# Got mold



## caper861 (7 Jul 2005)

Hi.   I am new to Army.ca but love it.   I have to go through the process of CFHA removing 6 types of toxic mold from my PMQ.   I have had a 9 months of med techs and tons of inspectors coming and going in and out of my Q.   There have been recidentions made and soon the work will start.   I am 3 months pregnant and have a 3 year old, and a husband.   I am wondering if anyone else has gone through this process and how did it all turn out for you.   Also, some of you may have some suggestions as how to make sure the work does get done proberally.   Thanks in advance.


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## rcr (7 Jul 2005)

Mold removal is a very specialized procedure, depending on the amount of mold.   Proper removal requires location of affected areas and spore-counts to determine the level of mold / fungus in a specific area via air.   As well, to control mold the best way is to lower the humidity of the given area and control the amount of moisture.   Proper work requires proper procedure:   sealing off of areas to be worked on, proper venting and removal of debris and thorough examination of the affected areas before they are redone.   A specialist will cover all these bases, and if the work is contracted out locally by the CFHA (I have no idea how they operate) then I suggest you call in a mold specialist to oversee the work.   Have them drop by every day or two to keep tabs and make recommendations - make sure it's recorded.   If they call in a specialist, just make sure to keep tabs on their progress and ask questions.   Keeping on top of them is the best way to get good results.   As well, check out the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (http://www.chmc-schl.gc.ca) and check up on what they have to say about mold.   Hope this helps.


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## caper861 (8 Jul 2005)

Thanks for the web site info.  I was aware of some of the info they addressed but some of the topic really made me perpare for what is about to happen in my 
Q.  It's funny, because the issue of headaches was discussed and on Monday passed the workers opened the most affected area and since then my 3 year old, my husband and myself all had headaches.  My husband was so severe he landed in the hospital the following Tuesday night and had to be given med's to relieve the pain (he's typical and will not go to hospital if his leg was broken!!).  Since then he had to go to the MIR and they had to give him more meds.  I am 3 months pregnant and cannot take meds but after 4 days I now have relief and our son has spent most of his time outside and with a good friend of ours.  I cannot believe CFHA is charging us money to live in these death traps.  I know it is our choice to live here or to go off the camp/bases but due to financial reasons we do not have that choice.  I think that the Canadian Armed Forces needs to take a look at the living conditions of their troops, not only the ones living in PM Q's but also in the shacks as well.  I hope people read this and start to investagate their own homes, like above the kitchen sink in the crawl spaces, because your family may also have health problems due to mold in your homes.  Once I have finished going through the process of the mold removal I will post our experience as well as what you should be aware of if having to go through the same problem.


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## childs56 (8 Jul 2005)

you should not be in the house while they are doing the mold removal. it is toxic and very prone to cause further health problems.


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## 392 (8 Jul 2005)

caper861 said:
			
		

> I think that the Canadian Armed Forces needs to take a look at the living conditions of their troops, not only the ones living in PM Q's but also in the shacks as well.



Don't know what base you're on, or how long you've been in your Q, but in both Pet and G'town, they have been updating both the Q's and the shacks to more modern standards. I know for sure that on my street alone here in Pet, there are _at least_ 5 or 6 sets of duplexes that have been gutted and refinished, not mention the refurbishing of new shacks for our unit's living in troops. As I watched people move out while I was in G'town and when I came back here, the contractors haven't been too far behind in coming in to refurb A LOT of the recently vacated PMQ's and demolishing the ones that were too far gone.

Anyway, CTD is right - you should not be still living in that house while they are doing the work, and make that known to your CFHA office. IMHO, if the problem is that bad, they should have moved your family temporarily into your base's "emergency" PMQ's (all bases have them) while the work is being completed. If they tell you to pound salt, I would suggest going through your chain and getting them involved, especially when there is a young one involved.....


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## AirForceWife (15 Jul 2005)

We had a mould problem too in our PMQ. I was pregnant at the time as well.   We moved into this Q a few months prior, and used the closet space under the stairs as storage for boxes, and it was filled. When we went to go put some new boxes in the storage closet (we were getting ready for the baby) we noticed a nasty smell and my husband removed all the boxes, to find mould plastered everywhere in that closet towards the back. We called CFHA and they never called us back. A few days later I walked into CFHA and the guy told me to get some bleach and wash it off the walls, that mould wasnt toxic.  I was shocked, as he saw I was pregnant and suggested such a thing.   We cleaned the closet with the bleach as he suggested and nothing worked.  I called CFHA again, and they never returned our call.   I called again a few days later, and no return call again. So I called the Health Dept in our city, and they said that the amount of mould I was discribing should not be handled by a non-professional.  So, the next morning I called CHFA in Ottawa to put a complaint that CFHA refused to come over to look at this mould issue.   I was promised to have someone come by asap. The next morning,  CFHA came over and the guy was quite rude at the door, not too impressed I suppose because of the complaint. 
He then called Preventive Medidcine on the base and they came over again the next day with PMed.  PMed said that the mould was growing from behind the wall, and inorder to get to the state it was at, it would have been growing for over a year (which we were only living there for about 7 months at the time). 
So the next day, they had a company over and sealed off the whole area while they tore down the jiprock (sp?) and had to redo the whole closet.
Two months later we got a letter in the mail, a bill from CFHA for the removal of mould.  They stated that we were responsible since mould only grows with too much humidity, etc and that it could have been avoided.  My husband quickly brought this letter to his chain of command,  who then got a report from PMed stating that they told CFHA that there was no way that the tenants were responsible. That the mould problem was common in the PMQs there.   We left it at that.   We figured that CFHA would somehow get told that we werent responsible.

A few months later, the day we were being posted and the moving truck was at our Q, the housing inspector and manager pulled into our driveway telling us that by the next morning she wanted our cheque, or she would not cease our rent. We were floored. All the paperwork was packed, in the truck already. We thought that the military would have taken care of it.     So when we got posted, DH had to write another memo, and we are now in the process of getting our money back.

Just be careful.  I dont know where you are posted  but I hear that Kingston Cfha is pretty bad about making tenants pay for stuff when they are not responsible.


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## AirForceWife (15 Jul 2005)

CTD said:
			
		

> you should not be in the house while they are doing the mold removal. it is toxic and very prone to cause further health problems.



We were told we had to stay in our Q durng the mould removal, which took 2 days. ANd I was 8 months pregnant


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## caper861 (20 Jul 2005)

Well, our mold removal took place June 11 - 14.  We were in hotels for this time.  CFHA gave us money for hotels and money for myself and my husband for meals and such, expect we were told that our son is only 3 so he can "eat off our plates".  On the last day, we had to sit in our house while we waited for the workers to finish up because we had no where else to go and CFHA would not pay for us to be in hotels another day.  The question was asked as to why CFHA did not put us in the emergency housing, and the answer is, there is none at the moment.  There are 4 units but at this time they have been gutted and are being brought up to standard.  So, to top it all of, the environment personal found more then just mold in our walls.  Once they got the walls open they found about 4 years of feces in the wall, and because I live in a row house and my plumbing is connected to the next Q they need to go in and clean up his feces in the wall.  He nor CFHA will allow the work to take place since he feels it will disrupt his life.  I am shocked to be living in these conditions.  My husband will be posted no later then Nov 06 and at that time I think we will buy a house.  So, I hope the housing in either Shiloh or Petawawa (?) are alot better then here.  So, I plead with all person's who read this to check there PM-Q's for mold or other stuff that can be making you and your family sick.  Look back at your health changes since you moved into your PMQ and record those changes.  I think that if more people put the pressure on CFHA to bring these houses up to healthy conditions then I feel that changes will be seen across Canada.  So, as it is now, my Q is supposed to be clean and we will have air quality tests performed for the next while to make sure that there are no spores left.


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## Springroll (22 Jul 2005)

Where abouts do you live Caper??

I may be able to help you.


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## rcr (29 Jul 2005)

caper861 said:
			
		

> Well, our mold removal took place June 11 - 14.   We were in hotels for this time.   CFHA gave us money for hotels and money for myself and my husband for meals and such, expect we were told that our son is only 3 so he can "eat off our plates".   On the last day, we had to sit in our house while we waited for the workers to finish up because we had no where else to go and CFHA would not pay for us to be in hotels another day.   The question was asked as to why CFHA did not put us in the emergency housing, and the answer is, there is none at the moment.   There are 4 units but at this time they have been gutted and are being brought up to standard.   So, to top it all of, the environment personal found more then just mold in our walls.   Once they got the walls open they found about 4 years of feces in the wall, and because I live in a row house and my plumbing is connected to the next Q they need to go in and clean up his feces in the wall.   He nor CFHA will allow the work to take place since he feels it will disrupt his life.   I am shocked to be living in these conditions.   My husband will be posted no later then Nov 06 and at that time I think we will buy a house.   So, I hope the housing in either Shiloh or Petawawa (?) are alot better then here.   So, I plead with all person's who read this to check there PM-Q's for mold or other stuff that can be making you and your family sick.   Look back at your health changes since you moved into your PMQ and record those changes.   I think that if more people put the pressure on CFHA to bring these houses up to healthy conditions then I feel that changes will be seen across Canada.   So, as it is now, my Q is supposed to be clean and we will have air quality tests performed for the next while to make sure that there are no spores left.



Glad to here that work is being done, Caper.  It's also good to see you were put up in a hotel, though, you should have been granted the coverage to stay there until the work was 100% completed.  I have heard quite a few things about CFHA and I am less than impressed.  I would like to get in touch with some uniformed folks who have dealt with or are familiarized with the workings of CFHA for the purpose of perhaps documenting it for my building/trades peer to learn about.  Hearing about or seeing people living in homes with some serious problems, especially in constraint to act on their own, pisses me off.


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## caper861 (17 Aug 2005)

Well, it's just an update.  Our home is fine, or so we are told, now.  Since they had the plumming fixed and tore out the couple of walls we have not had any problems.  My husband should get posted in Nov 06 and we have passed around the idea of buying a house.  It doesn't really matter anymore I suppose since houses are not built the good old fashioned way and people and CFHA do not take care of PM Q's.  I guess it's better the devil you know then the devil you don't!!  Hope no one else out there has to deal with mold since it can make you really sick if you got the toxic kind.  Update your self on what is going on with your neighbours PM Q so you know of what you are looking for, and it's a good way to get to know your neighbour.  Thanks for all of the support on the topic.


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