Hey everyone. I've got a slight basement mold problem. Is this something I should hire a contractor to take care of, or has anyone successfully fought mold in their basement and won?

I'd get the mold tested first and make sure you know exactly what you are dealing with.. mold is nasty stuff.. and some more toxic than others..

And if you have moisture leaking in somewhere, you have to stop the leak or mold will just continue to form & grow ...

I'm leaning on the side of professional.. but i'm not a home owner, but am asthmatic allergic to mold.. so i'm freakish about that stuff.

Well, I called to have an estimate done on Tuesday. From what I've read, testing isn't really that important, because you want to get rid of it regardless of what kind it is. As far as the cause of the problem, I think I know what it is. I've had a broken dehumidifier that I've never replaced in the last two years. It's simply condensation in the basement, as well as I need to put some rain gutters up on the east side of my house and drain the water away from my foundation.

I'm heading to Home Depot right after work and buying a dehumidifier, and I'm also putting up plastic sheeting to quarantine the basement from the rest of the house.

On top of that, I think my sewer may be backing up once a while, too. Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Okay, went from a nice small wedding on the mountain in October, to a $@$^#@$ 2 chapter motorcycle wedding this afternoon......Think I'm going to go jump in the lake while I still have a chance.

I've dealt with mold in different places I have lived, New Zealand for instance is very humid and it just happens. On the other hand I live in Calgary where it is very dry but when my Sister's tenants moved out they had bits of mold here and there and we used bleach to get rid of it.

It depends where it is, if it is in a fairly non-porous surface I would just wipe it down with bleach (use a mask when doing it, I'm sure you already know that but anyway).

There were a few spots on the drywall in the basement (not painted) where we just removed the drywall - nothing else to do as it would not wipe off and it wasn't sealed.

If it is at the bottom of a wall, you might need to pry up the floor skirting boards in case it is behind there too.

Now he tells me that he called his sisterinlaw and that I need to call her so she can HELP ME!!!!!!
I am NOT going to this wedding

everyone should go to gulf shores, alabama! the beaches are awesome!!

I got my dress today. Met a friend and we were just wandering around the mall. I don't want a "wedding dress" but we found a really nice white gown...I love it, she's PICKY and she almost died when I tried it on, so I guess we did good
She tried to drag me around for shoes, but I hate shopping and that was enough for now

Do we get to see a picture of the dress!?

on me? lmao
I'll try get a pic.

here it is.

OOOO!!!!! Gorgeous!!!!!!

I like it, now I just gotta find something with padding on the top and that will skoosh me on the bottom

Obviously, per the Off-Topic Forum, the mold in your basement is the fault of illegals.

*ROTF*

Are you sure it doesn't tie in with free school lunches somehow??

Anyway, I love your dress Tinker!

Thanks Trailmix

I'm so disgusted with that thread.....we always say kids are cruel. Now I'm seeing why, cause their parents are all hypocrites.

am I allowed to say stuff like that?

Tinker, love the dress!

As for the other topics, I'm staying away from them... grrr...

me thinks it's time to duck and run....

If that's the way you have to be to be an "American" well..... I'll state proudly that I'm Canadian.

Going to make sure I volunteer at the places I was thinking about, even my SO is unhappy about where, but they can all stick it, someone has to make a start to help make things better.

My daughter is laughing her ### off at me right now, she knows how much these things drive me nuts

Where do you want to volunteer? Eventually I'd like to help people that other VJers would not want being helped.

I saw a few places down there, but I've forgotten the names.
I was hoping to help out single mothers and at the schools. I have the home care training, but I don't think it's accepted down there, but I want to work with disabled kids at home as well. HE says they're all n****** (not the disabled children) and I shouldn't go near them, because they're not the same as up here!! gawd

How can it get better if no one ever tries. Maybe I can make a difference coming from here, not holding any prejudices. He's in AR so you can understand how he thinks.

What the heck is fast reply anyway??

*snickering* at a post in one of the threads..... SO THERE.....
My daughter,the admin on another board,
wanted to come in and straighten some of this up herself, silly girl

Err... OMG! Well hopefully you can help out. Um, what's "AR"?

Arkansas....
Misa ya gotta learn your states.

Yeah it's omg, rolling your eyes, disbelief....glaring at him so he knows not to even say it.

This is kinda cute in a sad way....his grandmother (90+) watched Die Hard with a Vengence so she could watch Samuel Jackson die hard.. There's a real OMG!!!! *thud* This is the kinda stuff I'm going to have to ignore and not let it get to me in anyway.

UM no one take offense please, I don't mean any!!

me thinks it's payback time *sigh* in off topic

no offense taken, Tinker.

I live in the Deep South too and it is 'interesting' to see the variety of opinions expressed by friends and acquaintances. Some people who seem really quite nice have surprised me with the vehemence of their disdain or prejudice. It is an attitude I find very very hard to understand and I definitely don't relate to it at all.

I also have to say that one of the things I noticed very strongly when I arrived here is how friendly the blacks I encountered were and are. Standing in line at the mall, walking through a parking lot to a store, at the gas station, they smile at you, say hello, wish you a blessed day and are friendly and interactive. Of course I respond back or initiate the conversation at times. The whites I encountered, however, were much more reserved - didn't smile, didn't talk with others in line, kept their eyes straight ahead walking and kind of pretended that no one else was there. When my maid of honour and her family, who live in Michigan, arrived here for our wedding, she and her husband noticed and commented on exactly the same thing.

It's too bad people can't just let people be 'people' rather than having to categorize them.

Wowzers Tinker... that's gotta be a hard situation for you! Hopefully you can shake some sense into some people there. Like you said, you gotta start somewhere to make things better.

I'll be fine, I wish it was more like Georgia, Mississippi or Tennessee *sp*
BUT I'm stubborn....lol, he say's I'm "stupid".....grrrrrrrrr niave would have been nicer don't ya think?

Tinker, the dress is luverly!

*resists the OT forum*

Looks like they got bored.

Okay, I got up early, when I'm starting nights to watch the eclipse... can't see the moon anymore it's getting too light. I was hoping it'd be more spectacular, just looked like thick clouds passing over the moon.

I'm going back to bed, lol

I stayed up late and took pictures of the lunar eclipse. It was freaking cold on my porch, but I took a roll of film with my old SLR

I think we should be pleased with ourselves...we've handled certain threads quite well.

Jim said where he was, he saw the ring around the moon.

I think I might have let me emotions show a little

naw, we didn't rise to the bait.
I can see no other purpose for that thread.

OH LIZZZZZZZZZZ

*patting ya on the back* salright. I'm sure there's a nice padded place to bang your head against somewhere.

=) hehe

oh cool a new thread to hang out in.

YIKES......

Charles is good people.

We should pronounce him an Honorary Canadian

Oh great, let him know we think he's good people....lookit the head swell.

do i get free canadian bacon with that title?


that all started when nessa said "yes"

Welcome Charles! Us Canucks (I'm an honourary one!) are glad to have you on board. No drama here though.

Wondering what my subconsious keeps trying to tell me

Re, the eclipse . . .
It was cloudy last night after a day of intermittent rain so I didn't think we would be able to see the eclipse. Well, one of my cats woke me up at 5:15 (ok, he also woke me up at 2:30 and 4:20!) and I remembered the eclipse was supposed to start around 5ish. Since the clouds had gone and the moon was flooding the back yard at 4:20 (it was bright enough to read outside if I had wanted to), I went to see how the eclipse was doing. It was no longer bright outside and yes, there was about a third of the moon lost in the earth's shado, leaving a crescent shaped 'bite' out of the top. I didn't stay to watch it but went back to bed, however, it was pretty cool to see the last eclipse of the year . The next one is February, 08, I believe.

oh i got mena for the drama

ola everyone!

G'night y'all...I'm so friggin tired.... Hugssssssssssss to all my Canadian family!

Hey y'all...I'm hooooooooooomeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sad
Rough enough trying to go through my own stuff. Watching my daughter try to pack up all her stuff, for school and storage is breaking my heart...I'm hopefully leaving a month after her, so she has to do this now.
She feels like she's not going to have a "home" anymore.
I wish my parent's and sisters would be alittle more considerate to her and stop trying to make me feel guilty. They won't even store her things for her. BTW, my daughter is happy for me, she's looking forward to coming and seeing us down there.

Okay, going to try make her feel guilty about the pink doilies that I made her years ago, that she wants to toss

Awwww. ((((Hugs Tinker))))

It's hard, I know. Try not to focus on it so you can get through this phase. Which university is she going to?