Ohio – Mold Has Become a Growing Problem for Family

Toxic mold is chasing a family out of their home. It’s on the ceiling, on the floor and on the windows. Now, the family is demanding something be done.

What’s growing inside the Lancaster house is ruining everything inside. “And there’s an odor too, you definitely can smell it,” Shawn Jackson said. He says that over the past six weeks, mold has taken over his home. “It’s growing to extremes. I mean, it’s going from corners to the wall. It’s growing,” Jackson says.

Walls are covered with mold, ceilings show growth, floors have mold, and headboards, beds and bedding are all ruined. Shawn, his girlfriend Robin and her son David have been forced from their bedrooms. “We’re now sleeping in the living room. David doesn’t have a bed. He sleeps on this couch that I’m sitting on,” Robin Toops said.

So far, they say, their landlord has refused to look at the damage and tried to evict them when they complained. An inspector Jackson hired blames the mold on moisture building up in the attic after a botched roofing repair job, and he thinks some of the mold is toxic. “We were told everything in the house has got mold spores. Everything’s got to be professionally cleaned,” Toops said.

Insurance won’t cover the cost of the cleaning, so they say they want their landlord to pay for it. “We’re just trying to gather what we can save, box it and get it out of here,” Jackson said. In the meantime with no money to move, they’re stuck in the moldy house and living with headaches, asthma, burning eyes and rashes.

The Lancaster Health Department sent an inspector who told the family to clean the mold with bleach. Some experts advise against that, saying they think the only way to kill toxic mold is to burn it.

Author: Carolyn Willbanks