I think I'm freaked out because I did call a few companies, and their advice and procedures just blew me away. From what I got, this type of stuff should by handled by the insurance I don't have because it can be so expensive and complicated. The water damage companies were talking about drilling holes, and putting special wires or something throught the holes to suck up moisture. And, they were talking about special moisture detection instruments. Obviously, they couldn't tell me the price over the phone without having seen the damage, but ther ballpark estimates were just incredibly expensive. I think the carpet can be saved, but the padding needs to be replaced. But, I'm concerned about moisture that seeped through the padding to the wood below the padding. And, about renting a dehumidifier, why not just buy one from Target or something?

The "supports" down the middle of the bed are those 3 flimsy laminate boards that screw onto the top of the heavy pieces. So I will make a strong brace, drill holes thru the back of each of the baskets cubbies (those baskets are stuffed full of clothes towels etc, so will the air flow thru the holes ,then thru the dead coffin area as I call it, then thru the other side holes out into the opposite baskets? I have only 4 rooms, all literally separate, kitchen,living,bedroom 1,bedroom 2. the bathroom is really tiny. it does have a double hung window in it, so i should crack it when showering and for a bit after.. Regarding cleaning the bed, first of all, yes the bottom of the mattress is damp, I have puddles of water on top of the laminate, but have no smell in the water, no color, no residue showing on the furniture yet, and no stain on the mattress,just wet. I may have caught this problem early? I should cut open the mattress to see what is in there? So since i have no "mold" i.e. gray green blue icky stuff on the furniture, can I just wipe it down with lysol? Is mold visible? (I know a dumb question) The bed is nicely wet, but the laminate has not gotten soggy at all, still firm. I'll look into a humidifier(s). hope they don't cost as much as the electric heater! oh, and you asked about my health? You make me crack up on that one. I have had a cold on/off/ on/off for months (could be my sister's kids I nanny sit for tho), one of my cats has developed asthma...... I think I will hit ikea and buy a futon style bed (just the cushion part,no frame) or maybe a thick foam topper and sleep on the living room floor (the other bedroom has no heat, take off that flimsy laminate and let the bed breathe for awhile after I drill the holes. -;like a few weeks min? Like you mentioned earlier, I'm not investing in an expensive mattress until I know this problem is fixed. so tomorrow I will pull the bed apart-when I get help to move that heavy mattress.

I think you should STOP drying your laundry by hanging it inside your loft at once. (Not that I am a foe of clotheslines, I live not far from you and I dry almost all my laundry on a line year-round, but only outdoors.) Indoor laundry drying puts a tremendous amount of water vapor in the air of your loft and then you go away and shut it in. It's not surprising to me at all that you have developed a moldy/musty smell problem. I hope that it can still be cured by simply lowering the ambient humidity and cleaning the existing problems. First of all you should get some dehus running whenever you are at the loft. If you can set one up to dump into a drain, you could run it when you are in NY. It is likely that when the loft was converted it was tightened-up in a big way. That saves energy, but leaves any excess humidity trapped inside making the problem much worse if you are adding moisture. If you must line dry then do so only on an outdoor line. I have one of those non-venting condenser-type dryers which evaporate the water out of the exhuast stream. I can easily "harvest" more than a couple of gallons per week. That's the same amount of water you're evaporating out of your laundry and leaving inside your closed loft while you're away. I also use Miele washing machines (and Askos) so my stuff which produces this amount of water is being washed in high rpm Euro machines, like yours. Now to cure the problem of the smell, I would first make sure you haven't acquired a smell problem inside your Miele. Do you leave it open when you are away? That's a very good idea. I would run a rigorous clean-up cycle in the washer first thing when you return. Also consider running at slightly hotter temps on a routine basis. (And with a Miele, I know you can, ::smile::). Then make sure you are using the highest spin possible to extract more water inside the machine. Now about clothes drying, doing so in front of open windows might make a difference but that's probably out for the season. I do dry outside even at this time of year, but often have to leave my stuff outside for a day or so to sublimate all the moisture out. That probably isn't possible in a semi-public area like a loft conversion. Have you considered getting one of the conenser type dryers? I have mixed feelings about them. My model is an older Asko, and I think it isn't as moisture-tight as the current models from either Miele or Asko. It does add a perceptible amount of moisture vapor when I run it. But in a situation where you can't run a dryer exhaust pipe, condensers do work pretty well, though. And they are far better than drying indoors, especially in a modern tight structure. Have you noticed any subtle moisture problems on books, paper or art work? To remediate the current smell problem I would plan on doing a serious cleaning of most surfaces, including thorough washing of all bedding; steam cleaning mattresses, rugs and upholstery; washing walls and floors and vaccuuming everything else. All that should take place after a period of running dehus to get any existing moisture under control. That should take care of it, though it will be a big job. Basically you have to clean off all the surfaces that might have acquired a thin layer of fungal growth. I would use hot water and Dirtex powdered cleaner on washable surfaces. (Dirtex sometimes is hard to find, once source I know of that may be close to you is the Benjamin Moore dealer in Bennington.) You might also want to consider getting a vaccuum cleaner with a true HEPA filter so you inhibit spreading of spores when cleaning. Finally, if you have breathing or other health problems you might wish to delegate this cleaning to someone else. Or at least wear one of those tight-fitting 3M filter masks (cost about $15 at HD or Lowes). (Not just the small dust masks). When dealing with a fungal problem (mildew and its musty-smelling cohorts are fungal not bacterial issues), keep in mind that most environmental fungi need several conditions to thrive: Free moisture in the air, certain temp parameters (basically what we like, ranging to a little colder), lack of light, and still, unmoving, air. Many of them also need a certain amount of their preferred food, which can range from paper, to waxes and grease (like from not using an exhaust fan when you cook), to just plain old household grime and dust. These are exactly the conditions you may create in a space like your loft when you are away. Changing several of these factors will help enormously in discouraging the problem from reoccurring. Changing what you can will help, even if it seems like small changes. Don't think you have to sterilize or eliminate all of the mold spores. You couldn't do that effectively anyway, and the space would be recontaminated as soon as you opened windows or doors. You just have to lower the overall load and change the environment enough, and it will make a difference. I once livid in a very humid area in the tropics, without reliable electrical service to run A/C or dehus. That required unceasing daily attention to modifying the environment to lower the fungal issues. And every now and then, I'll open a book, or long-closed carton, and poof, out blows a little wiff of the jungle. (I'm not terribly worried about reinfestation from that as those fungal beasties require torrid conditions to thrive; they'd expire of the cold up here in upstate NY. Tee-hee!) I think if you make a big effort you can resolve this. Good luck! Molly

"Could older hardware cause this type of smell?" Certainly not. The smell of mold/mildew is unique. You are smelling what it is. Now you need to: 1. Find the mold or mildew, and 2. Eliminate the cause. The cause is moisture. The place you will find the mold/ mildew is inside the walls around your shower stall and the floor under the shower pan. Just about any shower stall built in the early 1990's is going to have mold. The construction materials and methods commonly used during that era have been discontinued. Poly plastic was often used as a vapor barrier, and sometimes a dreaded "double vapor barrier" situation occurrs. Also it is common that gypsum board products, like green board drywall, were used rather than a cement board product such as hardibacker or a proper mortar bed. I would gut the bathroom shower stall. The home inspector's report recommending replacment of the fiberglass shower pan, is a gentle way of phrasing "you need to gut the shower" I've never just replaced the shower pan in a tile shower. By the time the shower pan is bad, the tile walls are also bad. The shower pan is more robust and water tight than any tile work done in 1993. Can you open the drywall on the back side of one of the shower stall walls? That would be a good way to look for mold and still be able to abort the demolition work if you do not find it.