BLACK DEATH! Oh No!

Today I will be locked in mortal combat with the BLACK DEATH (black mold, that is). If there are no further posts by me, you'll know that I lost.

I know what you must be thinking. I must be the bravest person in the history of the earth to battle the BLACK DEATH. Not since the days of David vs. Goliath has an underdog done battle against such a formidable foe. Like David, I will be doing battle without armor (no space suit; no help from the EPA or other fatherly government agency). I will be battling the BLACK DEATH alone!

Here's the whole story.

About 4 months ago, I had a tenant move into one of my nicest 2 bedroom houses. She had a good job; no criminal history; and no eviction history. By all measures, she looked like she would be an excellent tenant. Unfortunately, we didn't give her the ink blot test and I missed the small detail that she was a FREAK! Unfortunately, it didn't take long to find this out.

Within days of moving in, she complained that she was cold. I went over to the house and the temperature was 72 degrees. She complained of drafts from the windows and around the doors. I didn't find any excessive leaks around any of the windows or the doors, but the house IS about 100 years old. She absolutely insisted that I install plastic over all the windows and insulate around the doors. At this point, I still didn't realize that she was a freak and therefore I agreed to install the plastic and insulate the doors. After doing these projects, the house was practically air tight!

Next, I got a call from her about the bathroom. The bathroom has a claw-foot tub and she wanted a shower. I again agreed and installed one of those shower conversion kits for claw foot tubs.

Next, she called to complain that the ceiling in the kitchen was leaking. I went over to the house and discovered that the temperature was 85 degrees! There was no leak in the kitchen (it hadn't rained for several days), but she had the temperature so high that a very thin film of old grease film had congealed and there were a few drops or grease on the ceiling. I cleaned the ceiling and left. I also told her that she shouldn't keep the heat that high and that her electric bill would probably be outrageous.

A couple of weeks later, she called to say that her electric bill was $178. DUH! I told her that I thought that was very low for an all-electric house and that it would be even lower if she turned down the temperature. By now, I was realizing that I rented my house to a FREAK.

We then had the coldest weather of the winter during the next few days, with temperatures below zero. I received another call from the tenant saying that she was freezing. I went to her apartment to find that the temperature was about 76 degrees. She said that she was cold. I had a spare gas heater and asked her if she wanted me to install it. She did. This is one of those small gas heaters (similar to an unvented gas fireplace). I installed the heater and she appeared to be happy. Those gas heaters REALLY pump out the heat. The next day, the guy from the gas company came over to turn on the gas. The tenant SAID that the gas company employee told her that the heater should be cleaned or it could cause carbon monoxide poisoning. The heater was nearly new and was already clean, but I agreed to clean it. The next day I cleaned the unit and even installed a carbon monoxide monitor, because at this point I knew she was a freak. Her mind would undoubtedly imagine that the deadly carbon monoxide gas was all around.

A week or so later, she called again to complain that the old furnace vents were cold and that she was losing heat. Obviously, the old furnace vents would be cold as the ducting is in the unheated basement. At any rate, I went over to install insulation in the floor vents. With that, the house was so tight that taking a breath would cause the walls to move in and out (OK, I might be exaggerating a bit).

Finally, about a week ago, the tenant called to say that the house was full of mold and that she was leaving. AMEN! She insisted that I come over to the house to look at the mold and I told her to forget it. I told her that I didn't want to see her again and that she should call when she was out. Yesterday, she called to say she was out and that she was demanding her deposit back. FAT CHANCE OF THAT!

I stopped by the house yesterday to see how it looked. There WAS a lot of mold, which is exactly what happens when you have an airtight house and run a gas heater to the point that the temperature is in the mid 80's all the time. Fortunately, the mold should be VERY easy to remove as I know that there was no mold about 3 weeks ago. I'll take some Joy detergent and a bucket and I should have the mold cleaned up in a couple of hours. The tenant also decided to leave a bunch of furniture and other stuff in the house, so I'll have to take that to the dump.


That is how my battle with the BLACK DEATH developed. In truth, this is partly my fault. I should have known better than to seal up the house and install the gas heater, suspecting that the tenant would keep the temperature so high. What I should have done was simply refuse to install the heater and refuse to over-insulate the house. Fresh air is needed in any house and gas heaters are famous for causing moisture, especially if over-used in a sealed environment.

As a parting shot, the tenant called the health department to complain about the mold. I have a good working relationship with the health department and they didn't even call me about the issue.

Gotta Go! The battle is waiting!