0:06

You're listening to The Decluttered Mom podcast

0:09

, a podcast built specifically

0:11

for busy moms by a busy mom

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. I'm your host , Diana Rene , and

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in 2017 , I had my second

0:18

daughter and it felt like I was literally

0:21

drowning in my home okay , not

0:23

literally , but I felt like I couldn't breathe

0:25

with all of the stuff

0:27

surrounding me . Over the next

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10 months , I got rid of approximately

0:32

70% of our household

0:34

belongings and I have never

0:36

looked back . I kind of feel

0:38

like I hacked the mom system and I'm

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here to share all the tips , tricks

0:43

and encouragement . Let's

0:45

listen to today's show . Welcome

0:50

to another episode of The Decluttered Mom podcast

0:52

. This is actually a part two to

0:55

an episode that we did last week , all

0:57

about my house and

0:59

why we have not been

1:01

able to live in my house for a few months . So , before

1:04

you listen to this episode , please listen

1:06

to last week's episode and

1:09

then come back and listen to this one . Let's

1:11

just jump right in . The

1:16

other thing is that there's so much

1:18

information out there with mold

1:20

and there are a thousand

1:23

different opinions . Mold

1:25

and there are a thousand different opinions . You

1:28

could ask a thousand different

1:30

people . You

1:33

know what needs to be done in this protocol and you'll get a thousand different answers , like

1:35

it's that varied and that like controversial , which is frustrating

1:37

because I am someone who needs

1:40

to know the answer and

1:42

it doesn't feel like there is an answer . So really

1:44

, it felt like there was different risk

1:46

thresholds and there

1:49

was all the way from like you

1:51

don't need to put a containment up , you can just cut

1:53

it out and you're good to go . Like you can

1:55

even do it yourself , don't worry about it

1:57

. If you want to wear a mask , you can . You don't really have

1:59

to all the way to like you

2:02

need to tear your house down

2:04

. Like there's just there's that

2:06

much of a varying degree of

2:09

opinions on it , and

2:11

we chose

2:13

to go on the more

2:16

conservative approach , and what I mean

2:18

by that is that we went we

2:21

, we , we went more

2:23

towards the like basically

2:25

rebuilding the house to make sure

2:28

that everything is good to go and like

2:30

starting over , and we

2:32

chose that again for health

2:34

reasons , for our kids , for

2:37

ourselves , and then also

2:39

to make sure with 100%

2:42

certainty that it was truly , truly

2:44

gone and that we would never have to worry

2:46

about that and we can sell

2:49

in the future whenever we choose to , and

2:51

there it wouldn't be any issues . So

2:54

I feel good about that . I you

2:56

know there have been times where I'm like are

2:58

we going overboard ? This

3:00

is really expensive . It's been

3:02

very expensive , and

3:05

so there have been really stressful moments

3:08

where my husband and I kind

3:10

of look at each other and we're like are

3:12

we being overboard

3:15

, are we doing too much ? And

3:17

I don't know . I don't know

3:19

the answer to that , but I guess

3:22

in a situation like this , I would rather

3:24

go overboard and do too

3:26

much than not enough

3:29

and have it still be an issue down the

3:31

road , and so that's just kind of the route

3:33

that we decided to take . A very

3:35

common question probably the most

3:37

common question I got is did

3:39

your insurance cover it ? And then the

3:41

follow-up question is insurance

3:46

cover it ? And then the follow-up question is how did you pay for this if insurance

3:48

did not cover it ? So our insurance did

3:51

not cover it . That does not mean that if

3:53

you had mold and your

3:55

homeowner's insurance would not cover it

3:57

Every policy is different . I

4:00

have learned that a lot of policies

4:02

do not cover mold because

4:05

insurance considers it like

4:07

, basically like water has to

4:09

be present for a while for mold to develop

4:12

, so like , from their perspective

4:14

, you should have found it and remedied it

4:16

before . So

4:19

no , it did not cover it for us . And

4:22

, as transparent

4:24

as I try to be , I think that this is

4:26

one of those things where I feel the

4:29

need for a little bit of privacy , to not

4:31

share specific numbers . It

4:33

was a lot I can say that

4:35

you can imagine , and

4:40

we , fortunately , have been

4:42

able to figure it out and

4:44

pull from various things

4:47

to be able to figure it out . But

4:50

that's kind of the boundary I want to set

4:53

with talking about it , because I think that

4:56

it's kind of an intense

4:58

conversation and

5:01

so I'll just leave it at

5:03

that . So one myth that

5:06

I possessed this belief

5:09

also is that Colorado

5:12

is so dry how you can't

5:14

get mold in Colorado . The air is

5:16

super , super dry . I

5:18

thought that also , I honestly

5:20

believed that and I have

5:22

since learned that's not true at all . I

5:24

honestly believed that and I have

5:27

since learned that's not true at all . Yes , it is . If

5:33

you live in a very humid environment like Florida

5:35

or someplace that's just very humid , the air is

5:37

very humid you do have a higher risk of mold , is my understanding

5:39

, just because it doesn't take as long

5:41

for a water source to develop the

5:43

mold because the air has

5:45

so much moisture in it also . But

5:48

in Colorado the air is dry , yes

5:50

, but if you have a active

5:52

water source so like for us , for the basement

5:55

, water was just like pouring

5:57

into the wall from outside

5:59

that water is not supposed to be

6:01

there . And if it's consistently there

6:03

and it keeps coming , that water

6:05

is not supposed to be there . And if it's consistently

6:07

there and it keeps coming , mold

6:12

is going to develop . Same for like under our kitchen sink . We now know that was probably a long

6:14

, ongoing water event . It wasn't probably just

6:16

one flood . You know , like the sink

6:18

had a water

6:20

come out one time and then it

6:23

mold developed . It was probably like a

6:25

constant leak that the people

6:27

who lived in the house prior to us did not

6:29

notice or didn't

6:31

take care of when they did notice it and

6:33

they just kind of left it . But

6:36

there was water long enough for

6:38

mold to develop . So it

6:40

doesn't really matter that the air

6:42

is dry in Colorado if there is

6:44

an active water source

6:46

. The other thing I learned

6:49

through this journey is that not all

6:51

mold is a problem . There

6:53

is mold everywhere

6:55

in the air , there is mold

6:57

on plants , there's mold just

6:59

outside . If you open up the window

7:02

, you have mold spores coming in

7:04

. There's mold everywhere in our life

7:06

. It's just that there are specific

7:09

types of mold that can

7:12

cause health issues . Again

7:15

, this is one of those areas where you're going to get a

7:17

thousand different opinions . My

7:19

understanding of it is that mold

7:23

doesn't cause health problems in

7:25

everyone , and I

7:27

think you know , like just even in our

7:29

small sample size of our family , like

7:31

one of my kids , my husband , didn't

7:33

have any issues when we were living

7:35

in it , and so I

7:38

could see how that could be true . Obviously

7:40

, they could have things going on that we just don't notice

7:42

, or it's not obvious symptoms or something

7:44

like that , but my understanding

7:46

is that not every mold

7:49

is necessarily going to harm

7:51

you , and even the

7:53

more toxic molds may or

7:55

may not harm you . So

7:58

I found that really interesting also , and when they

8:00

did the testing they came

8:02

back with , like you know , this

8:05

mold was in the air , but it's

8:07

not like this is just a common mold

8:09

that's found in vegetation

8:12

in Colorado . So like I

8:14

found that really , really interesting too , that there

8:16

is just so much variety

8:19

of mold . Clearly

8:21

, I was not paying attention in science class

8:23

, but I found that really , really interesting

8:25

is all of the different types and all of

8:27

the different things that it

8:30

may or may not do

8:32

to someone that's living with it . So

8:35

another thing that I learned

8:37

or maybe

8:40

not learned , because I already knew this , because

8:42

we had some water damage in our prior home

8:45

that we had some , we had

8:47

to basically cut our kitchen . So I

8:49

already knew this going into it that

8:51

remodels , whenever

8:53

they're , whenever you're

8:55

doing a remodel , I call it

8:57

a forced remodel . Where it's not something

9:00

like you wake up one day and you're like , oh , I think I

9:02

want to remodel the kitchen . It's like , oh

9:04

, you have mold , so you have to

9:06

remodel the kitchen . Is

9:09

that like ? Remodels are very much

9:11

a if you give a mouse a cookie

9:13

situation where it's like for

9:16

us , like part of the

9:18

countertop was damaged , part of

9:20

so like the countertop had to go , was

9:27

damaged , part of so like the countertop had to go and then part of the floor like had to

9:29

be taken out and the floors were original to the house from like 2004

9:31

and so they couldn't find a match , so

9:33

we had to redo all the floor

9:36

in the kitchen and the kitchen

9:38

is a like our . We have a very open

9:40

floor plan on our first floor and the entire

9:43

first floor was that engineered

9:45

hardwood , so we had to take all

9:48

of that flooring out and redo all

9:50

of that flooring . It's just

9:52

like if you do have to change

9:54

one little thing , it feels

9:56

like you have to change so

9:59

much , which is not fun

10:01

when you are in a situation that

10:03

A insurance isn't

10:05

covering it and B you just want to be back in

10:07

your house . We have

10:09

been so , so lucky

10:12

to have both my

10:14

in-laws and my mom are local to

10:16

us and that

10:19

has been really , really helpful . They both

10:21

offered their homes up to us and

10:23

we have been living with my in-laws for

10:26

over two months while the remediation

10:29

and the remodel happen , and

10:32

they have several rooms

10:34

, which has been so helpful for us because

10:36

we've been able to , like you know , make

10:39

just have a little bit of space

10:42

and be comfortable . And

10:44

that has been so

10:47

helpful because if we had

10:49

not had that and we had to live

10:51

in a hotel or an Airbnb or

10:53

anything like that , it would have , first

10:55

of all , it would have been a huge expense , since this

10:58

wasn't covered by insurance , so

11:00

that would have cost a lot of money and

11:03

, second , it just would have been more stressful

11:05

Living in a hotel room with

11:08

four people and our belongings

11:10

would have been way more stressful

11:12

than being able to be at our in-laws and

11:15

also having the help of my mom , and

11:17

so I'm just super , super

11:19

, super appreciative of them

11:21

and their grace and their willingness

11:24

to help us in this situation , and I know

11:26

not everyone has that , and so

11:29

that just makes me even

11:31

more grateful for it . So

11:33

between the remediation

11:35

and the rebuild , it took about

11:39

two and a half months . We are

11:41

hoping to move in this

11:43

weekend , which is really exciting when

11:45

, when you're um listening

11:47

to this first part of the

11:49

episode , you're

11:52

going to like we will have just

11:54

moved back in , knock on wood , as long as all

11:56

everything still continues to go as planned

11:58

. The rebuild was done last week

12:00

, but this week we've been doing all the different

12:03

cleanings . So

12:09

we had a post-construction cleaning company come in that uses special products

12:11

to make sure that all the construction dust is gone . They clean the walls

12:13

, they clean the ceilings , they clean the shelves

12:16

inside the cabinets , everything

12:18

. Then we had the

12:21

air duct cleaning and

12:23

sanitizing and carpet

12:25

cleaning , and we

12:27

have our furnace being replaced right

12:29

now as we speak . We have cleaners

12:32

coming one more time this afternoon

12:35

just to do like a final , final

12:37

clean , and then we have

12:39

furniture being delivered tomorrow and then

12:41

we can move back in . And I've

12:44

learned a lot , which I'm going to

12:46

do another episode just about survival

12:48

mode and how For

12:51

a lot of people it feels like survival

12:54

mode is just kind of day in and

12:56

day out and

12:59

ever since we decluttered . I don't really

13:01

feel that and being

13:03

in our in-laws in the three rooms

13:05

has made it feel like we haven't decluttered

13:08

, because we have so much stuff for this small

13:10

space that we're in and we

13:12

have no systems and we have nowhere to put anything

13:14

because there's no shelves or anything , so

13:16

we just like have everything out . And how

13:18

much that has affected just my daily life

13:21

. I'll do it Okay . I don't want to go into

13:23

it too much because I think that can be another whole

13:25

episode , but I

13:28

have learned patience

13:30

. I have learned

13:32

that everything

13:35

will be okay even when it

13:37

doesn't feel like it , and to

13:39

just keep going and to trust

13:41

yourself and all

13:44

of those things . I

13:47

also am doing several things to

13:49

make sure that we don't

13:52

have any more water damage , which

13:54

I mean you can't control

13:56

fully when you live in a home . There's

13:58

so many different ways

14:00

that you could have water issues , but

14:02

we had extensive

14:05

work done outside while we were also

14:07

gone to make sure

14:09

that no more water

14:11

is going to come in through any of the basement

14:14

windows . So we had to do the window wells

14:16

, we had to do some like grading where

14:18

, like there's more soil put towards

14:21

the house and moved away . We actually ended

14:23

up putting pool tarps underneath

14:25

the rocks so you can't see them , but

14:28

again , it's another measure that's going to move

14:30

water away from the home when

14:32

we do have a lot of rain or

14:34

moisture . Again , we're having

14:37

, um , our gutters like evaluated

14:40

and repaired , potentially totally

14:43

redone , um , because there

14:45

are several spots where water's not

14:47

draining correctly so it's kind of staying

14:49

by the house . So , like those

14:51

are some things we're going to be doing , but we're also

14:53

the rebuild company

14:56

that we hired is

14:58

going to come back out and just basically do

15:00

like a full house re-caulking

15:03

, like they're going to go around to every

15:05

area of the home that could possibly

15:07

need caulking and do that , because

15:09

that was something in the mold testing

15:11

report was that there were quite a few areas

15:14

that just caulking wears out over

15:16

time , and so if

15:18

there's like a spot on a bathroom

15:21

sink that the caulking wore out and water

15:23

is going in there over time . That's

15:25

going to cause issues because , again , it's

15:28

when that water is like happening over and over

15:30

. So we're going to do that . And then I am

15:32

also um , I just ordered these today

15:34

, these little like detector

15:38

. They're like water detectors and

15:40

you attach them . There's all different

15:42

ones . There's ones that just sound an alarm

15:45

when water touches it , and then there's also

15:47

ones that are a little more fancy

15:49

, that can connect to an app

15:51

on your phone . So if it

15:53

detects water , like it'll

15:56

bypass your

15:58

kind of like an amber alert

16:00

on your phone . It'll buy

16:02

, even if your phone is on silent and it's three

16:04

in the morning , it'll send an alarm to

16:06

your phone because , like

16:08

, time is of the essence when it comes to water

16:10

, especially if there's a lot of it . And so I

16:13

got these sensors and I'm basically putting

16:15

them . I joke that I'm putting them every square

16:17

inch of our home , but that's what I

16:20

would like to do mentally , because I

16:23

just don't ever want water damage

16:26

again . So I'm

16:28

going to put them in common areas

16:30

that there could be potential water

16:32

damage . So I'm going to put one

16:34

by the water heater . I'm going to put

16:37

one by the furnace . I'm going to

16:39

put one under every single

16:41

sink in the house . I'm going to put

16:43

one behind the toilet in all

16:46

of the bathrooms , like all of those various

16:48

places that might have an

16:51

increased risk of water

16:54

damage happening . I'm going to put

16:56

one of those and that way if

16:58

even a drop of water touches

17:00

it , it'll come to my phone . It will tell me

17:02

. It'll say like basement bathroom

17:05

, you can program it with the app and

17:07

we can take care of it

17:10

quickly so that it doesn't become so that

17:12

it's only a water issue and not

17:14

a mold issue . But

17:17

, like I said , there are . Those ones

17:19

are a little pricier just because of the app thing

17:22

. But there are also other ones that you can do that just

17:24

sound an alarm , so like if

17:26

there's water coming out

17:28

of the sump pump , then the alarm

17:30

goes off and you can hear like the high pitch noise

17:32

. But there's lots of different options . So

17:34

I'm definitely going to do that . That's definitely

17:37

something I'm doing . I'm also just going to

17:39

basically conduct like

17:41

a quarterly check

17:44

of the home , so like every quarter

17:46

, the first day of the quarter , I'm going

17:48

to walk around the house and

17:50

make sure that there is nothing

17:52

going on and there is no signs

17:55

of any types of water . So

17:57

I started out talking

18:00

on this episode about the

18:02

health problems and that's

18:04

been a common question also is like what are you

18:06

like , do you have mold toxicity in

18:08

your body ? Like what are you going to do ? That

18:11

again is like a controversial thing

18:13

in various medical communities again

18:17

is like a controversial thing in various medical communities

18:19

. But I am working with a functional medicine doctor and I'm

18:21

doing testing to see if I have like

18:23

mold in my body , if it's , you know , at

18:26

toxic levels , and if it is , then

18:28

there's like a whole protocol with supplements

18:30

and specific food and all of that . I

18:33

think a lot of it is like UV

18:36

saunas , like

18:38

red light , I don't know something

18:40

like that . There's just a lot of things that you

18:42

can do to help rid

18:44

your body . If you have it

18:47

at specific levels that could be

18:49

causing issues . So I'm going to be doing

18:51

that and I'm also

18:54

likely going to have everyone in my family

18:56

be tested for it just to make sure , and

18:59

that way we can just take action on it

19:01

if we need to , and if we don't , then we

19:03

at least know , because I've learned

19:05

that just having the knowledge is super important

19:08

. So I

19:10

hope that I never have to

19:12

have any type of episode

19:15

like this . Again , hopefully , we have

19:18

paid our dues and we don't have to do any

19:21

of this and we

19:23

can just enjoy being in our home

19:25

finally in our

19:27

safe , clean home

19:30

. That feels kind of new to us

19:32

because of all of the rebuild that we had to

19:34

do . I hope that answered

19:36

all of your questions . I know that it's been kind

19:38

of a weird couple of months on social

19:40

media for me . I haven't really been showing up very

19:42

much and honestly , again , it's because I've been in survival

19:45

mode , which again I'll talk about in

19:47

another episode . But if you

19:49

have any other questions , let me know . Please

19:51

don't send me horror stories . Please

19:53

, don't , please , just please , don't . Like

19:56

I said , I have researched this , I

19:59

have looked into all of it

20:01

. I know there are varying opinions

20:03

and that's okay , and

20:06

I am feeling confident

20:08

in our decisions and feeling

20:11

really good about us taking

20:13

those above and beyond steps that

20:15

were maybe too much , maybe

20:18

not , but I feel

20:20

really really good that we did maybe

20:22

go overboard just to make sure that we

20:25

really got everything taken

20:27

care of , and so just please , don't send

20:29

me anything about that

20:31

. I would appreciate it . I

20:34

hope you have a great rest of your week and

20:36

we will see you next week on The

20:38

Decluttered Mom podcast . Thanks

20:41

for hanging out and listening to The Decluttered Mom

20:43

podcast . If you enjoyed this episode

20:46

, it would mean the world if you

20:48

could write a review or share this episode

20:50

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20:52

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20:54

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20:58

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21:00

hi . I'd love to hear what you

21:02

thought about today's episode . I hope

21:04

you'll come back next week and hang out with us again

21:06

.