Mold Remediation Update

Property sent me an email this morning with the environmental test after they tore apart the dining room wall, and also replaced the kitchen garbage disposal.

The original air quality test found:

Outdoors:

Ascospores: 493 Spores/M3

Cladosporium: 187 Spores/M3

Hyphal Elements: 93 Spores/M3

Smuts, Periconia, Myxomycetes: 27 Spores/M3

Indoors:

Ascospores: 187 Spores/M3

Alternaria: 13 Spores/M3

Cladosporium: 613 Spores/M3

Hyphal Elements: 67 Spores/M3

Penicillium/Aspergillus group: 253 Spores/M3

After the mold remediation:

Outdoors:

Alternaria: 40 Spores/M3

Aspergillus/Penicillium: 40 Spores/M3

Basidiospores: 40 Spores/M3

Chaetomium: 40 Spores/M3

Cladosporium: 480 Spores/M3

Myxomycetes/Periconia/Smuts/Rusts: 160 Spores/M3

Hyphal Fragments: 360 Spores/M3

Indoors:

Aspergillus/Penicillium: 40 Spores/M3

Cladosporium: 40 Spores/M3

Epicoccum: 40 Spores/M3

Myxomycetes/Periconia/Smuts/Rusts: 280 Spores/M3

The only physical differences between pre/post testing is that the property used different companies for the testing.

When I compare the before/after tests from a spore perspective, the tests from the company post remediation seemed to be using gear that was more sensitive, as it picked up a considerable amount more outdoors vs the first company. Outdoors isn’t really a concern for the most part, since we usually keep the windows closed, and I really haven’t spent anytime outside of the apartment. Basically walking between the apartment, and the car. So from an exposure perspective, less than 10 minutes per day.

Now from an indoor perspective, that’s where all this matters. Since 99.9% of the time that’s where I am :). Also, factor in, that since we moved into this apartment, COVID was going on. I was home 100% of the time. Only until March of 2022, was when I had to return to work 3 days a week. So a total of 4 days at home per week. This was the case, up until in 2022, the first mastoidectomy & sialendoscopy, I was home 100% of the time from June 15th until August 15th being home, and recovering.

Now, for 2023. Was doing the 4 days a week at home until June 1st, until October 12th. This was for the second mastoidectomy. Briefly I returned to work until Oct 28th then was home 100% of the time until November 12th to recover from the sinus surgery. So since 2020, when we moved in, I’ve been home for the majority of the time, being exposed to severely toxic levels of mold. I’m pretty sure when we moved into the first apartment at the same property in 2017, until 2020, that that apartment either had the same problems, or worse due to all the water damage issues that happened throughout our occupancy of that unit.

The property emailed us back today. From the repair perspective, the entire outer wall on our patio was infected with mold. Additionally, they found a massive issue with our garbage disposal, to which they immediately replaced. They sent these pics:

So per all this, and the properties response with those pictures, I replied with:

“I think transferring is definitely still a consideration since the 3 molds that can be extremely hazardous to someone with no immune system are:

Aspergillus

Alternaria

Cladosporium

The two molds identified from the sinus surgery were considerable amounts of Alternaria and Cladosporium, which was removed from an abscess out of my left frontal sinus (one above your eyes). The outdoor tests don’t bother me since my exposure is less than 5 minutes should I leave/return to/from the apartment, and we also don’t open the windows, it’s the indoor portion I have to be extremely cautious with. The alternaria seems to have been eliminated completely, the cladosporium has been considerably reduced from 613 down to 40, but it looks like the test from the newer company picked up aspergillus at 40.

Ideally, as close to 0 would be the best case scenario due to my immunocompromised state. Aside from me, Anies hair has been falling out, with strange rashes on her face and arms, as well as developing a strange out of nowhere asthma that she had to go on an inhaler this year. The cats were also exhibiting respiratory symptoms where they were constantly sneezing, and sounding like they were having breathing issues durning/after playing. So I can absolutely say to a definite degree, that all of us have been impacted by the severely high mold levels that have been in 10-301 for quite some time. My illnesses became more severe when we relocated to that unit, so I can only assume it was there from the get go, but got much worse as time has gone on.

From the perspective of just safety, I think relocating to the other apartment would be best for everyone who lives in the unit we currently have. But I don’t want to run into the scenario where we relocate from 1 unit to the other, and we move into a similar issue or worse. It’s extremely promising that the building we would be relocating to, has had no known water damage to the building. Should the environmental testing of 17-106 come back looking much better than 10-301, I think it’s in everyone’s best interest we get to the new unit sooner rather than later.

Due to all the health problems that I’ve incurred, and with the heart attack now, this has left me in a very terrible position when it comes to my physical capability. I am not supposed to lift anything more than 10lbs for the next year due to the 2 stents placed in my heart. I am also to not be active at least for the next 6 months, and traversing 3 flights of stairs isn’t easy by any means. It’s pretty safe to say that the conditions at the apartment definitely played a major role into the negative impact with respect to my health.

If everything checks out with 17-306, would the property be willing to assist with the relocation costs? I have no problem returning to 10-301 on a temporary basis if everything checks out with 17-306 from an environmental perspective.

From a lease perspective, would the lease be brand new with 17-306? Or would we just be doing a transfer from the existing lease? Since we last spoke you indicated that 17-306 is the same floor plan as 10-301, so I assume the rent would be the same amount? If we do transfer, from a clean apartment perspective, would we need to clean 10-301, or would we be able to skip that part just due to the circumstances?

Please let me know about 17-306. What’s the full address to the apartment? We will vacate the hotel room as soon as we can, and move everyone back to 10-301 temporarily until we can verify that 17-306 checks out from an environmental perspective. When would be the tentative move in date be for 17-306? I assume we can move the handicapped spot as well?

Lastly, would it be possible to install a HEPA quality filter in the HVAC system in 10-301/17-306?

I would just like to personally thank you for getting us out of the hazardous environment right away after the results of the first environmental test. The cats haven’t shown any signs of anything respiratory since we got them out of there. Also, I really appreciate the immediate response to the situation, and the close interaction we have had.

I think I can speak for Anies (and the cats) that we love the property. Between yourself, and your entire staff have always been a delight to work with. You’ve always handled issues that we’ve had with the utmost professionalism, and prompt attention. We want to stay in the community, it wouldn’t be ideal to be anywhere else.

I know this is a lot of questions, but I truly appreciate your efforts, and your teams efforts to keep us safe. I look forward to your response.

PS. Jesus those pictures are NASTY.”