Thank you very much for this article! So what should be done instead to make sure a house without dampness and without visible signs of water damage doesn't have hidden, dormant mold somewhere?
Thank you very much, Scott, for your long and detailed answer and for the possibility to ask follow-up questions! I also read your home assessment article and it all makes a lot of sense to me.
Steps 1 & 2 are done in my case. Step 3 would probably be things like whether there is a draft somewhere, a cold area, dampness or ventilation problems, is that right?
My big problem is step 4. I am bedbound and very far from being unmasked, since I'm still living in mold at the moment (the building we're talking about is my new rental, where I haven't moved in yet).
So the best thing I could do is probably to just move in and see how I'm feeling after a few weeks or months? Or is there any better option?
I really appreciate your articles and your help. You might be saving my life with this (together with Carl Grimes who had just pointed out to me that the ERMI is flawed, just before I received your newsletter which then confirmed everything he had said - sometimes God has to push quite hard to lead me onto the right way).
I have been fighting for years(!) to leave my moldy environment. Yeah, that sounds crazy, but I'm extremely ill and that slows me down very much. But now, after talking to you and reading your articles, it looks like my future might finally start soon. So thank you very much!
Sara, I'm not sure I have a direct answer - but the Health assessment step is difficult if not impossible with texting and messages.
Your comment that you are "not unmasked" is one of the phrases that is often used but does not really apply. Unmasked - susceptible to symptoms from an unknown exposure - OR, easily triggered by an unpredicted exposure, etc.
Moving is difficult. Carl and I agree that you, the patient, is the canary - which is difficult. The factors that cause your current illness are probably still unknown and probably will remain unknown. When I encounter a patient like you, and I have worked with many, as has Carl, we know that finding the mold growth and doing the best to remove it, removing (cleaning) the dust and dirt that gets in the air, and preventing water problems always helps. Helping does not mean we've found "the" cause. Helping means is that we've reduced and removed those things in our living space that make it difficult for recovery.
95% of all my health assessments do not need a single sample for me to find and solve the water damage and mold growth problems in the building. And I will without doubt suggest, that this is true for everyone. They just are stuck in the incorrectly educated mode of sampling. Instead of intelligent assessment.
if you take a look at my very short article the four basic steps to home old assessment, this will point you in the right direction. That is where you begin. You never ask nor hire anyone who demands to do "air samples" or DNA samples". If if that is a requirement of their assessment,before they've done all four steps. And come up with a conclusion or a proposal based on those four steps. Then you should just hang up the phone delete their text or ask them to leave your house.
if we or you can accept that, which you should because it's proven by the methodology and analysis of the methodology. Then we can move forward and do a proper building assessment for water damage and mold growth. Notice how I say growth. That is critical. There's a huge difference between a few spores or pieces of cells with DNA and growth. Then we must distinguish between active growth where there isenough water long enough to keep this stuff growing while we are there. While you're living in the building or working in the building. Then the flipside of that of course is dead and dried up mold and the moisture and dampness is no longer there and not expected to return anytime soon.
Sara thanks for taking a look at my article. The first thing to understand is that there is no sampling that can tell you there is hidden dormant mold. They all have extreme limitations of both reliability, precision, accuracy, and validity.
Thank you very much for this article! So what should be done instead to make sure a house without dampness and without visible signs of water damage doesn't have hidden, dormant mold somewhere?
OK, please ask questions! Because I am certain you will have some. And I'm happy to answer.
Thank you very much, Scott, for your long and detailed answer and for the possibility to ask follow-up questions! I also read your home assessment article and it all makes a lot of sense to me.
Steps 1 & 2 are done in my case. Step 3 would probably be things like whether there is a draft somewhere, a cold area, dampness or ventilation problems, is that right?
My big problem is step 4. I am bedbound and very far from being unmasked, since I'm still living in mold at the moment (the building we're talking about is my new rental, where I haven't moved in yet).
So the best thing I could do is probably to just move in and see how I'm feeling after a few weeks or months? Or is there any better option?
I really appreciate your articles and your help. You might be saving my life with this (together with Carl Grimes who had just pointed out to me that the ERMI is flawed, just before I received your newsletter which then confirmed everything he had said - sometimes God has to push quite hard to lead me onto the right way).
I have been fighting for years(!) to leave my moldy environment. Yeah, that sounds crazy, but I'm extremely ill and that slows me down very much. But now, after talking to you and reading your articles, it looks like my future might finally start soon. So thank you very much!
Sara, I'm not sure I have a direct answer - but the Health assessment step is difficult if not impossible with texting and messages.
Your comment that you are "not unmasked" is one of the phrases that is often used but does not really apply. Unmasked - susceptible to symptoms from an unknown exposure - OR, easily triggered by an unpredicted exposure, etc.
Moving is difficult. Carl and I agree that you, the patient, is the canary - which is difficult. The factors that cause your current illness are probably still unknown and probably will remain unknown. When I encounter a patient like you, and I have worked with many, as has Carl, we know that finding the mold growth and doing the best to remove it, removing (cleaning) the dust and dirt that gets in the air, and preventing water problems always helps. Helping does not mean we've found "the" cause. Helping means is that we've reduced and removed those things in our living space that make it difficult for recovery.
Let me know how your future unfolds!
95% of all my health assessments do not need a single sample for me to find and solve the water damage and mold growth problems in the building. And I will without doubt suggest, that this is true for everyone. They just are stuck in the incorrectly educated mode of sampling. Instead of intelligent assessment.
if you take a look at my very short article the four basic steps to home old assessment, this will point you in the right direction. That is where you begin. You never ask nor hire anyone who demands to do "air samples" or DNA samples". If if that is a requirement of their assessment,before they've done all four steps. And come up with a conclusion or a proposal based on those four steps. Then you should just hang up the phone delete their text or ask them to leave your house.
if we or you can accept that, which you should because it's proven by the methodology and analysis of the methodology. Then we can move forward and do a proper building assessment for water damage and mold growth. Notice how I say growth. That is critical. There's a huge difference between a few spores or pieces of cells with DNA and growth. Then we must distinguish between active growth where there isenough water long enough to keep this stuff growing while we are there. While you're living in the building or working in the building. Then the flipside of that of course is dead and dried up mold and the moisture and dampness is no longer there and not expected to return anytime soon.
Sara thanks for taking a look at my article. The first thing to understand is that there is no sampling that can tell you there is hidden dormant mold. They all have extreme limitations of both reliability, precision, accuracy, and validity.