I\'m in hiding

[boristfrog]

After a long, stressful week I was looking forward to the weekend.
But hubby is working today - so I decided to clean the house instead. It\'s needed doing for a while, but with the cold weather and the overtime it\'s not got done.
Whilst putting some books back on the shelf I noticed some discoloration on a couple I was rearranging. On further examination the bookshelf had mould - lots of it!

I swiftly bundled up the books into some boxes and checked out the damage. The back of the case was green and this had \'soaked\' through to the side where the books are.

I checked the other case - no sign of green stuff - so I looked at the back. Uh oh - top to bottom green and furry. I stripped this one of reading matter as well and dumped both cases out in the yard.

The wall behind them looked normal - but felt really wet. Aaargh! We already have a damp kitchen that needs sorting but the rental agency say \'needs monitoring\'. I noticed a big wet patch in the attic room today as well.
After cleaning the bathroom, the hobby room (oh yeah!) and moving stuff around in the front room I\'ve decided to hide. I\'m in bed under some blankets thinking about wasting the rest of the day with online sudoku.. and maybe chocolate. I\'ve not had lunch, I feel like crap and I just want to paint something and have a nice place to live that isn\'t green or smelling damp.

I\'m sorry for writing this here - I hope no one has wasted anytime reading this. I\'ve been looking up the cost of dehumidifiers online and it\'s not a happy story.
Bah! I\'m grumpy.

If I hide will the problems please go away and leave me in piece? Please!
I have a website going live on Monday I don\'t need this kind of hassel at home.

Again - sorry. It feels better to rant though. :flame:

 

[alextheartist]

The problem will not sort itself on its own and it will just get worse if you leave, this could end up with you having to replace all plasterwork etc have damp proofing. If i was you i would get somebody out to look at it.

Alex

 

[generulpoleaxe]

screw what the rental agency says.
they are charging you for living in unhygienic conditions.
send them a letter telling them to sort it or you will see them in court.

living in a house with damp can realy mess up your health, don\'t put up with it or take crap from the rental agency as they have legal obligations to uphold.
you pay for a service that they are not providing, if need be seek legal advice asap.

 

[mickc22]

It\'s ok to hide, for a bit....

I know exactly how you feel, got the same problem myself. House is solid walls, no cavity. We have a cupboard in our bedroom which is simply unusable. Get a dehumidifier, definitely worth it, it\'s not a cure, but it keeps it at bay.
We\'ve gotta get a new one too, our last one died, wouldn\'t turn off when it was full.
Check out B&Q saw some reasonable ones there the other day
Ventilation and insulation are the answer to the problem, it\'s the cost of implementing them that\'s the pain in the arse

-mick

 

[lizcam]

Ok, beyond the fact that the rental agency obviously knew about this but is refusing to do anything leads to a couple of things.

1) They owe you for new cases
2) They owe you to have your health checked. There is such thing as toxic mould and you REALLY don\'t want to mess with that.
3) They NEED to fix this NOW! And if they don\'t find out what the local laws are about fixing it yourself and then taking it out of your rent. In California it\'s legal to do so as long as you let them know in plenty of time so they can choose to do it themselves. Get estimates from a couple of places and tell them either you will have it done by the higher company or they can have it done by the lower but get it repaired PROFESSIONALLY. This is NOT something you want some handyman mucking around with. We\'re talking your health here.


BTW. Nice to see you here. :beer:

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Photograph everything, all the damage .. with a film camera and digital. If you have to go to court its the best evidence you will have.

They obviously have a leaking roof on their property that needs fixing.

 

[boristfrog]

I\'m out of hiding. It only lasted a couple of hours anyways.

I have moved furniture around and my rabbits around so they are not near anything unhealthy either. Obviously my first concern was for them not me!
I moved the sideboard in the diningroom and that is also moudly on the back - so I have emptied it and moved stuff from one room into the other - so at least I can see how bad that room is.

I have also moved the fridge freezer around (our kitchen is too small for it) to ensure that it wasn\'t adding to the problem.

My husband is off work on Monday so he will be harrassing the agency on my behalf
The usual maintenance lady is pretty efficient so she must be off at the moment.

It will get sorted - and we have been taking pictures already - but will take more now to show the extra damage that has been caused.

Fortunately none of our furniture is fancy or expensive.

I just needed to vent earlier as I can feel the depression knocking and I don\'t want it to come back.

Thanks for the comments - helps me realise that this isn\'t out of proportion.

Sometimes you have to hide from responsibility - if only for a little while and it doesn\'t hurt anyone.

 

[evil tendencies]

You\'re not alone in feeling like this. I have GAD, and there are definitely times that things just get to be too overwhelming. It helps to remember that, with my disability, I Catastrophize, Generalize and Eternalize; I imagine that a problem is as bad as possible, then I assume that everything in my life is this bad, and then I assume that it will always be like this. Remembering my tendency to think like this helps me avoid it.

Good luck getting your stuff sorted out.

 

[hestan101]

you have rabbits? threaten the agency with arron (no, not the arron on here guys, another one) and maybe (shudder, rhys ) seroiusly dont take crap and get them to sort it , if your hospitalized, who will teach me to paint?!!

 

[Rat Sandwich]

The last place I lived was really damp, it was a tiny groundfloor flat in a place called Saltburn on the north-east coast of England. The bathroom ceiling was covered in black fur! We had a slug infestation too. One year a junkie overdosed in the flat next door and was left to rot for two weeks in the height of summer! The smell wasn\'t great.

 

[boristfrog]

OK that\'s just wrong! RatSandwich - I hope you moved out!


Update: Hubby took photos when he got home (as he had the camera at work) and then we noticed the wooden door to the kitchen has green bits on both sides. Off to the shops tomorrow to buy chemicals
And I try hard to be environmentally friendly - so it won\'t be bleach, unless that happens to be the least nasty.
Looks like my day to paint is going out of the window tomorrow.

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Bleach is about the only thing that will kill mold spores..

 

[Rat Sandwich]

We moved April last year, the landlord was a absolute prick, all of my 80\'s toon vids and loads of horror movie vids went moldy, but he refused to believe the shitty flat was the cause of the problem! Glad we no longer live there. Although I do miss Saltburn.