Mold Nightmares in New Construction

Imagine you've just paid a deposit on your dream home—a brand new construction that should be perfect in every way. Now imagine the horror of discovering "mold curtains" hanging like Spanish moss in your basement before you've even moved in. This nightmarish scenario is exactly what happened to recent clients who reached out to Environmental Consultants of Ohio.

In this eye-opening conversation, Jim and Laura pull back the curtain on the shocking reality that new doesn't always mean clean or healthy when it comes to home construction. They walk us through the disturbing case of a newly built home with significant mold problems stemming from standing water, an unplugged sump pump, and prematurely activated HVAC systems that distributed mold spores throughout the entire structure.

The discussion dives deep into the science of mycotoxins—the chemical warfare agents molds produce when competing with each other or when threatened during improper remediation attempts. Laura shares cutting-edge research on genetic susceptibility to mold illness and explains why individuals with conditions like muscular dystrophy or autism may face heightened risks from mold exposure. The hosts don't hold back when discussing the frustrating builder-buyer power dynamics that can leave new homeowners with little control over how remediation is handled before closing.

For anyone building, buying, or selling a home, this conversation offers invaluable preventative tips, including pre-treating lumber with antifungal solutions and DIY approaches for those whose builders won't take these precautions. Whether you're in the market for a new home or working in construction, this episode delivers essential knowledge about mold prevention that could save you from costly remediation and serious health issues down the road. Subscribe to hear the follow-up episode with testing results from this disturbing case study, and learn why professional inspection is crucial—even for brand new construction.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro: Perfect New Homes Aren't Always Perfect
• 2:15 Mold Curtains in a Brand New House
• 5:20 Builder vs. Buyer: Remediation Disputes
• 7:45 Mycotoxins: Chemical Warfare Between Molds
• 11:50 Testing and Health Concerns for Sensitized People
• 14:13 Prevention Tips for New Home Builds
• 17:00 Episode Wrap-Up and Next Steps

Transcript

Intro: Perfect New Homes Aren't Always Perfect

Speaker 1 0:00

Habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in Ohio. Trusted licensed home inspectors for your needs from radon to mold to warranties, for a great home inspection, you really can't go wrong. Visit homeinspectionsinohiocom.

Speaker 2 0:26

I don't know.

Speaker 3 0:27

Hey everybody, welcome to the Stand Out Ohio podcast. Jim and Laura here. Laura's looking confused. She thought we're done. Yes.

Speaker 2 0:33

I did.

Speaker 3 0:34

We're doing one more so when you hear a brand new house, what do you think that condition of the house is going to be?

Speaker 2 0:46

perfect. Everything immaculate, everything spotless. No messed up paint. No messed up joists.

Speaker 3 0:53

Everything, no mold nope, no, it should be perfect. Should be perfect because you got county city guys checking this thing out.

Speaker 2 1:00

Depending where you're at, sometimes there are no county guys working yeah, there are a couple of counties in ohio that do not have people that come in and look at houses, vincent county being one of them so we got a call, or maybe I should say you.

Speaker 3 1:13

You got a call from, I think she called environmental consultants of ohio yeah, she did.

Speaker 2 1:19

She called environmental consultants.

Speaker 3 1:20

She found me online which the company laura started. That does primarily uh indoor air quality testing. So you look for environmental testing mold uh vocs microtoxins formaldehyde microtoxins any any indoor air quality test you got somebody who's getting sick in the house and they want to know why. Call laura environmental consultants of ohio and we can run some tests and narrow down what's going on yep, narrow down and then actually help. You know how to take care of the situation, but you need to know what it is first.

Mold Curtains in a Brand New House

Speaker 2 1:57

So anyway, so I got a call, so go ahead, and they are building a house and I will not say who the builder is, and she sent me pictures of mold curtains that were in her basement.

Speaker 3 2:15

Okay, wait, wait, mold and curtains are kind of like a weird description. So what did that look like? I saw it. But what for the listeners? For the listeners, you know. What did that look like? I saw it, but what for for the listeners?

Speaker 2 2:25

for the listeners um. You know what spanish moss looks like, how it dangles from the trees yeah, down florida and georgia that's how the mold curtains look, not quite as big as the spanish moss but very similar in the style where it was dangling down.

Speaker 3 2:39

Where was that located? In the house it?

Speaker 2 2:40

was in the basement underneath this. Well, in underneath the stairs was a big spot, and then there are some other areas down in the basement that were having issues.

Speaker 3 2:49

All right, so we know mold. Well, there are no mold free spaces right. Not naturally occurring.

Speaker 2 3:01

And, unlike what they say in Clark County, there's a story behind that one but anyway, there are no naturally occurred uh, naturally occurring mold free spaces.

Speaker 3 3:17

So you no bill's gonna have a thing that's completely no mold sport floating around, right?

Speaker 2 3:22

because you're gonna walk in and out, you You're going to have mold attached to you, to your shoes, to whatever.

Speaker 3 3:28

Just wafting into the wind, the windows, but when the builder or somebody subcontractor, doesn't matter who has standing water in there and they don't dry it out and they unplug the sump pump.

Speaker 2 3:49

And then they turn on the HVAC and let it blow through the whole freaking house.

Speaker 3 3:54

Which is gonna, as their spores floating about, is gonna distribute them throughout the entire house? Yes, it's on the builder.

Speaker 2 4:02

Yes.

Speaker 3 4:03

Has some issues. So we went out there. We're out there with another of the mold company mold remediation companies just because they the couple buying the house paid you to go out there and consult with them, because they needed information on how to help deal with this. Because you can do just consulting for people.

Speaker 2 4:26

Yeah.

Speaker 3 4:26

And you can also write the protocol.

Speaker 2 4:28

Yes.

Speaker 3 4:29

For mold remediation companies to follow, or you can just verify and make sure they are doing things properly. The builder did not want to use the mold remediation company that the buyers used Wanted.

Speaker 2 4:46

Their excuse for that.

Speaker 3 4:47

Because they had their own company, they had their own company.

Builder vs. Buyer: Remediation Disputes

Speaker 2 4:50

That apparently sucks, because I didn't like their remediation protocol at all. But not only that, but they said that this couple doesn't own the house yet, in spite of the fact that they put $33,000 deposit down on it. They don't own the house yet and so they had no say in. Who did the remediation? So this company comes in in. Who did the remediation? So this company comes in. This company does this remediation. So now we may potentially be going back out Sunday to do testing. Apparently they're going to be working in it Saturday up until seven o'clock at night, so we would be able to go in Sunday sometime during the afternoon and test. I also would like to test for mycotoxins because I'm curious to see if they killed the mold prior to actually trying to remediate, because if not, then they've just created a whole other issue yes, in this house.

Speaker 3 5:41

After they treated it, did the, the client, the buyer sent me more pictures of mold so, so there's, so are there, still there, there. There's new growth, or is this the old stuff still there?

Speaker 2 5:52

I think-.

Speaker 3 5:52

Or it could be a little bit of both.

Speaker 2 5:54

I think it's a little bit of both. Let me see.

Speaker 3 5:58

So it makes me Because.

Speaker 2 5:59

I'm actually. She's actually texting me as we're doing this.

Speaker 3 6:01

Oh, she is Interesting.

Speaker 2 6:03

So see the walls on the basement. I don't think that was like that when we were down there.

Speaker 3 6:09

No, I do not remember seeing that.

Speaker 2 6:12

Yeah, I think it's new.

Speaker 3 6:14

I can't tell if that's a new spot or not.

Speaker 2 6:16

I think that wall is a new spot. I don't remember seeing the brick look that bad.

Speaker 3 6:22

So all right. This definitely shows that not all remediation companies do things correctly, as they should.

Speaker 2 6:36

So here's the thing about it Mold testing, mold remediation and the knowledge of mycotoxins. And dealing with people that are sensitized is like changing on a weekly basis. Like I'm I I've got stuff sent to me from normie weekly that I could be in in different meetings on, so like the last couple weeks I've been on one. There's a gentleman who is um. He's been doing research on mold and genetics for like years.

Mycotoxins: Chemical Warfare Between Molds

Speaker 2 7:11

At this point, Apparently, there's a specific gene that if you have this gene activated, you're going to be more sensitive to mold. So like he's been doing studies like that and so now he's working with Normie to help them learn about um, like how to help take care of people that are sensitized. So instead of just going in and doing like a typical mold remediation, like they have been, you know you come in, you do your testing. After that, everything's fine, there's no mold, but people are still getting sick and they're getting sicker and sicker Because what happened is that instead of killing the mold before they touched it or before they tried to get of it, they just tried to get rid of it and mold is going to protect itself if it thinks that it's being damaged. It's going to release mycotoxins. So what ends up happening is you've got all these mycotoxins floating around in the air now and they're going to make you sick, like they're actually used by the department of defense as a chemical warfare against other countries supposedly they use them supposedly or they don't use them, or we

Speaker 4 8:15

don't, we don't know, that's.

Speaker 2 8:18

That's my guess, based upon stuff that I've heard aflatoxin is so all right.

Speaker 3 8:22

So, uh, mycotoxins basically it's chemical warfare that molds produce to kill off, defend against other fungus or whatever's around.

Speaker 2 8:36

But it's against other molds mainly.

Speaker 3 8:37

I believe Not, that they really think this out.

Speaker 2 8:40

So yeah, if you've got more than one mold type in an environment, you've got mycotoxins. It's almost guaranteed, because they're going to be competing against each other for that space.

Speaker 3 8:51

they each want to be the one that survives as opposed to right up against each other right so like yeah, so like if you do a swab and the swab comes back with two different types of mold.

Speaker 2 9:01

Nine times out of ten you're you're gonna have mycotoxins would maybe low levels. All depends how much how long it's been what's been on?

Speaker 3 9:09

Did somebody try wiping that mold off before and didn't kill it? And now it's like, hey, I'm really being physically harmed here. I need to produce more mycotoxins.

Speaker 2 9:18

I've got to do more of this. I've got to step up my protection. I've got to step up my game.

Speaker 3 9:22

So, and unfortunately, there's a lot of mold mutilation companies that do not want to deal with mycotoxins, or even pretend that they know what it is.

Speaker 2 9:33

Or even deal with sensitized people. I called one company and the guy told me that he doesn't want to deal with people that are sensitized because they're crazy, and he's like I can't get to where they're happy. He's like I just don't even deal with them. He walks.

Speaker 3 9:48

There are some people like that. We talked to somebody like a week or so ago, who does not want to listen to proper testing protocols, what they are, and there's nothing we could do to change her mind for that lady. I think she wants to have a problem with the house and move out instead of fixing her issue.

Speaker 2 10:11

That's a different lady than the one. We started off talking with that lady actually knew there was mold in a specific area and has not had it remediated in a month.

Speaker 3 10:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2 10:22

Which you know if you're sick and you're saying that it's mold.

Speaker 3 10:25

Again, I do not want to deal with her. I'm like listen, if you really want to be healthy and take care of your house, you would have taken care of this in the first place and you would listen to us with the protocol instead of doing that bullshit. Test that you're listening to that we've told you is bullshit. We've told you, a doctor has told you that, and you just don't want to listen.

Speaker 2 10:44

Right.

Speaker 3 10:45

We can't help you.

Speaker 2 10:46

Nope right, we can't help you. Nope well, and I guarantee you her husband didn't tell her anything about my conversation with the microbiologist because I'm I'm sure at that point she would have just gone off on him based on her reaction to us. Like I, I tried explaining very nicely about that test and she just shut down I don't believe in it, I don't believe in this, I don't. But okay, that's, that's your prerogative and I'm walking.

Speaker 3 11:11

Yeah, we're not gonna waste, we're not gonna waste our time with it if you don't listen, we can't. It's like a doctor, a patient goes in doctor. Hey, I got, I got, I broke my arm and they don't want to put once. You put a splint on it and I want to repair my like. You're not gonna listen, just just go, you're wasting time. Somebody else, somebody else value, who was actual listening, can be in there instead.

Testing and Health Concerns for Sensitized People

Speaker 2 11:34

So, yeah, this, this couple that we're doing the testing the new build, the new build brand like not even lived in yet, like it's not even finished being built yet and they're having these problems. So we'll probably go in sunday, we'll do the testing and then we'll do a follow-up episode to talk about what we found, because I'm also doing mycotoxin testing for her.

Speaker 3 11:56

Oh, good Okay.

Speaker 2 11:57

So I figure I'll see what I can come up with.

Speaker 3 12:01

And this person. They have a child, that is.

Speaker 2 12:05

So they have a form of muscular dystrophy. I think it was muscular dystrophy, I don't know.

Speaker 3 12:10

There's some kind of health issue with the kid, yeah, which means mold is going to affect them more. We know there are studies that show mold do affect kids with autism as well.

Speaker 2 12:24

Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 12:27

So we'll see, we'll go there Sunday, we'll do the test, so we'll have a follow-up podcast on that, but yeah, Muscular dystrophy Okay. So even new houses should get inspected, and I don't know why. If you are a home builder and you're listening to this dude, I would totally upsell my clients with hey, if you want, I will do a pretreatment to kill molds to kill molds and on all of your like trusses, all of the wood that sits outside, all of the wood inside and and just upsell.

Speaker 3 13:08

That here's how I would do. I say, once we get this in and you could offer it for free. Of course you're probably gonna bill for it somewhere in the whole process, but you can offer as an upsell. You know, hey, we will fog. Then, once the framing's on, as weathered in, we will fog it with, uh, an antifungal to kill all the the molds that that are around. That is not a hard thing to do, it's really not.

Speaker 2 13:35

You and I could go around fogging new houses oh, I would be happy to do that, would you really? I?

Speaker 3 13:41

don't know if I'd want to do that, but anyway. But we could. It's not hard to do. We actually have the equipment to do that. But if I was a builder dude I would totally do that, because all the other competition are putting their heads in the sand and not listen to things.

Prevention Tips for New Home Builds

Speaker 2 13:55

Well, and part of all of those classes that I'm starting to do with Normie one. So like they're looking at like universities, they're looking at new builds, they're looking at a bunch of other institutions and things where they're starting to try to change how it happens. So, like new builds, like I know down south they're trying to work really hard with builders to have them pre treat things so that the wood doesn't get moldy. They're trying to have like different building processes. Like there's a book that the one guy wrote building a mold free house, and so like some of the things they're talking about now, you know, like different ways to do the attic, different ways to do this, different ways to do that to cut down on the possibility of mold in the house for people.

Speaker 3 14:47

Oh, you're talking about the fully insulated attic spaces or ventless attic spaces.

Speaker 2 14:52

Ventless attic spaces and some of that other stuff.

Speaker 3 14:55

I'm not 100% sold on those because there's some, even if they're done correctly. There can be issues down the road with that, but if you're buying a new build or having a new house built, I would. Here's what I did in our house.

Speaker 2 15:10

Yeah.

Speaker 3 15:10

Now, I did not have to sneak in because we owned everything here as it was being built. We owned it already.

Speaker 2 15:18

And we were here every week built we.

Speaker 3 15:23

we owned it already and we were here every week because I came in and I pre-treated everything that was, uh, I don't know, the lower two feet yeah onto the slab with uh was it borate? Oh, what did I do? Boric boric acid bor here Boric acid Borate.

Speaker 2 15:39

No, Timbor Tim yes.

Speaker 3 15:41

Timbor was borate to help prevent wood-destroying insects. Yes, so that's all been treated. I also put diatomaceous earth inside between the studs and behind where the kitchen cabinet. The kitchen cabinets were in.

Speaker 1 15:56

I put the top on.

Speaker 3 15:57

I sprinkled the diatomaceous earth behind there. That will kill insects right.

Speaker 2 16:03

What it does is it cuts their exoskeleton and they end up dehydrating and die.

Speaker 3 16:06

Yes, so I pre-treated the house for a couple of different things. But, man, if I was building a house and builder wouldn't do that, I would totally sneak in and do it myself, at least the borate. Yeah, a 10 bore you you can do that by yourself.

Speaker 2 16:25

You can read the instructions on the on the tub of it it's really easy you mix it with water and you spray it and you call it good, like it's not difficult to follow the instructions.

Speaker 3 16:34

Follow the instructions of course, but uh, no, I would totally do that.

Speaker 2 16:39

But anyway, that's about it always get it inspected and if you can have it inspected by habitation investigation and if you need environmental testing done, let us know, because we can do that too, and we'll come back with the second part on this when we get the testing results back yes, all right, bye-bye. Bye.

Speaker 4 17:01

You've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast. Be sure to subscribe on Spotify or Google podcasts to get new, fresh episodes. For more, please follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or visit the website of the best Ohio Home Inspection Company at homeinspectionsinohiocom or jimtroffcom. That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H and click on podcast. Until next time, learn and go do stuff.