Toxic Mold

The studio about 3 years ago, prior to
enclosing the porch.

Finding out first-hand about mold. A short time ago I noticed a bit of mold on the ceiling of my studio. I've had the studio for 17 years and never had an issue. At first I thought it might be coming from the exterior as I hadn't cleaned the gutters on that side of the building. So...I sprayed the ceiling mold with some bleach containing cleaner that said it would kill mold and cleared off the gutters.

The next day, more mold in another area. The third day I started finding it everywhere. Behind pictures on the wall. On the wood shelving. I kind of internally panicked. I'm not one to get overly, openly panicky. But in two weeks, weekend after next, I have a studio tour. Advertised for six months. First show since the pandemic. Two other artists planning to be with me, also advertised. Yikes.

Studio "cleaned up" for the Studio Tour a
few years ago.

I didn't quite realize what I was getting into when I decided to do a whirlwind "fix". I immediately ordered a dehumidifier. Then I called some mold mitigation companies. One of them very nicely walked me through everything. 

He queried me about the environment. Nope, hadn't been running the air conditioner and no, didn't have a dehumidifier but had ordered one. He told me the type I needed and said if that wasn't what I ordered to not even bother opening the box. I cancelled delivery and ordered the one he recommended.

He said I could probably handle everything myself IF it was pretty much surface due to dampness in the studio. No known leaks so maybe it is simply due to COVID, not using the studio and air conditioner as I didn't have any shows, spent more time in my garage "studio" painting.

Sooooo clean!

I ordered a storage pod (just under $300 for a month...the transport of it being the biggest chunk of that). My friend heard about my situation and brought over an industrial dehumidifier for me to use until mine arrived. 

I turned on the air conditioner. It ran for a few hours then quit. Oh joy. Another expense. At least it's winter and I can postpone that one until next year. Although, they're probably cheaper right now. Adding that to the list to check into ASAP. 

A few days into
cleaning the mold.

I started taking art off the walls. It's weird. One piece will have mold on it, the next won't. Same materials. The mitigation guy said just toss everything in the Pod, not to worry about cleaning it off until time to put things back. I totally disagree with him on that one...putting mold into that closed in, dark container means it will grow and ruin even more things. 

I told him it was a studio --- I'm sure he pictured some cute little painters studio like one might see in a photo. Ha. I paint, I do ceramics, I do mosaics, I do mixed media, I have done and have all the stuff to do stained glass...and I never say no to anything that I think I might be able to use in any of those endeavors. 

Hadn't done much aside
from take down art from
the wall when I took
this pic.

Picture wall-to-wall shelves filled with glass, tile, paints, broken jewelry, ceramic art in the works, bowls...oh, never mind. There is NO way you can picture it as I didn't even realize what I had accumulated until I decided I could empty the studio and clean everything as I took it out... I had the idea that I would devote three days to cleaning and moving everything, then have my son come decontaminate it and then leisurely move things back within another 3-day time-frame. I planned to leave a chunk of things in the Pod, move just enough to be able to have visitors to the studio. 

Where's the laugh sound track when I need it???

I'm six days in and still haven't emptied the studio. I have, however, filled up two truck loads and taken them to the dump. I have teared up numerous times as I tossed something into the truck that had memories and meaning. I have tossed some of my own art that I will never replicate. I have thrown out well over a thousand dollars in tools (wood), art books & magazines and I haven't gotten to the shelving that is going to need to be thrown away and replaced.

Every day I take things out into the sun,
spray, then cart them back inside ---
I don't want to put them in
the storage pod if I can see mold.

When my son comes out it may be that he finds mold in the attic. I had the roof replaced. He thinks it's possible the old roof had a leak and that the new roof sealed in the moisture. If he is correct, and I hope he isn't, then I'll need to pull out the ceiling and quite possibly tear out the walls and replace everything. Luckily he can do a lot of the work --- but he has a family that needs him around so I don't want him exposed to mold and I don't want him to spend too much time away from them. They bought a house and he's completely re-doing the interior. The last thing he needs is another project! Especially given he's busting butt trying to keep his business viable during COVID. ]

My health is another issue. I'm healthy but mold can change that quickly. I've upped a few of my supplements, am drinking more fluids and I'm wearing a mask. But I can see the mold spores flying sometimes when I pull out a piece of material or open a drawer. Which is another weird thing about mold --- I have a lot of those plastic drawer sets. I will open one with broken tiles or glass for mosaics and will see mold. I'll open the one above or below and zip, nada, no visible mold. I'm spraying everything with mold killer no matter whether I see it or not. AND I have a couple of containers with bleach and mold killer where I'm tossing smaller things to soak.

What a crazy mess. I keep thinking "if only I'd run the air conditioner", "if only I'd gotten a dehumidifier", "if only I'd run the kiln like I normally do"... Ah well, my time machine is broken and I'm stuck in this time-line. I'm generally not one to dwell on what I coulda-shoulda except to make sure it's seared into my brain not to repeat a negative...but it's kinda hard NOT to think those thoughts when spending hours and hours sorting, cleaning, tossing, and lamenting losses. 

Oh, almost forgot --- had the studio professionally pressure washed and the gutters cleaned a couple of days ago. No mold on the outside. I'll be doing that regularly now. Lesson learned. Many lessons from this fiasco!

I'll keep you posted. Right now I'm heading out to walk with a friend --- going to fill my lungs with clean air and my brain with clear, positive thoughts!