Naples Daily News

September 19, 2004 --Owners of Hurricane Charley-damaged homes persevere each day with obvious losses of blown-out windows and temporary tarp roofs, ever wishful for their routine-filled lives of a few weeks ago.

But they can't ignore the possibility of mold, a sly intruder in their homes that can cause severe respiratory problems a few weeks or months from now.

If allowed to grow in nonvisible places, deep within drywall or damp air conditioning ducts, mold can spread rapidly. That could send people scurrying to doctors' offices with perplexing allergy symptoms or to emergency rooms with asthma attacks or other severe reactions.

"The problem isn't today, the problem is in the near future," said Bob Kallotte, a federally licensed sanitation expert who inspected emergency shelters in Southwest Florida for Charley to make sure they complied with sanitary guidelines.

He envisions that homeowners who don't properly address moisture and mold growth soon after they make repairs to roofs and windows will see the consequences six months from now.
"It is festering and growing in the walls but you can't see it and then you wonder why your kids have gotten sick," he said.

In between natural disasters, Kallotte works as an environmental specialist for the Sarasota County Health Department ferreting out environmental hazards in homes and buildings that can be causing a variety of illnesses among the occupants.

His territory as a mold-buster is all of Southwest Florida, from Sarasota to Collier counties. Getting a home inspection usually requires a referral from a physician who is dumbfounded why a patient's condition isn't coming under control with medical care.

People know to dry out or get rid of sodden carpets and furniture but they may mistakenly believe they can simply paint over water-damaged drywall or apply a bleach solution to get rid of visible mold.

"If you paint over it, that will exacerbate it by trapping it in the wall," he said. "Painting over it is not going to help the mold growing inside the wall."

For anyone who believes water seeped into drywall after water intrusion or that they already had existing mold, the only solution is to tear out the drywall and put in new.

"In order to get inside the wall, you have to rip it out," he said.

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Health reactions to mold can run the gamut, from hay fever-like sneezing and itching eyes to worsening of asthma and allergic reactions for those already mildly allergic, health experts say.

"I think the issue is an individual's sensitivity to mold differs greatly," said Dr. Judith Hartner, director of the Lee County Health Department. "You can't really predict (that) everyone two months down the way will have respiratory problems."

Moreover, there's no sure-fire way to say how long someone needs to be exposed to mold and at what intensity for health problems to set in, she said. Others may have no reaction.

But that said, people need to be mindful mold grows if not quickly addressed, Hartner said.

"They need to be aware of it, for sure, if for nothing else it becomes an aesthetic problem," she said. "It smells bad."
Babies, children, the elderly, people with chronic respiratory conditions or weakened immune systems may be more susceptible to mold allergies.

Dr. Larry Castillo, an allergy and immunology specialist in Fort Myers and Cape Coral, said there's no question an existing allergy to mold can worsen or develop for the first time if homeowners don't address water intrusion properly and get rid of mold.

This past week, his practice started to get more calls for appointments, which could be tied to Charley, he said.
Compounding matters is that mold counts in the air were already higher than normal before the hurricane, he said.
If soaked carpets and furniture are dried out quickly, preferably by professional cleaners, then mold growth shouldn't be an issue.

"But if it's allowed to sit there days on end, it's useless, the carpet and the padding," he said.

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Environmental and medical experts agree mold has to be removed, and that means replacing infested drywall and not spraying it with chemicals or painting over it.

Kallotte, the sanitation official, said three steps are required for proper mold removal and none can be skipped by the mold remediation company doing the job.

The first step involves stopping the water or moisture intrusion, which means the obvious of getting roofs and windows repaired. The second step entails keeping mold from spreading.

"A good company will establish containment, will build a wall out of plastic to create a barrier for sealing off one area from another," he said.

The third step is removing mold by cutting it out of the wall and scrubbing down what remains behind the wall.
"If they leave out any of those three steps, your money is being wasted," he said.

State and federal authorities advise homeowners to use caution when hiring a mold remediation company, similar to hiring a general contractor or roofer.

Ask questions about licensing, training and cleaning techniques used, along with references. The EPA suggests companies follow guidelines of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygenists or similarly government-recognized guidelines.

In turn, homeowners should not sign a contract or make a down payment without first getting a written estimate, and be wary of door-to-door solicitors.

Homeowners wanting to do mold remediation themselves are advised to wear gloves when handling moldy materials and consider wearing a mask. In areas that flooded, remove drywall to at least 12 inches above the high water mark, according to tips from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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After a considerable push by insurance companies to exclude coverage for mold-related damage and some landmark legal fights and payouts in Texas, the industry in Florida is by and large providing some basic coverage, said Bob Lotane, spokesman for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

"Most are offering $10,000 base coverage per incident and $20,000 per policy per year," he said.

The mold remediation must be the result of a covered loss, such as water intrusion from blown-out windows due to a storm and not because of homeowners neglecting to repair existing leaks in the house.

Beyond the limited coverage, homeowners can purchase additional coverage, generally in the amounts of $15,000, $25,000 and $50,000, he said. Lotane couldn't give premium estimates for the additional coverage.

"It is not outrageously expensive," he said. "You have to buy it and they (your insurance company) have to let you know about it."

If an insurance company has not come to the state insurance department seeking approval to limit mold coverage, then they are expected to cover it, he said. The reality is that most companies have come to the state asking approval for limited coverage, he said.

The current policy with State Farm Florida Insurance Co. is that mold remediation is covered if mold is the result of an event, such as blown-out windows from a storm, and covered up to the policy limits, said company spokesman Tom Hagarty in Winter Haven.

But that's radically changing Jan. 1, 2005, and mold remediation will be excluded completely, he said. Homeowners will have to buy a mold policy, he said.

So far, there have been 68,000 claims for damaged homes after Charley but he hasn't heard yet about claims for mold. The focus now is processing claims for home damage.

"Mold can take awhile," he said. "We might get those kind of claims in the coming days and weeks."
 

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