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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs there a cheap test I can get to test for mold?
I live in the New Castle PA area. The town got glanced by a tornado. Something the town hasn't had happen in like 30 years --from what I'm gathering from the citizens who have lived in the town for a long time. The whole situation was right in the middle of a massive rain storm.
Basically the rain was a lot and our ceiling in our bedroom leaked so badly we ended up having to order a new bed and box spring which is going to take about 2 weeks to come in so in the mean time we our crashing at my mother in laws and my wife was lucky to get a hotel room tonight (her mother is deaf and she is the type that has to sleep with the TV on. My wife is a light sleeper... Hasn't had a good night sleep.)
Sorry for the long story. Just tired and frustrated BUT the long short of it the room we had been using as a bedroom is basically in need of not only a new roof BUT the landlord needs to rip up the carpet and clean because even though this happened a few days ago The smell of mold and mildew in the room is choking.
Wife and I are arguing about if we should leave the door open or closed. window open or closed. We are trying to keep our cats out of that room BUT we still have many of our clothes in the room and when I do go into the room I start coughing and choking on the smell. Landlord told us he was sending guys on Saturday to fix the roof but they showed up 5 minutes and left don't know what they did.
We want to believe this landlord is actually going to fix everything and not be our second slum lord in a row BUT I do have to worry about my wife's lungs. She nearly died of Fungal Pneumonia 2 years ago. I need to check the mold count. She doesn't go back in the bed area unless she needs clothes BUT still I worry I just want to protect ourselves and have evidence in case we need to take this guy to code enforcement or court. Is there a test I can buy?
We are giving the landlord a copy of the receipt for the bed. The bed cost less than the deductible for our renters insurance AND I have a feeling he will fight us for the money of the bed.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Looks like $21-50, but then there's probably a lab mail in.
http://mold-test-kits-review.toptenreviews.com
ucrdem
(15,512 posts)Hi d-man, my suggestion is to put the new bed in your MIL's house and live there until you can find a new place to live. If the room smells that bad there's probably something growing in the rug, walls and attic, of more than one room, and if the landlord is going to give you a hard time, it's going to take a while to get it all cleaned up. With your wife's health problems it might be better to just find a clean place and stay with MIL in the meantime. Good luck.
diabeticman
(3,121 posts)in Dec because the apartment we lived in for 10 years was being condemned by the city. We had 2 landlords for that property and the 2nd landlord basically destroyed our place in a 10 months span.
That move put us 1500 in the whole.
We would need at least 3000 to move to a new place.
oneshooter
(8,614 posts)Prices vary from 15-35$.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)It probably could have been saved if it was pulled up and dried out and then reinstalled on a new pad, but if it smells like mold days later there's probably no fixing it. That said you can borrow or rent a steam cleaner and give it a shot. open windows, use fans. Better yet, call a carpet cleaning company, that way if it's beyond redemption you can get paperwork to that effect.
I don't know about PA but in CA the carpet would be the landlord's problem and the bed would be yours.
Edit: is the subfloor wood or concrete? If it's wood that could be a much larger and more expensive problem.
diabeticman
(3,121 posts)flat roof.