Benjamin and Joy Allen's dream home in Etiwan Park on Daniel Island has turned into something of a nightmare. Above: Terrence Tully with Moisture Control Experts must wear a respirator in the house while he examines it for mold.
Rotten wood is visible between the exterior and interior walls of the house.
Benjamin Allen moved his family to Daniel Island in 2005 from the Washington area, where he worked in national security for the Bush Administration.
The Allens had their home tested for mold after they noticed it growing on the home's exterior.
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Anyone entering the home of Benjamin and Joy Allen on Daniel
Island must wear a protective mask.
At first it appears that a family lives there, like they just
stepped out for a while. The kids' rocking horse and stuffed animals
are there. The kitchen is well-stocked. But a large rectangular hole
has been cut into a wall.
"This is the worst I've found on Daniel Island," said Terrence
Tully, owner of Moisture Control Experts of Summerville. The
wheezing respirator he wears muffles his voice as he talks about the
family's mold problem.
The Allens paid Tully to test their home for mold May 26 when
they noticed it growing on the outside of the house. When the
results came back, they abruptly left what they considered their
dream home on the advice of their doctor. They have been living with
friends since May 30.
Tully discovered mold, which essentially is a fungus, on the inside
of walls of the Allen home. That was bad news because the walls are
made of porous material that allows mold spores to spread to the
rest of the house via the heating and cooling system.
Moisture seeped into the home's walls, creating a wet environment
conducive to mold because, Tully thinks, window flashing was not
properly installed. Flashing is material that fills the space
between the edge of a window and vinyl siding that prevents
wind-driven rain from getting inside walls.
Tully said fixing the mold problem could cost more than $100,000. He
has done limited testing at the Allen home because of the expense,
cutting into some walls to evaluate the situation. "You don't know
what you have until you start opening it up," he said.
If the Allens move back home, Tully said that anything porous in the
house must be removed. That includes furniture, bedding and
carpeting. Insulation must be removed from the interior walls.
Windows and doors must be fixed to prevent another moisture problem.
And the area must be fogged with a chemical to kill mold, he said.
In the meantime, the Allens are living day-to-day. Their daughters,
Madeleine, 3, and Ellie, 4, cry themselves to sleep because they
don't understand why they left their home, and why they can't have
their stuffed animals, Joy Allen said.
Because of their disrupted home life, the daughters become upset
when their mother leaves for her job as a music therapist at Trident
Regional Medical Center.
"They're normally not like that," she said. "They're scared. They're
absolutely scared. They don't want to go to bed at night. They want
their rooms."
A next-door neighbor of the Allens, David Pittman, said the Allens'
apparent problems with their D.R. Horton-built house have caused him
to be concerned about his D.R. Horton-built house.
"We need to determine if we have problems with the house. We've
spoken with an attorney," Pittman said.
Another neighbor said she had problems with her D.R. Horton house
but could not discuss them on the record because of a
confidentiality agreement she signed with the company as part of a
settlement.
Representing D.R. Horton, attorney Kyle Dillard of the Greenville
office of the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
released a statement saying the builder was first notified of the
Allens' concerns in a letter from their lawyer, Patrick McDonald.
Dillard's statement said the company has arranged for the Allen
house to be inspected, at D.R. Horton's expense, by a third-party
professional engineer.
"Once the engineer has provided us with his opinions and
recommendations, we will discuss with Mr. Allen's lawyer how to most
appropriately address Mr. Allen's concerns. Horton is hopeful that
Mr. Allen's concerns can be resolved in a timely manner to the
mutual satisfaction of both parties," he said in the e-mailed
statement.
The Allens said they purchased the 1,580-square-foot home, their
first, for $419,000 and moved here in August of 2005 from the
Washington D.C. area.
Benjamin Allen, 33, who is disabled from multiple sclerosis, said he
was a special assistant for national security in the Bush
Administration.
The Allens live at 100 Jordan Court in the Etiwan Park neighborhood.
The home was built eight years ago, and two other homeowners lived
there before the Allens purchased it.
"This was going to be our dream home. We scraped together every
penny we could for this home," Joy Allen said.
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They owe about $390,000 on the mortgage, Benjamin Allen said.
Joy Allen, 32, provided a copy of a June 5 letter from their family
physician, Lucy Davis, of Palmetto Primary Care Physicians on Daniel
Island. In the letter, Davis said it was her medical opinion that
the Allens should move out of the home until the source of a water
leak is repaired and all current mold is removed.
"The possibility of this causing detriment to their health or
worsening current health problems of Mr. Allen and his daughters is
great," Davis wrote.
She described the levels of mold and mildew infestation uncovered as
a result of a May 26 inspection of the house as "very concerning."
Hayes Microbial Consulting of Midlothian, Va., analyzed the mold
spore samples that Tully collected May 26 in the Allen home.
Steve Hayes, owner of Hayes Microbial Consulting, said mold problems
can happen because of moisture in walls. The heating and cooling
system sucks mold spores from inside the porous walls and spreads
them in the house, he said.
Hayes said that 99 percent of mold-related health problems are
caused by allergies.
"It can be really debilitating. It's nothing to ignore. It's been
proven that mold is an asthma trigger," he said.
The Allens said their youngest daughter has had serious respiratory
problems. They have taken her to emergency rooms several times,
including on Christmas Eve, and have been living from one doctor's
appointment to another, they said.
"Her medical condition has been awful," Benjamin Allen said.
Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or
pfindlay@postandcourier.com.
MOLD BASICS
--Mold growth, which often looks like spots, can be many
different colors, and can smell musty. If you can see or smell mold,
a health risk might be present.
--Fix any leaks in your home's roof, walls or plumbing so mold does
not have moisture to grow. If mold is growing in your home, you need
to clean up the mold and fix the moisture problem.
--Sampling for mold can be expensive, and standards for judging what
is and is not an acceptable quantity of mold have not been set. The
best practice is to remove the mold and work to prevent future
growth.
--Keep the humidity level in your home between 40 percent and 60
percent. Use an air conditioner or a dehumidifier during humid
months and in damp spaces, like basements.
--Clean bathrooms with mold-killing products.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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