[It seemed worth interrupting my blog silence to share this appeal from a friend and former colleague... a small service that is long overdue.]

Executive Summary: In 2006 my wife and I bought a house. A few months later we discovered a major mold problem, and were forced to move out for the time being. We are currently in the middle of a massive remodel. The labor, for the most part, is free, but we still need funds for materials, thus this letter. You can help by donating (even small amounts help!) and by spreading the word.

In February of 2006, my wife Crystal and I found a house for sale in Fairbanks, Alaska. The house was large enough for our growing family, and had room to lodge and entertain guests. We did the standard due-diligence, had certain repairs done, and went ahead and made the purchase.

We soon began to notice that we were congested more than usual. Crystal, who has sensitive lungs due to being born 3.5 months early, had some severe “deep lung” coughs, and even contracted pneumonia during her pregnancy with our latest child. After our latest, Jonathan, was born, we noticed he was constantly congested, which we wrote off to a cold since Crystal had pneumonia during the pregnancy. When it didn’t go away, we started looking for other causes. We had realized there was a mold issue shortly after moving into the house. Some people could smell it when they walked in. We did not, however, realize exactly how bad it was until a couple of events transpired.

The first was a “simple” bathroom-repair-turned-tub-removal. While removing caulk in order to re-caulk the tub in our upstairs bathroom, I pulled back the plastic wall around the tub. Everything was black: dry rotted plywood. So, the next weekend my father and I tore out the bath tub. Behind the plastic was was sheet rock with mold on it, as well as dry rotted plywood eight inches above the tub all the way around. The second event that caused us to realize just how bad it was happened that Thanksgiving (2006) when our family went to stay with my parents for five days. During that five days, Jonathan cleared up almost completely, but became congested again on returning home.

At that point, we knew we needed to move out, and did so in January of 2007. The remodel began shortly after that, with our progress being tracked at our blog, so I will not repeat all the updates here. You can also see photos of the mold we found.

There are several reasons for the wide-spread mold in this house.

1. In the case of the bathroom, it was because the caulking was not done well, and water began leaking into the areas behind the plastic wall.
2. The dryer: for at least 13 years it was vented to the inside and pumped hundreds, if not thousands, of gallons of water into the house, which then soaked into the walls and carpets.
3. The forced-air furnace (unusual for this area of the country): moisture, and mold spores, were pushed to every part of the house, exacerbating the problem.
4. The flood this (and many other houses) went through in the 60’s. We have no way of knowing what repairs were done at that time, or if the walls were sufficiently dried before being closed back up.
5. Wood paneling which covered much of the wall space in this home: once moisture was trapped behind the wood paneling, the unpainted sheet rock served as a perfect breeding place for mold.
6. Simple laziness: sheetrock behind the bathroom counter and kitchen counters was not painted. With no sealing, mold grew wild.

So, now we are to the point where it’s time to start putting things back together. So far, we’ve paid for everything ourselves and using gifts, and 99% of the labor has been donated, for which we are very thankful. We’re to the place where we need material to put the house back together (sheetrock, doors, paint, moulding, fixtures, etc), and that, of course, isn’t free. That is why we are asking for donations.

The cost point we are looking at right now is $50,000 to $60,000. Yes, that seems like a lot, but we know God can provide, and we know that lots of people giving small gifts will get us to our goal. You can help by donating, and by spreading the word. We can make it!

To donate, please see our donation page..

Thank you for your time and your prayers.

Sincerely,

Joshua, for Crystal, Elizabeth, and Jonathan