Mold in Your Home - Three Kinds of Distress
Even if finding mold in your home does not elicit a strong allergic or respiratory reaction, chances are you will experience physical, fiscal and emotional distress if mold is discovered in your house.
Since finding mold in our home a few years ago, I have become fairly knowledgeable about mold.
Unlike the mold professionals who write articles with the idea of educating another professional, this article comes to you from the perspective of a fellow homeowner whose house was invaded by mold.
I know mold can make you stressed and hope this article helps you get through this with less stress.
Our first reaction upon hearing the news that we had a mold problem was concern about safety.
Admittedly, few die from mold inhalation, so the larger issue is "how is breathing in large amounts of mold going to affect our health?" If you are like my youngest son, you will probably end up on a respirator in the hospital.
If you are like my wife, your RA will be worse and you will be stressed to the max over someone in your family becoming sick.
If you are only slightly reactive and itchy, like my oldest son and me, you stay home.
If you are our pets, you get boarded.
Naturally, once serious health concerns are addressed, we homeowners start calculating the financial toll.
This is a bit difficult because we are new at this.
The education begins by contacting our insurance agent.
The agent contacts a first response team.
The first response team contacts a restoration partner who sends a water mitigation team.
This team's job is to stop the water problem and dry our home.
They put the "finger in the dyke.
" This is a really good idea because the longer the problem continues the more damage and the greater the cost.
Rapid response with source containment is critical to preventing dramatic increases in costs.
We encountered both short-term and long-term costs.
The short-term costs tend to deal with stopping the problem, keeping more things from being affected, cleaning up the mess, and restoring our home.
In the restoration industry this protocol is defined as containment, remediation and restoration.
In determining the short-term costs, the restoration company was very helpful.
Their water mitigation team told us what we might expect process-wise and cost-wise.
They called in mold experts to assist.
The professional restoration company was the face of compassion to our family.
Short-term costs began with insurance deductibles.
As with most homeowner policies, ours limited on how much it would pay for a mold claim.
Ours was capped and the mold problem under the house ate it up fully.
We experienced some medical costs; displacement costs; and lost wages.
Also, mold contaminated contents like food, clothing, and furnishings.
Not all items were salvageable or covered by insurance.
Our air conditioning system was contaminated.
We argued that this stemmed from the water problem and was not subject to the mold cap.
Fortunately, our adjuster allowed this line of reasoning.
It is really a good idea to keep good records and get to know your adjuster.
Long-term costs may include higher insurance premiums, policy cancellation, property devaluation, and property becoming unmarketable.
It is a fairly sure bet that your insurance company will want to recoup its losses through the only method it has - premium increases.
With 2011 being a record year for insurance industry claims, many insurance companies cut their losses and canceled policies.
After three unrelated water claims in two years, our policy was canceled.
We were forced to find a specialty insurer for high-risk homeowners.
Their rates were not cheap and last for three years.
It is quite possible you lose your auto insurance and multi-policy discounts if this happens.
Devaluation and low marketability are hard to quantify but having a quality remediation probably keeps this from happening.
While less defined than physical and fiscal distress, emotional distress can be a direct result of dealing with a mold problem in your home.
The stress of being under attack by mold, having uncertainty about the extent of the problem, the health concerns, the financial concerns, and dealing with displacement can be huge.
Just know that this is temporary and many other people are living proof you will survive.
On a positive note, there are several things I can offer in the way of advice should you be facing mold now or later.
First, consider using a professional restoration company.
They have done this many times and will make the process much easier.
Secondly, employ rapid response using source containment if possible because this keeps your costs from escalating.
Third, don't cover over the problem with products that promise to kill mold.
If mold is on the surface, it is probably in the surface too.
Short of removing and restoring with new material, the problem will still remain.
Finally, remember what you spend today through the insurance claim may be charged back to you through future premiums so be cost-conscious.
Since finding mold in our home a few years ago, I have become fairly knowledgeable about mold.
Unlike the mold professionals who write articles with the idea of educating another professional, this article comes to you from the perspective of a fellow homeowner whose house was invaded by mold.
I know mold can make you stressed and hope this article helps you get through this with less stress.
Our first reaction upon hearing the news that we had a mold problem was concern about safety.
Admittedly, few die from mold inhalation, so the larger issue is "how is breathing in large amounts of mold going to affect our health?" If you are like my youngest son, you will probably end up on a respirator in the hospital.
If you are like my wife, your RA will be worse and you will be stressed to the max over someone in your family becoming sick.
If you are only slightly reactive and itchy, like my oldest son and me, you stay home.
If you are our pets, you get boarded.
Naturally, once serious health concerns are addressed, we homeowners start calculating the financial toll.
This is a bit difficult because we are new at this.
The education begins by contacting our insurance agent.
The agent contacts a first response team.
The first response team contacts a restoration partner who sends a water mitigation team.
This team's job is to stop the water problem and dry our home.
They put the "finger in the dyke.
" This is a really good idea because the longer the problem continues the more damage and the greater the cost.
Rapid response with source containment is critical to preventing dramatic increases in costs.
We encountered both short-term and long-term costs.
The short-term costs tend to deal with stopping the problem, keeping more things from being affected, cleaning up the mess, and restoring our home.
In the restoration industry this protocol is defined as containment, remediation and restoration.
In determining the short-term costs, the restoration company was very helpful.
Their water mitigation team told us what we might expect process-wise and cost-wise.
They called in mold experts to assist.
The professional restoration company was the face of compassion to our family.
Short-term costs began with insurance deductibles.
As with most homeowner policies, ours limited on how much it would pay for a mold claim.
Ours was capped and the mold problem under the house ate it up fully.
We experienced some medical costs; displacement costs; and lost wages.
Also, mold contaminated contents like food, clothing, and furnishings.
Not all items were salvageable or covered by insurance.
Our air conditioning system was contaminated.
We argued that this stemmed from the water problem and was not subject to the mold cap.
Fortunately, our adjuster allowed this line of reasoning.
It is really a good idea to keep good records and get to know your adjuster.
Long-term costs may include higher insurance premiums, policy cancellation, property devaluation, and property becoming unmarketable.
It is a fairly sure bet that your insurance company will want to recoup its losses through the only method it has - premium increases.
With 2011 being a record year for insurance industry claims, many insurance companies cut their losses and canceled policies.
After three unrelated water claims in two years, our policy was canceled.
We were forced to find a specialty insurer for high-risk homeowners.
Their rates were not cheap and last for three years.
It is quite possible you lose your auto insurance and multi-policy discounts if this happens.
Devaluation and low marketability are hard to quantify but having a quality remediation probably keeps this from happening.
While less defined than physical and fiscal distress, emotional distress can be a direct result of dealing with a mold problem in your home.
The stress of being under attack by mold, having uncertainty about the extent of the problem, the health concerns, the financial concerns, and dealing with displacement can be huge.
Just know that this is temporary and many other people are living proof you will survive.
On a positive note, there are several things I can offer in the way of advice should you be facing mold now or later.
First, consider using a professional restoration company.
They have done this many times and will make the process much easier.
Secondly, employ rapid response using source containment if possible because this keeps your costs from escalating.
Third, don't cover over the problem with products that promise to kill mold.
If mold is on the surface, it is probably in the surface too.
Short of removing and restoring with new material, the problem will still remain.
Finally, remember what you spend today through the insurance claim may be charged back to you through future premiums so be cost-conscious.
