Sick house syndrome?

<Does anyone know if there is some type of testing that can be done on humans to determine if they are suffering from diseases caused by mold?>

Very funny. I assume you are on the next bus from Vange? <Splutter>

I have no idea where you live. In the USA mold is an important issue in many states. There are many companies that treat residential mold. ServPro is one of them, but check with a local realtor for a list of companies that do inspections for home purchases.

As for yourself, consult a physician.

I've noticed I have a mould sensor built into my face which, even apparently grossly impaired and close to death from smoking, is a very efficient detector. I think it good enough to tell me if there's enough about to cause me ill health. That said of course, there is the question of exposure time.

Mould, like dry-rot (misnamed) depends on moisture. A mould problem is a moisture problem. Abolish the source of moisture and fix the mould in one.

Just got the chance to sit down and look at some of the previous posts. Yes, there are tests that can be done by allergists. Without knowing where you are geographically located, finding one of those individuals might be a problem, but they can tell you what is specifically going on. I know about this because I was approached by one of our residents of the community and was told by her about the testing and her findings. Mold, pollens, you name it, anything can be a trouble. The basic test is a skin reaction test. BUT, if you are experiencing some respiratory difficulties as well, get on with your inquiries as soon as possible.

I have had one of my firefighters do an overhaul in an neglected vacation residence that had mold growing within, and when we hit it with water to quell a fire, the problem grew and when he performed his overhaul efforts, (whereby we just go in and pull crap out of the fire area, without the benefit of his self contained breathing apparatus), he suffered some serious illness that took him down for 2 weeks. When you can grow fungus in your own lungs,..that becomes a significant trouble.

If you are having problems with mold, you may also have unseen issues with ventilation aspects of the structure, or joints in various areas of the residence that are not as tight as you thought they should be. I would look under the residence as well, look for standing surface water, water that is coming in as a result of run off from the lawn etc., seasonal or constant, time of the day, in general, a timeline that seems to make the mold more noticible than other times. All of these things bear looking into, do the "out of the box" approach and you might find the root of the problem easier than you think, and the solution might be reasonable in processing and cost as well. There are various bleach solutions that can be applied to corners, walls, etc, and some pretreated primer paint that really works well.

Also, something else to consider, is measuring the levels of radon that may be emitting from the soils beneath your residence. While this may not necessarily be a mold type of a problem, I mention it for your consideration while you are also attempting to correct your original problem. It won't hurt to take this step as well while correcting the original problem.

There are some pretty affordable kits that you can purchase form local hardware stores, at least in my community, that will give you a result for considerations.

Good luck. Twisted Piston.

Thanks for your help and advice. I will begin my search and corrective actions this weekend for the house and we are already scheduled for the allergist.

You can also have an air sample taken to collect spores and determine types of mold present and degree of infestation (compare to a typical outdoor measurement for your region). Also good to determine a baseline before you start remediation and can determine if any lingering problems exist after you complete work.

When I worked for an architect, we had to deal with a school that was susspected to have the "sick building" syndrome. There are test that can be run, but mostly it is a visual inspection. When we found mold, we then had to trace the down the source of the water that was feeding the mold. It came from several sources, like roof leakes, the condesations from AC and things like that.

Also the building was sealed too tight. We had to mix the outside air (30%) with the inside air as part of the final fix.

As an FYI for all that have been so helpful with their advice and experience I will provide information that seems to impact my potential problem. I live in Massachusetts in a 100 year old Victorian. The house has three floors, forced hot watter heating, window air conditioning units, no insulation what so ever and the original horsehair walls and ceilings. The major outbreaks of the visible mold have been in the bathrooms o the first and second floors. Both bathrooms have fans (undersized) and windows. The basement is dry for the most part exce4pt during the summer when the humidity is up. However I have a de-humidifier down there and have not had to emty it once this year due to a fairly dry summer (New England weather). I hope this information can produce some ideas of where to look for the main source of my uninvited house guest. I have continually treated the bathrooms with bleach which eliminates the visible contamination temporarily but not permanently. I have ordered a test kit to see what type of mold I have and am anxiously awaiting delivery. Thank you all for your help and advice so far. Please keep it coming.

Well, it definitely doesn't sound like the house is too "tight". Is the mold issue mainly visual i.e. the bathroom walls or can you smell that musty, dank smell all over the house? It is quite possible that there is a leak somewhere, either plumbing or rainwater and you have a mold colony behind a wall. Check your gutters, downspouts, flashing, drip stops, roof penetrations in the attic, etc. Look for telltale staining of the sheathing and rafters. If you have copper domestic hot water pipes, those can develop pin-hole leaks that drip water so slowly that you never see the "stain" but enough to support quite a bit of mold and mildew. Check the joints around the tubs and shower stalls to make sure you're not getting water into the walls that way. Check your P-traps and drain fittings as well.

I would caution you about mold remediation specialists. For every good one out there, there are probably ten hacks whose main goal is to remediate the excess funds in your bank account feeding on this national mold hysteria. Some will do an ozone treatment that in effect kills the mold in place, but keep in mind that the ozone will also kill anything made with rubber (VCR belts, printer parts, tires, etc) . And if you don't eliminate the source of water that keeps the mold alive, it will be back again in no time. Since you live in an old house (Worcester area by chance?) you are probably already a handyman or should be. Your best bet will be to do your own sleuthing to find the location of the mold.

My guess is that the mildew you see on your bathroom walls is strictly a localized problem. My favorite treatment for that is TSP (trisodium phosphate) (get the real stuff not the environmentally friendly kind) and bleach. Wash your bathroom walls with a solution of bleach and TSP. I use about 1/2 cup of bleach and 1/4 cup of TSP to a bucket of hot water. Apply with a sponge, rub in well, and wear rubber gloves, long sleeves, and eye protection because it is a nasty mix. Wear old clothes when doing this and keep it away from the missus favorite towels and linens. You can increase the concentrations of TSP and bleach if it doesn't seem to do the trick the first time. After washing the walls and ceilings with the solution, rinse well with warm, fresh water and dry the area well with open windows, old towels, fans, etc. Keep in mind that strong solutions of TSP will remove paint or at the very least dull any shiny finishes. (It is also good prep for when repainting).

You may consider repainting the bathrooms after the cleaning with a good quality sealer primer (oil-based are best) and then put on a finish coat with a biocide additive. Religious use of exhaust fans when showering is a must to prevent the return of the mildew. I have a constant battle with my missus over this because she likes the Turkish sauna effect when showering. Good luck with your quest !!

"I would caution you about mold remediation specialists. For every good one out there, there are probably ten hacks whose main goal is to remediate the excess funds in your bank account feeding on this national mold hysteria."

Well spoken Brave Sir Robin. They are also the ones who will be happy to repair water damage at a premium price.

With an old victorian house with the original plaster walls and no insulation or vapor barrier you must be getting enough fresh air in the house since it is not sealed up tight like a modern house. Mind you with hot water heat you are not getting the air movement you would get with forced air heat. I had an old victorian house in Ontario which over the years I had ripper out the walls and insulated and added vapor barriers and calked from top to bottom and never had mould problems.

You said the only problem is in the bathrooms and the fans are undersized. How many people are in the house taking showers? That is the source of the moisture.

Put the fans on a timer so that they run till all the moisture is out of the air. If you still have a problem then put in bigger fans. Make sure the calking is good and the moisture is not getting in behind the walls.

I am getting older now and just recently discovered, or so I believe, that my life time of allergy misery has been due to "black mold". I live in a wet climate and always have, so such things were never considered a big deal. I had allergy skin tests many times over my life time and nothing ever showed up. I even had a nasal laser procedure done--to no avail. That particular dr. said he thought I was allergic to mold even thought I said it never showed up on the tests. He said the tests were only 40% accurate. I was having a miserable time all this summer until I pulled a heavy dresser away from the outer wall of the bedroom and discovered a patch of the black mold. It was hard to see until I got a staight-on view. Killed it with bleach and haven't had any allergy symptoms since. It's been at least a month. So, the answer is YES and you can fix it yourself if you can see it. You can also get help from your local health dept. or evironmental health agency and even get petri dishes or something similar to trap air samples. After 58 years of not knowing what was making me feel sick a lot of the time, I think I have solved the problem. Good luck.