Need advice about Asbestos and mold in a house

[Chicago48]

This is not my Detroit house, but my brother's house. He is having respiratory problems [[coughing, filled lungs) and won't seek medical attention, and I suspect it's because of the house. Wood house, 100 years old. Has not been rehabbed. First I need to know if the City of Detroit has an asbestos/mold checking service that I can call and have them go to the house to inspect? Is there a City Housing Inspector's office?
My brother is very stubborn and won't do what's necessary, but each time I talk to him, his cough gets worse.

[Hans320i]

If the City's housing department can't help, these folks may be able to. They are working with federal grant dollars for just such problems. http://www.cus.wayne.edu/healthy-homes

This is not my Detroit house, but my brother's house. He is having respiratory problems [[coughing, filled lungs) and won't seek medical attention, and I suspect it's because of the house. Wood house, 100 years old. Has not been rehabbed. First I need to know if the City of Detroit has an asbestos/mold checking service that I can call and have them go to the house to inspect? Is there a City Housing Inspector's office?
My brother is very stubborn and won't do what's necessary, but each time I talk to him, his cough gets worse.

[Hamtragedy]

The city's Housing Dept. won't assist unless he's living in HUD provided housing. I'm pretty sure they don't have any inspectors who check mold or asbestos, because they do NOT even check for lead, which must be farmed out to certified EPA inspectors/agents.

As for asbestos, unless your brother is running thru the house actively disturbing asbestos [[around heating pipes, plumbing, ceiling tiles, old flooring tiles) causing the particulates to become airborne [[or friable), it's probably not asbestos. [[unless, of course that stuff was all previously removed improperly, in which case, every time the wind blows it could be stirring it up). Same thing goes for lead.

I would not wait for the city even if they had such a department, but call independent contractors who do mold/asbestos inspections. Lead inspections usually start around $300-350 for a 1000 ' sq. house. I'm not familiar with how much a mold or asbestos inspection would cost.

[G-DDT]

Asbestos is not to be taken lightly. My father [[who had quit smoking 23 years prior) acquired small-oat cell cancer in his lungs after doing work for the Henry Ford Museum renovating wings, that meant clearing asbestos in some areas. Jokewood Hospital did a botch job identifying it as it spread from organ to organ [[including liver and intestines-funny, how I, with my silly health-nut books, was the one to insist looking into his liver), and they kept insisting his persistent 3X a day diarrhea for over five months was due to I.B.S. Our family lawyer [[whom we once considered a close friend from Rosedale) advised we do not seek legal action. Only later did we find out he held positions with prominent organizations [[like business-oriented associations in Dearborn); so, he was biased against taking on anything like the Henry Ford or Oakwood Hospital. Anyway, my dad quickly died [[without being told what he had-though we knew) of cancer, and eventually, so did our lawyer.

Back at the Easttown Theater I worked at, our technical-minded soundman found that there was a huge asbestos curtain towards the back of the mainstage. He wisely refused to handle it, but brought many other curtains and backdrops down and situated them to cover that up. If we had been wise, we would've posted up a sign. When the gay afterhours crowd took over our venue, they decided to redecorate, and our soundman [[visiting for some reason or another) was appalled to find out that they unprofessionally tore down every backdrop and curtain [[including that one).

We always mused about going back and salvaging old lighting and sound cords from the facility when it ended up vacant, but we knew the contamination level was too high. I always feared for anyone going to venture in there. Then I saw the video of Johnny Knoxville being given a tour of the [[still standing, at the time) Theater by Ko Melina. Hope they are okay.

Asbestos [[as was explained to me by a Heating and Cooling engineer/mad Firearm enthusiast) supposedly keeps breaking down as an almost infinitesimal fiber that can lodge itself into so many areas around cells. I have old Detroit News articles from the '80s written by pro-corporate conservative B.S.-artists condemning [[in their book reviews) books written about concerns of asbestos and why "corporations shouldn't have to trifle financially in overhauling their locations and safety policies" over it. We now know better in today [[especially with the commercials for lawyers defending mesothelioma victims). Yet, I use it as a model for how the same pro-corporate mentalities may be going on large campaigns to discredit other environmental concerns [[be it frac mining-what? earthquakes in Oklahoma? No?- or the imbalanced seesaw effect created by global warming) in this day and age in much the same manner.

[G-DDT]

Also, mold is not to be dismissed. That is not to say there aren't some hack professionals who will make stuff up with their own tests, blow things up, and suck you dry; I think there was even a King of Hill episode about that. All I can say, is good luck on both of those things, and I hope you find a reputable and honest company capable of handling any concerns.

Speaking of King of the Hill, there was quite the back and forth question as to whether black mold was the contributing factor in killing Brittany Murphy [[voice of Luanne Platter from King of the Hill) and her husband.

[Dumpling]

We've had fairly wet weather for summertime. The clay soil in West Detroit and
East Dearborn holds the moisture quite close to houses so the mold is thriving.
And it's not good for people. However in addition to this it is possible that your
brother has kidney and/or heart issues. If that is the case, once he gets out of
ER, he will appreciate family energy and TLC to take care of stuff while he gets
his diet and med cocktail adjusted. He will also have to be much pickier about
his HVAC and will want his room air to be on the warm side and very dry, both
to cut down on mold and to increase the oxygen.

[Gpwrangler]

I would call a mitigation contractor and not post any details online lest someone wants to sell this place someday.

All the the homes around here are old, many have lead paint and other issues. Have him see a doc. Could be completely unrelated to the house.

[bust]

I would call a mitigation contractor and not post any details online lest someone wants to sell this place someday.

All the the homes around here are old, many have lead paint and other issues. Have him see a doc. Could be completely unrelated to the house.

Good advice.

Meanwhile, don't underestimate the problems you can encounter related to mold. I've experienced them myself. I lived once in a place with mold problems where I developed severe sinus issues. They cleared after I moved somewhere else.

[wolverine]

It's incredibly rare that a city building department would offer inspections for that sort of thing as it requires certified professionals and equipment to properly identify hazardous conditions. You'll have to hire a private contractor.

Consider this, even if a public agency did have the ability to inspect, you'd still have to hire someone to remediate.

Have your brother checked for symptoms of mold and asbestos exposure first so that the problem isn't mis-diagnosed.

[gvidas]

+1 that it might be asbestos, but more likely mold.

I think that you'll get absolutely nowhere unless your bro comes to realize that his health is worsening, and that it doesn't have to. That's a hard one.

Anything that you do before that is just pissing down a well.

That said, mold is straightforward. It only grows where there's water. Relative humidity above about 60% allows mold to grow. We drink/swim/bathe in water, so we tend to ignore how horrible it is for buildings. Poorly draining gutters, yards that slope into the house, basement sewers that back up, dripping-but-not-really-leaking pipes, etc, are pretty quickly destructive, and in the path of the destruction grows mold.

Mold in real estate comes with horror stories largely because water problems are easy to ignore, and often expensive to fix. Once the water problem is solved, the mold itself is largely an issue of thorough, careful cleaning [[vinegar, water, elbow grease on hard surfaces; demo on soft surfaces.)

Poke around the house with a flashlight and your nose, looking for wet areas and areas that smell dank or musty.

further reading: http://buildingscience.com/file/3193...token=T39DBPL0 [[PDF)

[gazhekwe]

I agree with dumpling, he should be checked for medical issues. Does he have swelling in his feet and/or legs?

[DetroitBoy]

This is not my Detroit house, but my brother's house. He is having respiratory problems [[coughing, filled lungs) and won't seek medical attention, and I suspect it's because of the house. Wood house, 100 years old. Has not been rehabbed. First I need to know if the City of Detroit has an asbestos/mold checking service that I can call and have them go to the house to inspect? Is there a City Housing Inspector's office?
My brother is very stubborn and won't do what's necessary, but each time I talk to him, his cough gets worse.

You mentioned your brother is stubborn. By any chance is your brother a collector or hoarder of things he finds or things he has had for many years and cannot part with? If his house is crowded and filled, that needs to be the first step before being worried about asbestos. Dust, dirt, mold spores all flourish in environments where hoarders live.

[JoeGeds]

This is not my Detroit house, but my brother's house. He is having respiratory problems [[coughing, filled lungs) and won't seek medical attention, and I suspect it's because of the house. Wood house, 100 years old. Has not been rehabbed. First I need to know if the City of Detroit has an asbestos/mold checking service that I can call and have them go to the house to inspect? Is there a City Housing Inspector's office?
My brother is very stubborn and won't do what's necessary, but each time I talk to him, his cough gets worse.

You can hire an asbestos abatement company to do an air monitoring check of his house. The city has no programs to help with this, so you'll have to hire them yourself. Here is LARA's webpage listing all of the licensed contractors in the state:

http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/asbestos...69&Search.y=13

They will place several small air pumps in the home with small plastic tubes that suck in the ambient air and filter it. they then test the particulates that get trapped in the filter. This is the best way to determine if your brothers home has friable asbestos fibers floating around his home.
Aside from the air monitoring, asbestos is OK inside your house so long as you don't disturb it. If you have pipe wrap for instance, as long as it's in good condition, it isn't a hazard. Typically, the most friable forms of asbestos we find in homes is pipe wrap, mag [[85% magnesium carbonate with asbestos fibers used as binders), plaster, and vermiculite. 9X9 floor tile almost always has it, but it is usually not friable, so it's OK - as long as you're not sawing or crumbling it - same with transite. If you want further info, here is the DEQ's website for asbestos info:
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7...1856--,00.html

[Honky Tonk]

I agree with dumpling, he should be checked for medical issues. Does he have swelling in his feet and/or legs?

I agree with both posters. Instead of theorizing about what it could be, and spending cash on men in space suits, he needs to go see a Doc to find out what's wrong with him in the first place. It could be mold, it could be asbestos, it could be he's allergic to strawberries.