So our wonderful friend Dave volunteered to come over today and help us. We knew we wanted to redo our bathroom anyway, so he said we could get the demo done today and start working on it, and address the leak. So he came and we measured everything and made a wonderful trip to Home Depot, where we bought the fixings for our entire bathroom. Almost every single thing we need for it to be all new and beautiful. It was so fun picking everything out, and we spent the $800 in Home Depot gift cards that we got for our wedding. So we get home and Dave and Rick start demo-ing and pulling everything out and once they started pulling the paneling off, we knew we were in trouble. We only pulled one of four walls off. It is the wall that is back to back with our kitchen wall. I don't know how to describe the mold we found to you. All of the wood is soaking wet and there is mold from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. It's black mold, white spidery mold and lots of water. There is definitely a leak from the shower piping, but there is very obviously another leak somewhere else that has caused all this water damage and mold. I immediately called our Home Owners Insurance and made a claim, but they won't even be able to have someone call us back til tomorrow. There is no way we can stay in our house they way it is. There was even a ginormous slug back there. I'm beginning to wonder if Penny's itchy allergies are caused from this, and Rick has bad eczema on his face that he never had before. I'm wondering if its all mold related. So tonight we'll go stay with my parents and wait and see what the adjuster says. Please keep your fingers crossed that our insurance will cover this for us. I honestly have no idea what to do if it doesn't. We can't afford to do all this repair and make everything safe, then do all the remodeling on top of it. I'll let you know all know what happens.
In other bizarre news, last night Rick and I were downtown and walking back to our parking garage around 12:30 or so and we saw a man and a woman fighting (just inside the garage) and we saw him hit her. She ran away from him, and started walking up the garage, and he and another guy followed her. So we went the opposite way and got in my car and watched her get in a car. Rick called the non-emergency number to report what we saw, including the license plate number, when one of the guys opened the door and physically pulled her out of the car and onto the ground. One guy had her pinned on the ground and the car sped off really fast. The guy helped her up at that point and she (without shoes on!) started running up the garage. I have no idea what on earth was going on, but it freaked me out! I didn't know what he was going to do to her, and it was obvious she was extremely drunk and without shoes on a 35 degree night! So we drove up the parking garage and found him trying to collect her, but she wouldn't calm down. As soon as I asked her if she was ok (she was bawling) the guy took off and left us to deal with her. So I made her get in my car to warm up. She didn't have any cash or a credit card or shoes for that matter, so she couldn't walk anywhere or take a cab without money. She lived in Lake Oswego and kept saying her 2 kids were home with a babysitter and she was staying with her mom, and didn't know anyone here so she didn't have friends to call. I wasn't about to drive her to Lake Oswego, or pay for her cab, so we waited for the cops to show up and take care of her. We spent about an hour with her, and she was really upset, as she should have been. The guy hit her in the face and she told me that he was her baby's Daddy and his name was "Twisted". Unbelievable right? By the end of the hour she still hadn't calmed down and even though I felt bad that her kids were home with a sitter, I couldn't wait anymore and I didn't care anymore if they wanted to throw her in the drunk tank. Thank goodness the police took over, because I couldn't leave her alone outside shoeless. I was glad I did something, because you know no one else would have. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I heard later there had been a rape or a murder in our garage. I'm glad I did something.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on what happens here with our house. Wish us luck!
Update: I uploaded the pics to a windows live photo album. You can view the damage here. Hopefully, we'll hear some good news from the insurance adjuster tomorrow. Lauren will be sure to keep everyone updated. -Rick
6 comments:
Holy crap! That mold is horrible! I've never seen white mold like that, that's really weird. I hope your insurance covers it! And thank goodness you have somewhere to stay.
ps. I hope that if I'm ever downtown with no shoes and drunk and fighting with two men that I run into the Enochs'! You're such good samaritans! ;-)
Isn't it disgusting? I think maybe that white mold that sort of looks like coral maybe is fungus and not mold? We're hoping we won't have to stay in Damascus for long, its such a long commute for us. Hopefully insurance will pay for a hotel!
Oh my gosh, that story about the fight downtown is horrible! Makes you feel pretty lucky to have such a nice life huh! Unreal!
Jenica
Ugh that is so yucky!! I am glad you guys got out of there :(
Yikes... those pictures make my skin crawl!
Mold exposure can cause a large number of health problems ranging from itchy eyes, sneezing and coughing which will irritate allergic reactions, asthma attacks and even lung damage. Many people are unaware of the many side effects that mold can cause on the human body and are living day to day with its side effects. Mold is currently growing in most homes across the United States. Mold is typically hard to find and in many cases household mold is ignored because it will resemble dirt or grime. If you are continuously feeling ill it could very well be because you have a mold problem in your home. Mold is commonly found in damp wet areas such as under sinks, basements and between walls.
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