Green Home Solutions

It was in the middle of an expensive, exclusive neighborhood. The client came to the door dressed in a name brand label business suit that looked just as you would expect a successful professional living the American Dream to wear. His doctor tested his blood and told him that it appears (clean, expensive house or not) that he had a mold exposure.... Neither him or his wife believed they had mold in the home. They did know that there was something making him sick..which was why he went to the doctor. The picture above is the visible mold during the mold survey or assessment. Testing revealed that it was Stachybotrys, also known as Toxic Black Mold and was hidden in the space behind the furnace and hot water tank. You can see from the picture, it was visibleif you crawled back behind the hot water tank. The problem was nobody had looked in that area. Because the mold was near the forced air furnace, the ductwork at the furnace pulled the mold spores, endotoxins and mycotoxins into the ductwork and then through the house. Air tests showed mold spread to the master bedroom and exercise rooms. His medical practitioner believed that mold remediation was needed in this home for the health of the homeowner. http://www.greenhomesolutions.com//www.green/metro-atlanta

Understanding the Fear of Mold is the Key to Selling a Home with Mold By James Meade February 03, 2017 Mold problems can be a big expense and huge barrier to selling and buying a home. That barrier is both financial and emotional. It is fraught with opportunity for problems and anxiety fueled by appropriate fears. The Seller’s Fears:... The seller may not trust the testing of the inspector. There is a legitimate fear that inspectors may not understand proper testing procedures or the actual meaning of the test results. There is also a chance that an inspector is creating a serious problem out of a minor issue to cover their back side. That can and does happen, especially when an inspector lacks proper training and is worried about being sued. There is also the concern that the buyer may be influencing or exaggerating the problem for leverage in negotiating price on a home purchase. The Buyers Fears: The buyer has a concern that a seller may not have a problem properly corrected to avoid the expense of doing needed remediation. We all understand that a remediation contractor with a low bid could shortcut the job. There is also the issue of finding a remediator that is skilled, and verifying that the work is done properly. The Real Estate Professional’s Fears: The Realtor does not want a house purchase to fall through. They are deeply concerned and do not want problems with the house that lead to unhappy, sick people or litigious buyers. They need a solution to the problem that keeps everything on track and is a fair solution both long and short term for all parties. Real Estate is a referral business. Information.accurate, unbiased, plain language information is the solution to fear, WHATEVER the source of fear. That is what you deserve and should demand from the professionals you are working with to identify and if needed to resolve a mold contamination. http://www.greenhomesolutions.com//understanding-the-fear/

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Conquering The "Found Mold in My House for Sale" Curse By James Meade February 01, 2017 Let’s stick to talking about the house for sale. The seller is often unaware of a mold problem. These can gradually evolve over time and just not be noticed. Most of us do not observe how much our hair is growing today. However, we know that our hair grows because it gets longer over time. In that same vein, sometimes the seller never saw mold growing. In some instances, they ma...y not have even lived in the home. It is also often the case that the seller doesn’t believe that mold is a health issue or never understood that fuzzy dirt was mold and a problem to consider. Then comes along a home inspector or observant buyer and mold is now an issue and BIG potential expense. Back to the mold ownership issue. The seller owns the mold until the moment of closing. What that means to the seller is that if they pay to clean up or resolve the mold issue, they are taking money from their pocket and spending it on what will soon be somebody else’s house and problem. On the other hand, the buyer assumes mold ownership, health risk and expenses of mold at that closing. You would probably not be surprised to hear sellers say what was good enough for me should be good enough for the buyer. Mold, roofs, wiring problems, sewer backups and more all fall into that basket of fix-ups a seller doesn’t want to do. By the way, we can all understand that sentiment. If you are like most of us, you don’t want to spend money on a long list of things. Fixing up a house that you are selling is near the top of that list. The problem is that there is what we want and what we must do and they are often very different matters. The buyer is in the position that he doesn’t want to buy a moldy home and be faced which a choice like: pay for mold remediation, or have a child develop Asthma. A buyer has both their own pocketbook and families’ health at stake. Mold problems can be a big expense and huge barrier to selling and buying a home. That barrier is both financial and emotional. It is fraught with opportunity for problems and anxiety fueled by appropriate fears. We know that it is best to work with all parties to identify and resolve problems. We have had great success in providing accurate pre-testing when appropriate and providing recommendations leading to the best remediation solution at the most reasonable cost in the shortest time that an effective job can be completed. That is a mouthful.but it is also who we are! http://www.greenhomesolutions.com//www.green/metro-atlanta

Parents Are Horrified After Finding Mold In Their Babies’ Sophie The Giraffe Toys Is your infant sucking on mold? posted on Jan. 17, 2017, at 11:35 a.m. Sophie the Giraffe is a popular baby teether that has exploded in popularity over the past few years. In fact, its use by celebrities like Kim Kardashian West led the Los Angeles Times to label it a status teether.... However, a lot of horrified parents are saying that they’ve cut open the beloved giraffe and found it full of black mold. Read more.... https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/moldy-sophie

Surprise! The dream house, your apartment or your place of work have mold! What Next? By James Meade January 30, 2017 Who is the lucky person that owns that mold? This is not as silly a question as it may seem. Really what we are talking about is who is the responsible party to correct mold problems and what happens when that person is not the person affected by the mold?...Continue reading

Avoiding Your Home Being the Source of a Local Glacier By James Meade January 18, 2017 It was this time of year more than 20 years ago. I saw an amazing site out of the corner of my eye. It was a house for sale in a beautiful rural area. It was a FRIGID COLD day. It was ‘wrap your scarf tight and tuck it in under your coat collar and wear a hat even though it would give you hat air at an important meeting type of COLD....Continue reading