So we arrived home from San Diego around 6pm Sunday evening. We thought life was finally going to be normal – but then we opened up the door. We found that a window had been left open (by whomever put in the new sink and cabinet in our bathroom while we were gone), the humidity was 150%, and there was mold on just about everything.
The area has always had very high moisture levels, due to the forest of mature oak trees, nearby creek, and underground river. That’s why we had a dehumidifier. We meant to have it run continuously while we were gone, but in the chaos of leaving, it was forgotten. We called and emailed the landlord to have her do it for us, but when she finally got back to us, she said she didn’t think it was necessary. She’s always been in a bit of a denial about the amount of humidity in the area. 😛
We finally convinced her to go hook it up, and explained how to take the bucket out so it wouldn’t turn off when it was full, but I guess she forgot that part. It was still in when we got back, and the unit had turned off so we figure it ran for all of one day. And given the storms and high temperatures and open window…. it needed to run for longer than that.
So. Mold. Everywhere. On the walls. In the couch. On the hardwood floor under the living room carpet. On our pots and pans. On our dresser. We cleaned as much as we could and spent the night there, but slept horribly and woke up sniffly and sneezy. I spent the day looking for rental houses, made an appointment to see one, filled out the application, got in the deposit, checked into a hotel and waited. The next day we set up utilities, signed the lease, got keys, and moved in!
It’s a beautiful little 1500 sq ft house. Our first ever without neighbors sharing at least one wall! My first full-sized dishwasher in three years! First ever laundry room! And garage door opener! We’re thrilled. It’s newer, nicer, cleaner, and not located in a forest on top of an underground river! We couldn’t find a trace of mold anywhere.
So Josh and a friend moved over beds and the table that first night, and we’ve been going back every night and filling up canvas shopping bags. We have no boxes. But this is working well so far! We plan on moving more big stuff (chest freezer! treadmill!) Saturday. We’ll be completely moved out by the 31st.
Luckily the landlord was perfectly okay with us moving out on such short notice. We weren’t under a lease anymore, and she had had a lot of requests for 3 bedroom duplexes, so it worked out well for both of us.
In the meantime, I’m hunting couches on Craigslist. We may resort to a futon. Or leave the living room bare and just recline like ancient Greeks. There are also a couple dressers I’ve got my eye on. Honestly, I’m thoroughly enjoying this redecoration.
And through it all, I’ve felt God’s grace. He protected us from destruction of this magnitude until he knew we could financially handle it. It feel almost like I have His permission to redecorate! 😀
However, when this is over, it’s back to saving up, big time, for a down payment on a house in San Diego. Those things aren’t cheap!
Seems like a pretty great blessing in disguise! Plus a little hassle. 🙂 So… what is your former landlord going to do about the mold? She has people who want to rent, but do they want to rent with mold on the floors and the walls? Or is she just in denial about it all still? Anyway, glad you’ve got a great new place that you can afford!
Are you convinced your mattresses are OK, without mold, too? I would totally freak out if that happened to me- mold totally grosses me out.
Let me know if you need help moving! It sounds like you’ve found a great new place.
She doesn’t seem to like to deal with mold. She may spray bleach on the walls (which we’ve already done) and call it a done deal. So. Yeah. We’re not living there anymore.
I’m convinced the kids’ mattresses are okay. They were in the dryest room – their room didn’t have mold on any walls or furniture. The only reason we need to replace their dresser is because someone, not mentioning any names here, forgot to close the back of the uhaul. 😀 Plus their mattresses were elevated on bunk beds so there was lots of air circulating. Ours… well, it was up on a frame. I asked Josh to check before bringing it over. I haven’t checked yet… I should.