"It seems the Jones' Family has a problem with mold"--Kai

Kai summed it up great the other morning, while sitting next to a box of tissues and wiping his nose.  Admittedly, I'm not sure if he's sneezing and has a runny nose from the mold or if it's a cold, but the timing is interesting.  So, how'd we get mold?  It's a long story.  Here it goes.

About a month ago (maybe less?) Reid noticed that there was creaking, shifting, and general warping of the hardwood floor in front of our dishwasher.  I was hoping it was something that we had just missed and had always been there.  I should have known better.  A week or two later Reid noticed that it was getting worse.  So, right after New Year's we began the flooring quest.  We called in two contractors who both immediately confirmed water damage that most likely was originating with the dishwasher.  Why would our dishwasher be leaking?  Well, in August we got a recall notice from Maytag indicating that the heating element in our dishwasher had caused some house fires.  We had the option of a credit for a new dishwasher, or a new heating element.  We chose the heating element.  Maytag sent out an appliance company to replace the element (this was in September).  They pulled out our dishwasher, replaced the element, and then put the dishwasher back.  Fast forward three months and it's leaking.  Coincidence??  You decide.  Anyway, I called the appliance company and, after being given the run around about needing a work order from Maytag, finally got them to agree to come out.  They found that the dishwasher was indeed leaking at the water valve (where the water flows into the dishwasher).  The technician claimed that he wouldn't have unhooked our dishwasher to do the replacement but that moving it may have caused it to loosen, or it could have come loose from the dishwasher vibrations.  Really, dishwashers vibrate?? (Note my sarcasm.)  Well, he fixed the leak and went on his way.

We finally picked a contractor and they came out to start drying our floor.  On Thursday the 6th, they left us an industrial fan and a rescue mat.  We ran it for 24 hours straight (almost) and they came to check again.  It wasn't any dryer.  So, they left it for the entire weekend--lots of loud noisy machines running all weekend long in the middle of our kitchen.  On Monday, it wasn't that much drier.  At that point, I told him to take the rescue mat away because there was no way I was going to turn it on again.  It wasn't working and it was obnoxious.  So, two more days of the fan and two more days of it not working.  Finally on Wednesday the 12th they ripped up the floor.  And that's when they found the mold.  There was mold extending nearly halfway into our kitchen and then on the other side of the wall on our carpet in the living room.

These pictures were taken after they cleaned up and sanded the sub-floor as much as they could.  Once they found the mold, I once again tried calling the appliance repair shop only to be told this time that it wasn't their fault but that I could have done this myself.  Uggghh!  After cleaning things up, the contractors set up a "neg air" machine to suck up as much of the mold spores as they could out of our air.  I think the machine is working pretty well, because before the machine I was definitely sick from the mold.  I had a headache and dizziness, like I normally get when there is a landmine of mold around.  Unfortunately, Finn was in the house when all of this was going on and so he has been exposed.  We don't know yet if he is growing the mold, but we should find out after his next throat culture at the pulmonologist.  I certainly hope that he's survived without growing the fungus.  He doesn't need that on top of everything else.

Anyway, here's what our kitchen looks like now.  The floor is still not dry and so we're waiting.  It's been almost 11 days of loud, industrial equipment running in the middle of our kitchen. (the neg air machine is under that white plastic on the right there)  It's been nearly 5 days with a dishwasher sitting in the middle of our kitchen instead of working where we need it.  It's been stressful.  And we won't even talk about how much I strongly dislike the appliance repair company.  I still have a complaint to file with the BBB, in addition to calling Maytag one more time to make sure my complaint is filed, as well as negotiating life with our insurance adjustor.  Seriously, this has made for a rough first two weeks of the New Year.  Here's to hoping things get better soon.  In the meantime, we've been eating downstairs, playing downstairs, and pretty much just hanging out downstairs.  Oh, and I've been doing dishes by hand.  That, my friends, is probably my least favorite thing ever!  :)