Grosse Pointe Blank...
L thomas
last year
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GROSS me out the door!! Mold..me..oh my!
Comments (12)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 --......See Moregrossness of match-dot-com
Comments (21)My neighbor and her daughter actively look for black men on line. Looking for black men is one thing looking on line is another. Here is what happened to her daughter when she found mister right online. I wrote this on another forum. Since you don't know me or my neighbor, I think it would be alright to tell you what happened to her daughter. I am doing this partly to warn vulnerable women. It is a scary story and anyone interested in online relationships should pay heed to this. My neighbor and her daughter joined a singles thing on the INTERNET, the daughter started emailing a guy. After almost a year he came to see her from Texas. He proposed and she accepted. He did all the right things, married her then took her to the social security office to get her name changed, went to the AFB to get her a military ID for her meds, health care,etc.. He told her to sell her car, that he had a 2006 which would be her personal car. He said he was retired military and had a retirement of $4,500 a month. He sent her money to cover the cost of the wedding plus an extra $500. He suggested my neighbor, (his bride's mother) move to Texas if she wanted to and he would help her do that. This is what prince charming has done to her. He had been married 11 times before this one, he filed for divorce before a week was up, he got rid of her 11 year old Yorkie, told her he didn't want a house dog, etc, etc, etc. She is in Texas, broke, no way to get home or move her things back and is trying to work with legal aid for the divorce. My neighbor is heart broken and she doesn't have any money to help her daughter. Very sad, all my neighbor does is cry. I wonder if my neighbor and her daughter will continue searching for love online???...See MoreStarting point for our blank-slate yard? New porch addition.
Comments (7)A truly north-facing wall gives the equivalent of medium shade to the area at its base as long as there is nothing else overhanging the area. If you add potted plants to your porch they should be along the outer edges to get the most light. In general, one starts by deciding where shrubs should go, and the shape/size of shrubs wanted. Your house is nicely framed by trees now. The width of a planting bed depends on the need to access plants in the back. If you plant low, spreading shrubs you generally don't need to reach the back of the bed. The depth of the bed will be based on the expected, mature size of the shrubs. If a shrub has an expected mature width of 5 ft you should plant it 2 & 1/2 ft from a structure. I recommend two shrubs against the house on either side of the porch. Put perennials between and in front of the shrubs. Carry these beds around the corners to the side of the house. The area in front of the porch could have perennials or shrubs that don't get over 3 ft tall and wide. You should be able to lay your sidewalk in front of this bed.While standard Nandina domestica (heavenly bamboo) is a 6-8 ft plant there are many shorter CULTIVARS to 4 ft tall. Nandina grows in zones 6 to 9 and in full shade to full sun. It is semi-evergreen and its leaves turn reddish with fall and winter cold. Your local nursery personnel are full of information on other shrubs that will take shade; be sure to specify how high you want shrubs to grow. Temporarily fill in between young shrubs with easy care perennials such as day lilies which will take medium shade quite well. Dicentra ssp. (bleeding heart) is hardy in zones 4 to 9 but they don't like wet ground. Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian bugloss) has sky blue flowers hardy in zones 3 to 8. Of course, hostas are always good for shady spots. Once again, your local nursery is the best source of information for your area. Set perennials in groups of 3, mixing perennials for color and bloom times so something is always of interest. Finally, fill in between the perennials with annuals, especially toward the front of the bed. Does your driveway go around your house? Looking at your first photo, the drive on the right seems to curve into your back yard, but you say you will be adding a walkway that curves to the drive on the left. Perhaps the drive on the right was temporary, but don't be too quick to plant it over with lawn. If you have gatherings, whether family or friends, extra off-street parking can be safer for them. Set up a few spaces off the driveway. If parking is rarely needed it is usually safe to park directly on a lawn, but if extra parking is needed more than twice a year, hollow paver blocks can prevent soil compaction. Hedging can define the limit of temporary parking. Below is a photo that I think illustrates this perfectly....See MoreGross plaster smell still in studs, after plaster removal
Comments (5)I would also recommend exploring other more usual sources of odor in old houses than dry studs. I have never heard of dry plaster having a smell. For example, wax rings around toilets will need to be replaced periodically and may cause toilet water slow leaks around the toilets. Also, drain pipes in areas with low use may have the p trap dried out, allowing sewer gas to pervade the house. This is a general bad smell that is hard to source. I have 2 laundry areas, one of which is not in use now and the trap dries out every few months and it starts to smell. Do you have any drain traps that may just need a cup of water added to them? The previous owners to my own house noticed a terrible smell and it turns out that my house's sewage pipe had not been connected and years of blackwater were draining into a pit under my house. This is obviously extreme but just an example. Did you check the attic area for evidence of bat guano, raccoon nests etc. These can get pretty smelly, especially the bigger animals will cause soaking of the wood/insulation or paper facing of the ceiling below with urine.feces. I am sure others will have other suggestions of hidden sources of stink....See MoreL thomas
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