Just a warning.
We spend time talking about ladder safety however as of this writing I am sitting here with my left ear bleeding and woke up spitting blood.
Heres the story.
Last week I entered a building scheduled for demolition to do a inspection for a Bank wanting to make sure it was not salvageable and upon entering immediately noticed the heavy smell of fungus or mold and feces which though gross was not my main concern as it was in a bad drug and gang area plus my main worry was the danger of falling through a floor board and a stairway collapse.
Ooops should have worried about the air and worn a respirator as well.
Went to the ENT Doctor paid him ,and right now waiting for my prescription which in this case is costing me $260 for the ear drops alone.
Spent the last week mostly in bed tired and dizzy plus have lost income not working so bear all this in mind before not bothering to wear a mask in those nasty places we all go.
Every job ?
That must look odd in $1,000,000 homes…lol,I know what you meant though.Read that as wearing on every job for a sec.
Thanks for the get wells guys not much pain today though the other night it felt like a sewing needle was being jabbed into the ear canal and I was actually screaming.
Hopefully a few newbies or older stubborn immortals such as myself will read this and go spend the $150 or so .
Had one of those myself … Van was in shop and so used HHR to go to job to check it out. Owner had a little moisture get into their house and they thought they might have a little mold issue. I forgot to grab respirator. Drove 63 miles to get to site and only remembered the respirator when I was about 5 miles out.
Stopped at a hardware store / all they had was paper masks. Bought a couple.
2 days after the inspection I woke up coughing my head off; bloody nose; raw throat; dizzy; nauseous; etc. Took 5 weeks and 3 dozes of I think “Z-paks” and antibiotics, etc to come down.
As I walked into the house I knew I was gonna have a moisture & mold issue.
ASk me how I knew … Just age and experience I guess.
I think it was in 2002 at OctoberSpec, a speaker, Ken Young, told everyone he had cancer and it was because of going into attics without a respirator. I immediately bought one and told every termite inspector they should get one as well. Unfortunately, Ken died, a year later if I remember correctly.
Clients ask me why I wear one, and I am more than happy to tell them and if they plan on doing anything in the attic or the home, it is cheap insurance.
As for the mold, it is not to be taken lightly. I ended up in the hospital for a week, with every respiratory infection known to man. When they drew my blood, it was purple and my O2 sat was somewhere in the 80s…98-100% is normal. It is also what is believed to have triggered my gluten issues and if it didn’t trigger it, it certainly didn’t help.