The blog in which we found mold- A LOT OF IT!

Have you ever experienced home repairs that involved your insurance company?  I have been a home owner for just under ten years, and to date, my husband and I have never had to deal with insurance claims.  This process has been made slightly less anxiety ridden since our insurance agent is actually a friend of ours, and his patience has been on par with that of a saint.  In the beginning, he said, "Relax, and let me do the worrying."  He obviously doesn't know me that well.  I can not function if I am not worrying.  Actually, the worrying caught up with me.  I needed a plan.  Once I understand the process, and get a loose time line of events while our family is displaced, my ability to handle the details will increase.

Woke up before five yesterday, and by 6:30 a.m., I had a typed flow chart.  Who types flow charts? A more anal person than the friend who hand wrote it for me just two days ago.  (That particular flow chart explained the process from the insurance claim,  to the payment break down.)  One wouldn't think that would be too complex, however, my brain can't figure out how to turn on a light switch at this point.

So, where did this start?  Well, I have been wanting to concrete stain my downstairs for about a year.  Finally, my husband gave in after I got a ridiculously low quote from a friend.  How could we not?  Replace our badly damaged laminate hardwoods and linoleum that covers our entire bottom level of the house, have a child/pet safe flooring that will increase the value of our home, and calm the twitch that is caused by me seeing the damaged flooring.  The friend lined up a helper, and they began by ripping up the flooring this past week.  We left the house for a few hours that morning, and when we came back, we learned that there was mold growing under the flooring.  That's not good.  By the end of the afternoon, we had to call in the insurance agent.  Within that hour, we had an insurance agent, the guys working on the floor, as well as a restoration/mitigation man out to inspect the issue.  We formed a plan, and by 11: p.m., we had the kids in bed, and hot water turned back on for a shower.

Day two turned into setting up the equipment in the house to dry out and clean the air/walls, etc.  I was showing signs of anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviors.  Hanging out in the house became less of an option.  We had not found the cause to the mold, and that was eating away at all of us.  All of us except, the most important part of the team at that point- the mitigation/restoration company.  The neighbors got involved more heavily, and by the grace of G-d, found our source!  Mitigation/restoration guy was fired within hours, and then, new company managed to make it out to our home at the same time that the environmentalist was completing his part.  Arguing with the fired company is playing out in my head as I type.  I am grateful for the gatekeeper at my lips, and the speaker phone capabilities so that I had witnesses to the ridiculous and unprofessional convo that ensued.

Days into it, and being out of our home for half a week now, I have found a happy place by fully understanding the process, knowing the players involved in the process, and sitting miles away in a home that is not mold harboring or have a leak in the wall.

Home Restoration Plan

1. Serv Pro begins removal of mold area in wall (up to two days) Beginning on Monday, June 10^th.
2. Plumber comes in to fix leak (an hour)
3. Serv Pro continues to resolve (dry out?) area (unsure of timing) and duct clean
4. Wall fix (sheet rock and insulation?) (one day or less?)
5. Living room gets repainted (one day)
6. Floor Staining (up to a week or two due to work schedule)

*Duct cleaning might take two days out of home due to residual smell (Burned our eyes and throats last time we cleaned our duct work.)

Move back into home after step three?

The source of our mold is in between the walls where our condensation line run from the attic to the downstairs.  This must have been leaking for years.  

Addendum- Okay, this was typed yesterday very early yesterday morning.   I just found that I didn't proof or submit yet.  Well, after typing this, I went to the grocery store, and I learn that my husband went to shower while I was out, and there is a problem with the guest room shower at my parents' home, and viola'- a flood coming to the main living area.  It there hadn't been tile, it might have gone down to the basement area.  Then, when I went home to after we went swimming in the afternoon, I realized my toilet was running.  Plumbing hates us.