Choosing Safe Condos Part 1: The Basics of Analyzing Buildings

Very helpful

I’m so glad to have found this video and am so grateful that you took the time to make this, because it’s truly life changing for some people (it definitely has been for me). I have very late stage Lyme &co, pots, heavy metal toxicity and mold toxicity among other thing at the moment, and my “toxic burden” is so high that I can’t even detox, as my drainage pathways aren’t functioning and I have a the homozygous MTHFR gene. I’ve been feeling myself get stupider and stupider (saying that makes me sound stupid haha! But it’s that dense, dense brain fog and word recall to the point that I rarely get through 2 sentences in a row without having to stop and ask/look for a word). I’ve been diagnosed with most things for about 6 years, but the recent brain issues started during quarantine. My parents’ house definitely has mold, and I stayed there for 3-4 months after my mom had surgery. But just 3 days ago something told me to look in my bathroom (I live on the 3rd floor of a 5 story apartment, and will definitely be looking into whether concrete or wood was used in building it). Anyways, I remember seeing a couple of cracks in the ceiling of the shower awhile ago (this is my second year here), and this time when I looked, there are cracks going all the way from one side to the other, and some that extend outward from the vent. The paint is also peeling, and that’s happening outside of the shower area as well. And then I looked in the linen closet with a flashlight, as it’s not lit. I was hoooorrified by what I saw. There are two parallel cracks that are very deep that go from one side of the closet to the other, both closer to their perspective walls. One of the cracks is also peeling. So I’ve been pretty overwhelmed, looking at the newer build apartments as I decided since I live in a VERY moldy city (hot, humid, and on top of that we’ve had 2 major events with people who died, from the “flood of a century” and the “freeze of a century” in which pipes burst in almost every building or home, because the city is not supposed to get as cold as it did for so long.... aka on top of all the houses that had just finished remediation from the flood, now there will be unqualified people doing even more remediations on homes, setting up more houses for future mold toxicity than there already are. There also aren’t any completely qualified environmental building specialists that do mold testing/remediation, despite the giant size of the city. Anyways, that’s what is making me look at newer builds, as they (well, hopefully) didn’t have the pipe bursting issues...but I guess that’s something I’ll have to just try and ask about. There are also only a handful of apartment complexes that don’t use carpeting in the bedrooms and closets. That’s one reason I was so excited to move into my current apartment—no carpeting, and it had enough time to offgas before I moved in (about 5 years old). Anyways, your blog is becoming my guiding light as a resource while I hunt for a place to live where I can start to finally heal! The information you provide is unmatched from what I’ve seen in the years of “research” I’ve done, and I’m so thankful that you have shared the thorough research you have done with the world! I really couldn’t be more grateful for the GIFT you are providing for others—as we only have one body to live in!!!

Thank you so much for these. Many of the new construction are all these laminates and composite woods or cabinet and I've been looking for hardwood floors and cabinets. However these tend to be older homes and then we get into mold issues. So which is the lesser of both evils...with MCS! I found a place in the country side (as oppose to a major city and living in a 100 unit complex facing a construction site for another massive complex). It's been hell and I developped MCS here due to their lack of management of garbage issue that they covered with air freshners everywhere in the building to the point that the MCS reached a scary new life-stopping phase. Now that duplex in the country side worries me because all is melamine and I asked for the brand, but he only had photos of the planks. He's very eco-conscious. The building is a year old, but I am worried about cabinets offgassing and into my food that would be there or toiletries and about the floors and even walking on them. I also have contamination OCD on top of MCS. So it's tricky. The rental where I currently am has vinyl floors or floating (I think, I am learning through your notes and books on Etsy about and website about what the floors are) and cabinets are that ultra cheap (I really am not sure what it is), but I always wash what's in there before using. Except, I can't do that with food! So mold vs. offgas and fears about formaldehyde and chemicals from my time working in labs and knowing too much about toxic chemicals. I have not done the tests yet, but I have always been allergic to mold. I also have been exposed to black mold in previous houses and apartments and abroad, so there is a chance there is overload of mold. The offgassing terrifies me perhaps more however. You also bring another point i've been struggling with. The positive pressure makes my apartment for 2 years now smell like garbage or chemicals they use to clean or the cigarettes from neighbors (it's a non-smoking building, but they don't respect / enforce). So I was told to put tape on all my vents (one in the main room and the other in my bedroom - I use to wake up at 3 AM with my lungs burning from the cigarette). I even covered the oven fan as this was where the most and strongest chemical smell making me really sick comes through. So there is nothing when I cook. I have an air purifier working around the clock in the kitchen as this is where the smells are strongest and the only thing left uncovered is the bathroom fan. I can't open the door much because there is a construction site less than 100 m from my door with a huge site being built. It started over a year ago and the smell is strong and dust. There is black mold that appears to be growing also where the caulker between the bath tub and wall tiles are. I am always trying to juggle things. I am too scared of caulking and the smell. I use a fan that I point to the patio door, but then I worry about the smell of construction and contaminants there. I just paused the video and felt called to rip off the plastic covering the oven fan. I ran it on high 5 minutes or so but started to smell the chemicals and laundry, so I am anxious now and turned it off. The patio door opened. Both vents related to the air exchanger are still covered though, so not sure the positive pressure could be the walls or the openings in the cabinet to other units - the pipes run and the hole is unsealed and I am too scared of caulking. It's been challenging trying to figure where to go and I feel very stuck and hurting a lot. I left BC during the pandemic for what I thought was temporary because my job shut down and became fully disabled in another province where they don't recognize MCS at all. Eventually I want to build my own home, whether it's in Canada or not and maybe get an RV or find a safer place, but I am still learning as I read your material and safe to do so. Grateful for you! I mention you to everyone! I am a biologist too, but marine :)

Very helpful Corinne. My biggest battle here in FL and Latin America is the chemicals they spray inside the unit for pest control. Wish airbnb's were rated for air quality.. Canada looks so much nicer 😂

I love the explanation! Thanks you. This topic is not discussed enough. I can usually tell as soon as walking into a room if there's an issue by smell or immune response. It's so annoying. But sometimes you just don't know until the air is running.

Thanks

Would you say the same thing today. Anything you’ve learned since this was taken. ;)

Thanks for this! I've been told to avoid condos because of high EMFs...any ideas about this? Also that newer buildings are poorly built and made with not great materials? I'm in an old house that's been fully renovated and will soon be fully remediated for mold, hoping I feel better after that.

You mentioned this building is less than a year old. I was told to find a home at least 10 years old because tightly wrapped new buildings offgass toxic chemicals inwards! Shouldn’t one pick a fully off gassed building so not do new?

Why is it important to have a newer AC?