Texas Tech.

Straus acknowledged that there is no conclusive proof that these serious illnesses are caused by black mold. However, Straus said, "The data are coming."

Straus even claims his one visit to "Toxic Tara" as a consultant resulted in permanent hearing loss.

"I can't prove that the hearing loss occurred because of my exposure to mold in Melinda's house," but Straus added, "that's exactly the day that it began."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are very few case reports of mold in the home causing internal bleeding or memory loss, and no link has been established. Most scientists say the only proven effects from mold are allergic reactions and possible respiratory problems — including asthma. Some say mold fear is being whipped up by lawyers and mold cleanup companies eager to turn mold into gold.

University of Texas Medical Center immunologist, Dr. Gailen Marshall said some of his patients have been told to leave their homes and that black mold can kill them. But Marshall insists there's no cause for alarm.

"I think it's being blown horrendously out of proportion … All the stories that are out there are based primarily on testimonials and conjecture, not on hard scientific evidence," Marshall said.

The stories of mold panic are so widespread — they're even being spoofed on kids' cartoon shows. The parodies of mold fear ring all too true to Gordon Stewart of the Insurance Information Institute.

"There is no such thing as killer mold," Stewart said. He said mold — including black mold — has been around for centuries, and that people have only become hysterical about mold in the past few years.

Two years ago, there were only 1,000 mold-related insurance claims in Texas. That number soared to 14,000 last year. And now insurers, nationwide, are raising rates or dropping mold coverage altogether.

"There isn't more mold now than there was two years ago. There is more mold fear than there was two years ago, and there may be in some cases, more mold greed," Stewart said.

Marshall said he does believe most of his patients complaining of mold-related illnesses really are sick. "The question is what is the relationship between the presence of mold and their illnesses? … There's really no evidence that the very presence of mold, which is really everywhere in our environment, will by itself create bleeding, will by itself create memory loss or deficit, et cetera," Marshall said.

He believes what may be making some of them sick is not the mold — but the panic that's been created. Marshall insists the greatest danger isn't from the mold but from the panic that's been created.

He said, "There is clear evidence that the chronic anxiety that may result from something like this itself has a negative health consequence."

While there's no evidence toxic mold in the home is deadly — there is increasing debate about how dangerous it might be — and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding a study of mold's health effects.

If you see mold in your home, everyone agrees you should get rid of it. But experts say in most cases there is no need to have expensive mold remediation done. They advise homeowners to stop the water intrusion and to simply clean up the mold with a little bleach. If it has spread, experts advise homeowners to replace moldy building materials like Sheetrock. It's also important to note that not all black-colored mold is Stachybotrys chartarum.

For more information on what you should do if you think you have mold in your home, visit the following Web sites:

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: The EPA Web site includes "A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home," which provides information and guidance for homeowners and renters on how to clean up residential mold problems and how to prevent mold growth. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/moldresources.html

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The CDC Web site has information on air pollution and respiratory health, including this question and answer page on Stachybotrys chartarum. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/mold/stachy.htm.

The low flow in your kitchen could be due to one of the new "AlGore" faucets, which have flow restrictors in them. I accidentally bought one of those, and I can read a chapter in a book while waiting for a spagetti pot to fill up.

For some reason, I had to read this 3 times. I kept seeing "low floor" and was wondering what Al Gore had to do with that.

"I invented the 'low floor'."

(I'm in WNC, neighbor.) The housewrap isn't really the problem, it's just poor HVAC system design. Actually, I should say "lack of HVAC system design".

Yeah, mine was designed fairly well for the upstairs of the home. My particular problem was that the basement wasn't considered part of the house despite its being insulated from the garage. They didn't put any registers down there. Seems to be a trend down here in the south. Up north, the basement was always conditioned space even unfinished.

Get yourself a hygrometer ($30), and monitor the relative humidity in your home. Keep it between 40 and 60% if you can.

I second that advice. I have a digital. I will be getting another to put in the basement (which I do dehumidify).

Until recently, I was working as an electrician on million dollar homes up in the Highlands/Cashiers area. The contractors installed the crappiest, cheapest systems in those homes that I had ever seen. The rich saps paying for those fancy lake homes will be uncomfortable forever in them.

I saw one unit that was installed in an almost-inaccessible attic space above a bedroom. There was just no way that anybody was ever going to get up there and clean the coils or change the filter.

I've seen that kind of thing - put the air handler in a tight corner of a hot attic, or in the smallest closet they can get away with. I like mine right out in the open in the middle of the basement for easy access. As I finish the basement, I've made sure to leave a large space around the unit, and am installing a 72" opening with folding doors in front to allow easy access.

"...tried to build and sell well-built homes and couldn't compete with the guys who could slam them up and sell for 5% less. People would look at all the features he would point out, agree that it made the house better, then ask if he could match the 5% less of the guy down the block..."

Been there - Done that -

I found out real quick that home buyers
(99 % of them) only care about 3 things...
Price, price, and price.

I found out the hard way there was NO MARKET for the use
of quality materials or for quality constuction techniques.

sit-rep, my husband, who will never be rich, believes your practice is quite dishonest. How do you justify not letting the homeowners know it's mildew not black mold?

My husband is a master plumber and would never let a homeowner be sold into believing they need some repair or replacement if it wasn't needed, which in turn gets him more work but at a reasonable wage, not highway robbery.

Where have all the honest tradesman gone?

I don't blame you for getting lost. The theory is somewhat complex and to some extent counter-intuitive.

Mold growth occurs at the interface between a susceptible material (food source) and air, if the moisture content at that point is high enough and a spore is present (almost always is).

The relevant measurement of moisture content at that point is water activity, which is essentially the relative humidity on the surface, which can be very different from the relative humidity elsewhere in the area.

Walls are made up not only of studs, but also contain drywall, among other materials. Generally, the drywall is the most sensitive material.

A very tiny amount of water (less than an ounce) trapped in the wall cavity will raise the RH in the cavity above the danger point of .70 water activity, usually up to 1.0. If the cavity has wood studs, they can absorb a significant amount of this water without themselves reaching the danger point, bringing the RH on the surface of the drywall (water activity) back below .70.

If the cavity contains steel studs, with no ability to absorb water, the RH in the wall cavity will remain at 100%, which equates to 1.0 water activity, which allows mold growth to occur on the back side of the drywall.

I said it is counter-intuitive!

If you have a radius, say 24", that must be boarded, how do you do it? Soak several layers of 1/4" for a few days in water then slap it up? How do you get rid of the moisture before mold growth occurs?

If the material dries completely within 2-3 days, mold growth will not occur. Whether is dries quickly enough is a function of relative humidity, air movement across the material and temperature. It is always possible to get it dried OK. But it may require specialty equipment and knowledge. Depending on the ambient conditions is operating on a high degree of hope, which can get very expensive.

Unfinished drywall is quite permeable, so it dries quicly. The big problems arise after paint films, vinyl wallpaper and other finishes which restrict drying have been applied.

I found out the hard way there was NO MARKET for the use of quality materials or for quality constuction techniques.

I think part of that problem stems from government regulation. Why? Because people have come to rely on the government to do their thinking for them, to their own detriment, of course. The general consensus, I suspect, is that housing codes ensure a quality home. That, of course, is not true. While codes have created a minimum level of quality in many areas, they cannot substitute for the knowledgable buyer. Plus, builders don't always adhere strictly to the code.

Let's see how many century homes are around 8 or 9 decades from now.

It's a real problem. It takes years of being around home and lots of reading to develop an understanding of some of the problems. It's better to find people that already know this stuff and pay them to do the job right - but such people are becoming very rare these days.

The problem for those of us who don't know this stuff is how to pick the right inspector / builder. There are dozens of examples in this thread of conflicting advice from people who claim to know what they're talking about. Tyvec is the problem. Tyvec is good. Insulation causes the mold problem. Insulation prevents it. Insulation has no effect either way. Metal studs are the problem because they don't retain water. They are the solution because they don't retain water. Stucco causes it. Stucco doesn't.

When I bought my two houses, I hired an independent inspector because I'm pretty ignorant about construction. Things I thought would be problems weren't anything to be concerned about. Stuff I wouldn't have thought twice about were big issues to my inspector. Best money I ever spent.

But what I'm hearing from this thread is you need to get an inspector/builder who knows the answers to these issues, but no one seems to agree on what the correct answer is.

My goal here is to temper the argument - to make sure that freepers know that while the mold issue is a real problem, it isn't nearly as widespread as the media in some areas make it out to be.

As you may have noticed, I'm trying to temper it myself.

Except that I think the mold problems, present or future, are more widespread than the media has cottoned onto. A recent study I read showed that about 20% of brand-new structures have significant mold problems before being occupied. Another claims that 50-80% of recently-built structures will eventually develop serious mold problems unless major modifications are done.

My "tempering" is aimed at keeping the medical effects in perspective and realizing that almost all structures can be remediated, even if at a significant cost.

BTW, I appreciate your attempts to be even-handed, rather than shouting that it's all a plot of the evil lawyers.

Not that some of the hype isn't exactly that!

I found out the hard way there was NO MARKET for the use of quality materials or for quality constuction techniques.

Very true. People like the idea, but are unwilling to pay anything extra to get it.

But how many of these people do you think will be willing to assume any of the responsibility when their home develops a problem?

I really don't understand it. We're perfectly willing to pay more to get higher quality in cars, clothing, restaurant meals, coffee, etc. But for some reason homes are considered to be generic, except for visible features.

As you may have noticed, I'm trying to temper it myself.

That's probably our only point of contention - the degree to which mold really is a problem. This isn't really something that just happened in the last few years - there's been mold for as long as there's been life on this planet. Lysol, 20 years ago, used to advertise how their product removed "mold and mildew" from the bathroom. But it seems that now, its all 'deadly' mold and absolutely must be removed. That's the part I'm having trouble with.

So my question would be, "is it really worth worrying over in most cases?" My instincts say no, in most cases. But, they also say yes in some, rare cases. I suspect that you lean more towards taking no risks while I lean towards not overdoing it. Different points on the continuum.

Exactly, people need to educate themselves with the basics of the "bones and organs" of a house, not just the skin. The most fabulous looking home will be an utter nightmare to live in if the envelope and systems of the house are not properly designed and constructed. And of course, all buildings must be maintained. Structures are dynamic creatures which change over time.

How do you justify not letting the homeowners know it's mildew not black mold?

Just wanted to point out that nobody, not even sit-rep, can take a quick look at mold growth and conclusively tell what species it is without examination under a microscope. And I regularly work with some of the best mycologists in the worldl.

Also, Stachy is by no means the only problem mold. It may not even be the one that represents the greatest threat. There are literally tens of thousands of mold species. Several dozen species are "water damage indicator organisms," which means they tend to grow in wet buildings.

Quite of few of these are highly toxigenic.

According to every published industry standard or guideline, all mold growth should be removed, using approximately the same procedures, regardless of species.,

Basements are a good place.

I have a walk-in attic, and when I install my unit, it will be hung from the roof rafters for noise isolation. I sized my own ductwork using a demo duct-design program I downloaded off the internet.

Right now, I am heating the entire 1300s.f. main floor with my Rumford fireplace. I am especially pleased with it's performance, since it is the first masonry fireplace I have ever built.

There are about two months in the summer here in WNC where the RH hovers at 95%. Two summers ago, all my furniture and my log walls started to get mold on them. So last summer I installed a 6000BTU window AC unit, which kept the RH at 60% the entire time.

By next summer I plan to have the central unit installed. I will buy the unit from these guys: airconditioningexchange.com, who sell quality units for less than half what your local contractor will charge you.

I also plan to install an Air-Bear filter, since we live on a dirt road and have a dust problem. The fireplace produces a fine ash that settles on everything, too.

But you know, you can't tell anybody anything. My neighbor built a two-story Deltech home (one of those round ones), with a huge amount of South facing glass. I told him (pleaded, actually) to install a zoned system; Otherwise his upper floor would be too hot and the lower floor would be too cold.

Well, he didn't listen and it's just as I predicted. The guest bedrooms upstairs run at 85 degrees when the downstairs is 65 degrees. His guests have to open the windows in the winter, and just suffer in the summer. His master bedroom is frigid at all times. Oh well...

But what I'm hearing from this thread is you need to get an inspector/builder who knows the answers to these issues, but no one seems to agree on what the correct answer is.

I would start by learning about homes. Learn the basics - get a book such as "Encyclopedia of Home Improvement" or "Carpentry and Building Construction". They will get you started on the basics.

You'll find that there are various theories on such issues as whether to use a vapor barrier or not and whether to seal the attic or leave it ventilated (yes, there are advocates for a sealed attic scheme). Understanding the basics helps you understand how these theoretical schemes are supposed to work.

Also, a couple of the links that were presented here by Restorer and others provide a host of good information. Read them as time allows and you'll be better equipped to deal with inspectors. You may even point out a few things to them to let them know that you're not just another pretty face. :^)

I think part of that problem stems from government regulation.

Bingo! Building codes which were designed to describe the minimum standards, have now become the maximum standards. Mandatory codes always have this effect.

And the homebuying public, relieved by the government of the tedium of actualy having to learn to tell quality construction from shoddy, thinks that they are safe.

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