WatchingThemGrow
08-01-2012, 07:16 PM
Help! We finally found a rental that will be month-to-month in our school zone. It's barely big enough for us, and it is currently chock full of the landlord's parents' old stuff. The parents have passed away, and it has been rented out for 1-2 years as a furnished rental (to fools????) It even has the parents' old alcohol, medicines, and furniture from the 60's.
DH and I met with the owner at the house tonight to nail down what we wanted to remain in the house, which is almost nothing. Just tables, no chairs, just the old bigger TV (maybe), some of the beds which she says are new, and some small things like bookcases/nightstands.
The problem is that the mudroom is filled with a bunch of boxed stuff, and it smells horrible - mildewy maybe. I mentioned it, and she confirmed it smelled badly. She's going to clear out all the pottery and personal stuff, and the upholstered furniture and rugs/quilted wall hangings at our request. When I left, I realized my voice had become hoarse, and I know from being in sick school buildings that this is one of the first things that happen when I'm exposed to bad air.
How in the world do I handle this??? Do I wait until she has cleared out everything and had the place cleaned to see how I feel in the space at that point? I don't feel like I can mention it now since I've only been there for an hour and just had a slightly sore throat. I did mention that our youngest has(had) asthma and that's why we needed upholstered stuff removed. We really need a place to stay. :(
Do you think the smells will go away when all their books and stuff goes away? She said the beds are new (compared to 50 year old furniture) and I didn't smell as much back in the bedrooms. ugh.
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UPDATE: We went out of town, came back spend fistfulls of money on hotel rooms for several nights until the house was ready and had the "heavy duty" cleaning done by professionals (C grade cleaners, but they gave it a shot.) We moved in lightly - not unpacking kitchen, clothes, linens or anything besides the essentials - bedding and toys. We spent the first night there and I could barely stand the stale smell. We aired out the house the next morning, which seemed to help a bit, but later the A/C came on and within an hour, I became semi-hoarse. The boys kept waking up thirsty (odd, but they didn't have their water bottles nearby) and DH had a stuff nose/itchy eyes. I called DUCTZ to come out and check the ductwork, as I knew the landlord was at work and would want someone to take a look ASAP. The guy found that the ductwork was full of debris, bug carcasses, and there was a touch of mold on the register in the boys' room. I called around to get estimates for replacement, and finally got to tell the LL what was going on. She was very concerned about it. After I emailed her the specifics later that night, we slept with no AC running and put the boys in other rooms - one with us and one with DD. We packed up this morning and headed out for the weekend. Friends were going away and allowed us to use their condo once again. (We stayed there for a month already this summer.)
I ran back to the house to flip the laundry, grab our luggage, and that sort of thing. The HVAC guy was with the LL and they said they are going to replace the whole system. I'm not clear if it is the ductwork PLUS the air handler, compressor, coils, etc, but I'm pretty sure they will be making it right. Clearly, one night in the house after it is finished will tell me if we can actually stay there. We stayed 2 nights, and it'll be 5 nights before the situation is remedied. I just pray we haven't been exposed enough to make us truly sick, and that my throat will be back to normal in the morning. I really hope it doesn't affect DS2 who has previously diagnosed with asthma, but not treated for it for about a year.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.
DH and I met with the owner at the house tonight to nail down what we wanted to remain in the house, which is almost nothing. Just tables, no chairs, just the old bigger TV (maybe), some of the beds which she says are new, and some small things like bookcases/nightstands.
The problem is that the mudroom is filled with a bunch of boxed stuff, and it smells horrible - mildewy maybe. I mentioned it, and she confirmed it smelled badly. She's going to clear out all the pottery and personal stuff, and the upholstered furniture and rugs/quilted wall hangings at our request. When I left, I realized my voice had become hoarse, and I know from being in sick school buildings that this is one of the first things that happen when I'm exposed to bad air.
How in the world do I handle this??? Do I wait until she has cleared out everything and had the place cleaned to see how I feel in the space at that point? I don't feel like I can mention it now since I've only been there for an hour and just had a slightly sore throat. I did mention that our youngest has(had) asthma and that's why we needed upholstered stuff removed. We really need a place to stay. :(
Do you think the smells will go away when all their books and stuff goes away? She said the beds are new (compared to 50 year old furniture) and I didn't smell as much back in the bedrooms. ugh.
---------------------
UPDATE: We went out of town, came back spend fistfulls of money on hotel rooms for several nights until the house was ready and had the "heavy duty" cleaning done by professionals (C grade cleaners, but they gave it a shot.) We moved in lightly - not unpacking kitchen, clothes, linens or anything besides the essentials - bedding and toys. We spent the first night there and I could barely stand the stale smell. We aired out the house the next morning, which seemed to help a bit, but later the A/C came on and within an hour, I became semi-hoarse. The boys kept waking up thirsty (odd, but they didn't have their water bottles nearby) and DH had a stuff nose/itchy eyes. I called DUCTZ to come out and check the ductwork, as I knew the landlord was at work and would want someone to take a look ASAP. The guy found that the ductwork was full of debris, bug carcasses, and there was a touch of mold on the register in the boys' room. I called around to get estimates for replacement, and finally got to tell the LL what was going on. She was very concerned about it. After I emailed her the specifics later that night, we slept with no AC running and put the boys in other rooms - one with us and one with DD. We packed up this morning and headed out for the weekend. Friends were going away and allowed us to use their condo once again. (We stayed there for a month already this summer.)
I ran back to the house to flip the laundry, grab our luggage, and that sort of thing. The HVAC guy was with the LL and they said they are going to replace the whole system. I'm not clear if it is the ductwork PLUS the air handler, compressor, coils, etc, but I'm pretty sure they will be making it right. Clearly, one night in the house after it is finished will tell me if we can actually stay there. We stayed 2 nights, and it'll be 5 nights before the situation is remedied. I just pray we haven't been exposed enough to make us truly sick, and that my throat will be back to normal in the morning. I really hope it doesn't affect DS2 who has previously diagnosed with asthma, but not treated for it for about a year.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.