I bought a two story condo a year and half ago and turns out it was riddled with mold all throughout the second floor due to an architectural defect from the very beginning of the building 30 years ago. The association just kept ‘patching’ and replacing the roof over and over hoping the leaks would go away (insane) I was lied to by the sellers and association. Non of this was disclosed to me. The sellers painted the whole second floor with a fresh coat of mold resistant paint so no one could see anything. It’s true that once you see it on the walls that’s only the very tip of the iceberg and it’s likely much much worse inside the walls. I was also a naive first time home buyer on my own and didn’t pay for the extra mold inspection. I learned my lesson. I consulted several lawyers and they all came to the same conclusion. The sellers would file for bankruptcy and you’ll get no resolution and spend thousands in legal fees. So I threatened to make holy hell rain upon the association in a last ditch effort and finally after three months they relented and a forensic architect was brought in to diagnose and fix the cause of the leaks and decades of mold was remediated. Btw borax and hydrogen peroxide are great options for killing mold. It took an additional three months for them to remediate and rebuild the second floor. They also found a major support beam that was rotted out and needed to be replaced to keep the integrity of the structure. One month later I found that one of my subground walls downstairs in the living room was covered in black mold when I moved a piece of furniture. Turns out this wall was never sealed to code considering half of it is underground. The association fixed the drainage outside the wall to direct water away and replaced the drywall but still waiting for them to properly address this issue. The mold will only return until the outside of the wall underground is dug up and covered in a water proof barrier. It has been an absolute nightmare for me. I cry myself to sleep often. I have no way of selling this place and getting even close to what I owe on it. Also we are all under heavy special assessments now because it was discovered after working on my unit it was at the very brink of being uninhabitable. All units in this building have had the same leakage problems and now all have to be fixed and remediated. I am trying to make the best of it and hope that someday I will be relieved of this nightmare. Attached is my downstairs subground wall when I noticed the mold.

mousemaker, I have mentioned that place here before. Duluth Trading Company. Their clothes aren't cheap but they have 'longtail tees' to deal with Plumbers's Crack, they have some clothes that will take abuse, I'm trying to kill a pair of their Firehose workpants right now... and they have been surviving. They have a gift pail of a longtail tee packaged in a drywall mud bucket labeled 'crack spackle' ... that has been a great thing I've bought for others in the past. And the 'Larry' light... I've bought several of those BEFORE they started carrying them; they are great. Ann Meyers, we have one of each persuasion both for which way to hang the roll and which way the seat's supposed to be. With two bathrooms working again, he has his and I have mine, and we each put the seat according to which one we use (his it gets put up if I use it, mine gets put DOWN if he uses it) and can hang the paper the way we want in ours (I'm over he's under) Putting the little hotel maid point on the end of the roll just to tweak the other one has been declared 'out of bounds' And I have almost a decade on you in that... sigh. My Suffering Better Half has been allowed to hobble about and stitches out, and did laundry today. I'm loving the bin arrangement to the new butler pantry/laundry area; from the master bath one can toss the clothes right into bins on the other side of the wall... next to the stacked washer/dryer. I built the riser and put in heavy drawer glides, and the soap and such all stores underneath the dryer. I had the glides (long story but free) so I saved a lot that way and I could park a semi on that riser. He wants to paint bullseyes on the hinged flaps when I install them, I don't think that's a good design accent in the room....

I have been following this and like the comments even though it got off the subject for awhile. Just have to stick my nose I one last time. It's about bugs and pesticides not Monsanto crops. Some years ago I read that bees are declining. I keep seeing others posting here but not educating as to how serious it really is. They are dying at a fast rate! The artical i came across states that global warming is nothing compaired to the scope of what will happen to mankind if the bees die off. Here I build an Eco friendly home and should have built bee hives to help save the world.LOL Fact is. Pesticides kill bees! Pesticides plain kill. That is the job they were made to do. No bees no more food unless we all go pollinate with our fingers and paint brushes. Something I have to personally do and I have bees lots of them. Bees pollinate our fruits ,veggies, grains etc... We all learned as children. GMO or not we need those bees! Spraying pesticides kills the bees faster! Really fast it seems these days. Natural selection people. West Nile might kill some of us. I am coming up so going to test my hide out next week been awhile. I have had dengue 2xs and still healthy as a horse. It hurts like being hit by a truck but most will live and go on. Next time it might kill me? Natural selection I guess will dictate my lifespan. I get Mosquitos bites every day. At this moment well I poke this out on my smart ph. My sons legs are covered in bites. I have citronella planted everywhere. Grease the kid up in skin so soft that cost 9 bucks a fill. No standing water anywhere. They exist. They are our preditors in a way. Only so much I can do really. My dog has torselo or bot fly larva developing from yes mosquito bites. Under control now I better mention. I have had these same maggots in me from ya mosquito bites. It happens its can be taken care of. Your number is up its up! Nothing you can do about it. Spraying isn't going to help. These pesticides we ingest are not what will be killing us in 20 years because if you kill your bees at the rate we have been we all get to starve together. Fact is a fact We are over populated Nature has decided to thin us out. West Nile ,dengue fever ,yellow fever ,new twisted flues ,aids etc... Who would have guessed this west Nile would have spred so fast? Global warming is nothing GMO foods is crap , but I'm sure that loaf of white bread i bought is made of it. That can of tuna I bought might be toxic radiation? Spraying is going to only speed up something that is out of hand. Sorry for being so blunt Ignorance is the problem. Over population is a problem. Big $ in chem co is a problem. GM bugs Hell ya might slow it down. Read this link below It's worth the time and very informative http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder Really there are alternatives. There have been some great examples and tips above on how to keep them down and how not to get bit by the most dangerous animal on earth. Give blood and SAVE THE BEES please.

I am hosting a very special Thanksgiving. My parents are both ill; my Father has cancer and my Mother has Alzheimers. I have moved them in with me. This summer my Dad was hospitalized 6 times and almost died in ICU. I live in the south and they are from the north so this will be the first Thanksgiving they will have with us and their grandchildren. We have a lot to thank God for...Dad's cancer is in remission and he is doing great, Mom has begun to adjust to the change in environment and my daughter is pregnant with our first grandchild and their first great grandchild! 8). God is so good! Oh yeah, dinner will be traditional turkey and the "fixins". Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!!