Jennifer Hoelzer
06-15-2016, 05:59 PM
Hi - I'm not an inspector and -- therefore -- understand if no one responds to this question, but in all honesty, this may be one of the most informative forums I've ever found online, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
I moved to California four years ago and got what I thought was an incredible deal on a rental house in the Hollywood Hills. The monthy rent is hardly "cheap" but pretty much any other house in this location with the views I have would probably end up paying almost double what I pay in rent. So, I tend to understand that the appliances, for example, are several decades old and that the heating vents in my bedroom were walled off vs. properly fixed. In fact, peal back any layer of this house and you realize it's been fixed as cheaply as possible for several decades. (termiite damage, cheap wood, rusty nails sticking out of board used as splints, etc. etc. (I think it's been a rental for nearly 40 years.)
Anyway, two years ago I inexplicably started to struggle with work, it got worse and worse until I ultimately could no longer work, let alone get out of bed. (In fact, my credit is so terrible right now that I couldn't move if I wanted to.) I now know I was suffering from mold poisoning. The 30+ year old washing machine had been leaking into the subfloor.
My landlord initially told me that the laundry room floor was cement, but when I moved the washer and discovered that the peel and stick tiles were no longer stuck, I learned that the floor was plywood. It was also completely black with with mold. (The laundry room is about 5 feet from where I sleep, and clearly caused my symptoms, which largely disappeared after the mold was cleaned up.) In an effort to get along with my landlords, I assured that that I had no intention to sue them, that I just wanted the mold cleaned up and that I needed a little extra time to come up with the rent this month as I'm literally trying to find work from scratch.
The landlord brought in his usual contractor, who had his guy cut out and replace the worst parts of the floor. I repeatedly asked if we should do something to water proof the plywood before applying more peal and stick tiles. They ignored my suggestion, so I planned to seal the floor myself, except they applied new tiles before I had a chance. And to give you a sense of the quality work this guy does, less than two days later, the tiles started to peal off as -- I discovered -- they'd been applied over wet, still moldy wood.. Because I'm a nice person, I didn't complain. Instead I removed the loose tiles cleaned the wood with germicidal bleach and am letting them dry before I reapply them.
My landlord said, that the peal and stick tiles are "water tight" enough and that mold won't be a problem as long as the washing machine doesn't leak. But I'm not sure that's the case. Can't high humidity in a confined space (like a small laundry room) also lead to mold/mildew issues? The room has no drain or proper ventilation to speak of. In fact that dryer house is basically just jammed into the wall, which I think leads under the house, but I don't, honestly, know.
I ask these questions as my landlord has turned into a massive jerk. He raised my rent because of all the money he had to spend fixing this issue and when I reminded him that I needed a little extra time this month to pay, he sent me a scathing email, accusing me of breaking the washing machine and intentionally not telling him about the leak. I find this more than a little infuriating because (1) I thought I was being incredibly helpful/understanding by not demanding professional mold inspection/remdiation, let alone not calling a lawyer, etc. and (2) I feel like I lost a year of my life and am massively in debt in part because he was too cheap to take the proper steps to prevent mold from growing.
Anyway, aside from the fact that the washing machine was ancient and it wasn't at all suprising that the inner plastic tub started leaking at the seams ( did not break the thing), I'm wondering if there are building codes that my landlord should have followed that may have prevented the mold situation. The laundry room is on the lower level of a two story house that hands off a cliff. It's a small room (5'x8') that also houses the water heater and gas heater/air ducts. The floor, as I said, is plywood with vinyl peal and stick tiles. There is no drain or ventilation in the room and when the Sears guy came to install the new washer and dryer, her marveled at the pipe that had been creatively attached to the back of the dryer.
So you know, I'm not looking for an excuse to sue, but I tend to believe that knowledge is power and I right now I need a little power. Thanks for reading and for whatever help/advice you can impart.
I moved to California four years ago and got what I thought was an incredible deal on a rental house in the Hollywood Hills. The monthy rent is hardly "cheap" but pretty much any other house in this location with the views I have would probably end up paying almost double what I pay in rent. So, I tend to understand that the appliances, for example, are several decades old and that the heating vents in my bedroom were walled off vs. properly fixed. In fact, peal back any layer of this house and you realize it's been fixed as cheaply as possible for several decades. (termiite damage, cheap wood, rusty nails sticking out of board used as splints, etc. etc. (I think it's been a rental for nearly 40 years.)
Anyway, two years ago I inexplicably started to struggle with work, it got worse and worse until I ultimately could no longer work, let alone get out of bed. (In fact, my credit is so terrible right now that I couldn't move if I wanted to.) I now know I was suffering from mold poisoning. The 30+ year old washing machine had been leaking into the subfloor.
My landlord initially told me that the laundry room floor was cement, but when I moved the washer and discovered that the peel and stick tiles were no longer stuck, I learned that the floor was plywood. It was also completely black with with mold. (The laundry room is about 5 feet from where I sleep, and clearly caused my symptoms, which largely disappeared after the mold was cleaned up.) In an effort to get along with my landlords, I assured that that I had no intention to sue them, that I just wanted the mold cleaned up and that I needed a little extra time to come up with the rent this month as I'm literally trying to find work from scratch.
The landlord brought in his usual contractor, who had his guy cut out and replace the worst parts of the floor. I repeatedly asked if we should do something to water proof the plywood before applying more peal and stick tiles. They ignored my suggestion, so I planned to seal the floor myself, except they applied new tiles before I had a chance. And to give you a sense of the quality work this guy does, less than two days later, the tiles started to peal off as -- I discovered -- they'd been applied over wet, still moldy wood.. Because I'm a nice person, I didn't complain. Instead I removed the loose tiles cleaned the wood with germicidal bleach and am letting them dry before I reapply them.
My landlord said, that the peal and stick tiles are "water tight" enough and that mold won't be a problem as long as the washing machine doesn't leak. But I'm not sure that's the case. Can't high humidity in a confined space (like a small laundry room) also lead to mold/mildew issues? The room has no drain or proper ventilation to speak of. In fact that dryer house is basically just jammed into the wall, which I think leads under the house, but I don't, honestly, know.
I ask these questions as my landlord has turned into a massive jerk. He raised my rent because of all the money he had to spend fixing this issue and when I reminded him that I needed a little extra time this month to pay, he sent me a scathing email, accusing me of breaking the washing machine and intentionally not telling him about the leak. I find this more than a little infuriating because (1) I thought I was being incredibly helpful/understanding by not demanding professional mold inspection/remdiation, let alone not calling a lawyer, etc. and (2) I feel like I lost a year of my life and am massively in debt in part because he was too cheap to take the proper steps to prevent mold from growing.
Anyway, aside from the fact that the washing machine was ancient and it wasn't at all suprising that the inner plastic tub started leaking at the seams ( did not break the thing), I'm wondering if there are building codes that my landlord should have followed that may have prevented the mold situation. The laundry room is on the lower level of a two story house that hands off a cliff. It's a small room (5'x8') that also houses the water heater and gas heater/air ducts. The floor, as I said, is plywood with vinyl peal and stick tiles. There is no drain or ventilation in the room and when the Sears guy came to install the new washer and dryer, her marveled at the pipe that had been creatively attached to the back of the dryer.
So you know, I'm not looking for an excuse to sue, but I tend to believe that knowledge is power and I right now I need a little power. Thanks for reading and for whatever help/advice you can impart.