I'm a bit contrarian on this subject. Mold isn't good. But if I found mold in my house, my primary worry would be "What's leaking? It needs to get fixed before it rots the house." Mold really isn't that different from dust mites. Mold just has a better PR guy. He wrote a lot of that scary stuff you're reading. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The people who are most troubled by mold are people who have an allergy to it, just like people have allergies to dust mites or cats or strawberries. Some people who are more sensitive mold need to be more vigilant, but that's not everybody. At higher levels, yes, it would make more people sensitive, and therefore sick. But even "toxic mold" is not so toxic it's going to take down city blocks. Some of the symptoms people attribute to mold during cleanup is just dust, paint/glue fumes or even stress and dehydration from hauling around hundreds of pounds of filthy old carpet! The "I found mold. And I have been feeling sick lately. It must be the mold!" is a logic that makes very, very bad people money. They go into houses, open their little kits and, voila! MOLD! The truth is, they could go in tho the cleanest, healthiest houses in America and find some mold. Heck. People even eat mold. Many forms are beneficial organisms. We need them. It would be like trying to eradicate oxygen from the atmosphere -- futile and destructive. The reputable businesses, and I'm sure they are out there, would walk out of those houses and say, "Within completely normal levels." The bad ones will sell you fear. And a lot of other stuff. So be careful. An allergen is just anything that produces an allergic reaction, in this case, that's the mold spores, and probably all kinds of other things in the carpet getting kicked up. Any kind of spore is really hard to kill. They have a coating that makes them just lie around and wait for suitable conditions to germinate. So something like painting over them would kill them, but just washing surfaces with a bleach solution and removing them from the house is effective and within your control. If you feel sick, talk to your doctor, not a mold removal contractor! Your doctor can help you put this in perspective, sort out your symptoms maybe refer you to an allergist. Mold is an easy scapegoat. You might start loading up on antihistamines or other over the counter medicines because you're busy with the reno and really make yourself sick without getting a proper diagnosis. I'm not saying don't take the steps you're taking to remediate the threat. They seem reasonable. Cover the dusts for the dust anyway. Talk to your insurance company. Fix what needs to be fixed. But I have heard stories that would make you very, very angry -- like write to your congressman angry -- about mold abatement practices. So I feel the need to tell people: If what somebody tells you sounds crazy and expensive, and out of line with what insurance will pay for --...

I have to second Rose. 1)If you are not bored and annoyed by modern construction, do not buy an old house. 2) Live in your 'new to you' old house for a year and learn how it works (circulation, privacy, ventilation,etc.), what it needs ( new electrical, furnace, or roof?) and how your lives have changed because of how you live in the house. In our first house, when we finally had a kitchen, not just a row of appliances, we found out my husband liked to cook! In our current old house where we assumed the patio should be was wrong - beautiful view, but too much wind, too far away from comings and goings to suit our lifestyle. Your house may have wonderful sunshine in its living spaces (all those windows), cross ventilation in the summer (all those doors), mouldings that make you smile (that you can only reproduce today at vast expense), proportions that ease your soul. You may find you don't use the formal spaces as they were intended, but that a 'front parlor' can be your 'family room'. The mechanical systems may need help - you should be able to improve them without damage to the character of your house. All houses need attention - the rule of thumb is to expect to spend 1/40 of a house's value every year on maintenance. Often houses have been let go, and then the new owner needs to put in much more. But then, you get to what you want. If this doesn't appeal to you, don't buy the house.

DLM - that's looking inside the crate with our 5 PassivHaus certified ORANGE doors - they are about 6 inches thick and I wish I could show the latching mechanisms - there are about 15 pins that fit into the frame and pull the door against the seal. Very different than the US 'stop' that the entry doors fit up against. The windows are slightly thinner, but I'll try to get some pics today and of the garage doors. (Which we are hoping to install this weekend - but.... my Google translate app isn't perfect and the instructions - such as they are - are in German. I am pretty sure that the word 'panties' was not in them... so it ought to be interesting. Thankfully, my brother offered to help and wear his wife's underwear just in case that is important. BWAHAHAHAHAHA)

I've used wooden drapery finials for door stops, much prettier than the spring kind and work just as well.