My brother posted about trying to determine whether his new puppy could sleep in their room or not because of a slight dog allergy he has (http://hairballblog.tumblr.com/post/484760374/allergies). He was convinced the answer was no, because whenever he visits MY house, his allergies go wild. He's apparently been blaming them on my poor unsuspecting dog Ben. Now it turns out, Ben is cleared, and it's simply my housekeeping that is getting blamed.
Since my brother is not allowing comments on his blog, here is the REAL story: mold.
This issue has gotten bumped up to the top of our house to-do list over the past six months due to near constant misery on my part (it actually has been better recently, but still). After two years of work, Austin has gotten the drainage around the basement such that no water gets into it. Once this crucial first step was achieved, our basement efforts have gone into high gear. Austin enclosed all of the basement that has a dirt floor with a vapor barrier,and this weekend, he even ripped down all the insulation on the basement ceiling (30 huge trash bags full!). Unsurprisingly, the paper substrate on the fiberglass insulation that was pressed up against the first floor was all moldy. He also had to rip down a wall of untreated wood that someone built to partition the basement that had similar mold and rot problems. What were they thinking?
Next steps: wash the basement ceilings with a bleach mixture to kill the mold on the underside of the floor, install foam insulation along the basement walls (which mold can't attach to), and install a dehumidifier.
And the final step: my brother to stop publicly maligning my housekeeping. :)
