Mold and back to school

I realize that I never reported on our lives during August. After being gone for a month, we were busy, like everyone else. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of school, although Joshua is not excited about homework. Here he is with some of his buddies today on the first day of school.

Unfortunately our lives will not be slowing down any time soon. I am PTA President at Joshua's school this year and involved in leadership at our church. And then on Friday we got some news that will effect our lives in ways we probably can't even imagine yet. We had a mold inspector come to our house. I have been concerned about a moldy smell in Joshua's room. When we got back from our road trip, maybe since the room had been sealed up for a month, Joshua was unable to sleep at night without coughing really hard. We've moved him into our room. The inspector confirmed our worse fears. There is a leak in the bathroom shower, right next to Joshua's room, however that does not seem to be what is causing the mold in his room. There is mold in the wall of that bathroom, so the shower will need to be removed probably along with the wall and floor. Then we found that there is a leak in our water heater, which is in an outside panel that backs up to the corner of Joshua's closet. So we will need to replace the water heater and have the moldy wood, etc. removed from that corner of the house. However, that does not seem to be what is causing the mold in Joshua's room. Finally, the inspector found a wet spot on Joshua's floor. The wet spot is a circular area about a foot in diameter and after looking under the house, he realized that it is right above where the drainage pipes in the house meet and go to the outside drain. All the drains come together, so the leak includes mold and bacteria. He confirmed that Joshua may not do anything in that room again. There are many studies that show a raised chance of children developing asthma when exposed to mold. I spent all day Saturday doing laundry since everything made of cloth needed to be washed or thrown away. We will need to wipe down all his toys, furniture, etc. (Heavy sigh!)

I called our insurance company today, placed a claim and they have made it a level one claim. The lady who took the information over the phone was very compassionate. So now we'll wait to see what insurance will cover and how much. Then we'll need to decide what to do next.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this stressful time.

Sheryl