How do you know if it's mold?!?
Question:I live in an apartment. Because I've lived here for awhile, this apartment has not been redone. Since it was built in the 70s(yiikes, I know). Well the window panes are wood. One of them rotted so bad that I watched my boyfriend's son pull it down to shut it and it broke. So now it doesn't close right and there is stuff on the window...i've scrubbed and scrubbed and I can't get it off. The wood is like spongey now. From the rain and everything. I've told the landlord many times about it, but he hasn't done anything yet. Is it mold or what? Any ideas what to do until it gets fixed?
Answers:
I've worked around black mold since I was 17.
Never knew it was 'dangerous', until the Houston problem occurred 10 years ago.
Then come Katrina.
At least one guy got on tv and tried to calm the people down about mold.
What he said was right. 'If is enough to where you smell the smell of death, the mold is a problem'.
I'm not here to downplay anything, but chances are, you're ok.
You have a sorry window frame that needs to be repaired/replaced, but as far as mold, you really should be ok.
you can put clear plastic over the windows. or try cleaning the mold with paint thinner.
its prolly mold and it does need to be fixed ur landlord needs to fix it if thats what ur lease says..
Black mold is very dangerous, it can make you sick. Black mold feels greasy when you touch it. http:/blackmoldtestkit.com/
It sounds like dry rot. I'm not a professional, I watch TLC and Discovery and watch them redo homes, you sound like you have dry rot.
That wood is no longer good because of the exposure it has had to the elements. You need to tear it down and re do the frames of your windows at the least, if a home inspector sees the interior of the frames, then the landlord is doomed..(and I would say its about time, the landlords have been raising rents for some time now and its about time they actually improved SOMETHING.)
From what you have described it does sound like it is mold. The only thing I could suggest is to scrub it with bleach, it might not make the color go away however it might make it a little more safe until it is fixed. As far as your landlord goes I would suggest to start documenting the date and times you have requested to have this fixed, by law they are required to make any repairs once notified, I would suggest sending a certified letter to the landlord requesting to have this repaired. The purpose of the certified letter is verify that they have received the letter you sent and you have your own documentation that the request has been made. You might want to check with your local laws regarding landlord tenet's rights to see how long they have to repair something once it has been requested or even check your rental agreement.
If the landlord won't fix it then tell him that you are going to have it fixed for him, but first send him a certified letter with pictures requesting him to repair the window. By doing it this way he can not deny that he was informed that the window is in need of repair and that you are asking for it to be fixed. If he doesn't take care of the window then send him one more certified letter requesting the window be fixed, meaning a new window be put in. If that doesn't work and he won't fix it then you can go to the next step below. Make sure that you keep the receipts showing that he received the certified letters that you sent to him. I will serve as evidence should you end up in small claims court.
The window sounds as though it is just very wet and also dry rotted, it may appear to be moldy because it is so soaked with water. It may also have some mold on the frame, since I have not seen it I don't know that for sure. I sounds a though it is just so wet and that is why it is so dark.
Tell him via certified letter that you are going to use some of your rent money to have a new window put in, and make sure that when you do it that you provide him with a receipt showing the cost for the new window. Let him know that you have kept copies of the pictures and of the receipt for the cost of replacing the window. Also let him know that you have copies of the letters to him as well as the receipts showing that he received your letters requesting the window be replaced.
Make sure that you keep a copy of the letter to him as well as a copy of the receipt for the window repair, just in case he wants to get ugly and try to take you to small claims court. You will have all the proof that you will need to show the judge that you attempted to have the window fixed by them, but that they didn't do any thing. So you had the work done your self, and you have all the proof of every thing that you did to fix the situation. The landlord will lose in court, since you have a right to have repairs done in a timely fashon. You will have the proof the you had the window replaced and paid for it from some of the rent money.
Landlords are responsible to have repairs done in a timely fashon, especially when it could cause you to either become robbed or hurt because the window is bad. Or maybe your family wil become sick because there may be mold. If they do not do the repairs then under the law you have certain rights to have the repair done by using some of your rent money to do the repairs your self.
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