Re: [GBlist] Mold question

[John Salmen <terrain@shaw.ca>]

Mold concerns are real and are wreaking havoc on peoples lives - and very
much the responsibility of the building community. I agree with Aimee that
this is not a topic where someone involved in building can afford to play
the role of skeptic.

I just returned from spending a few days over xmas in a very remote village
on the northwest coast, accessible only by boat or plane. Back in the
60's&70's the CAN gov't here developed a design for a box called a house
that became the standard house built for native peoples. Contracts went out
wholesale to builders to build whole towns of these houses.

The designs themselves were not appropriate in a large number of ways but
were poorly detailed (or not at all) to deal with weather of any kind -
especially the kind of weather you would get on an open ocean exposure
(vertical rain). To make matters worse the builders were totally
irresponsible, eliminating all flashings, often not putting any building
paper of any type, etc.

People were virtually forced to live in these houses and could do nothing to
correct or prevent the subsequent deterioration but live within it. The
health of many is irreparably damaged. There are children chronically ill
wearing respirators - in one of the most pristene, unpolluted parts of the
world with no roads and no industry. You see houses with half the floor
sheathing and joists rotted away. Whole lower sections of walls including
drywall crumbled away.

Emergency repairs are now underway but are limited (as everyone squabbles
over who is responsible).

Ironically some or all of these problems either exist or have the potential
to exist  in virtually all houses especially those built in the last 30-40
yrs. Many of these problems are either cosmetically sealed in surface
renewals or hang precariously on the operation of an air system or house
maintenance - all subject to the economy and energy of an occupant.

Many of the building materials in use today cannot be maintained or renewed
in traditional ways and so the health of a building is subject to a
replacement economy - if you push a siding, roofing or mechanical system
past its relatively short life expectancy all other parts of an assembly can
become quickly compromised.

Its a very complicated topic, but some of the flaws are obvious.

John Salmen
TERRAIN E.D.S.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Aimee M Houser (Aimee Houser)" <hous0088@tc.umn.edu>
To: <greenbuilding@crest.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 5:03 PM
Subject: [GBlist] Mold question


> Talk about skepticism. Steven, I sense from your tone that you have not
> had health problems due to mold. And are ignorant of the health problems
> it can cause. (What gods we are in our own individual lives!) And though I
> don't know about the talk show person you refer to, no phenomena is so
> simple as to lay squarely on the shoulders of one person. I'm not sure
> what your message was meant to convey, but I found it counter-productive
> if not more than a little smug.
>



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