Xezr

Mold in your flat doesn't sound very serious but like I explained, it really can be. You can lose your home, it can cost a lot of money... There's a lot to consider. And even when it's not as bad it can really wear on you heavily having to deal with it due to the risks, so you have to prioritize. It's like... Suddenly having this huge mess just dumped in your lap. Not all people are capable of just adapting and dealing with a crisis like it. I'm sure we'll see updates as soon as he'll have enough time.

I was studying at the time but yep, no reason to stay home and do nothing. I guess it's got to take the time it takes.

Hello! As someone who's been a long-time lurker and overall fan off Ross' work I felt compelled to retell my experiences when it comes to the situation he's currently in. I'm no expert, but the procedure's been the same whenever the issue pops up. On three separate occasions (two when I was a teenager and one as an adult) I've come across mold infestations in the apartments I've lived in, and it's been the same procedure every time. Guess I could consider myself "lucky" to have this experience. The first two occasions this happened were by far the worst, and from personal experience I can tell that it does not matter whatsoever where you live or in how old of a house you have your tenements/apartments. Doesn't matter if you live in some substandard neighborhood in Poland or a middle/upper class apartment building in Sweden. Often it boils down to bad luck, or neglect in simple problems that've occurred by previous tenants or ignored by landlords. In apartment buildings, Black Mold is 99% certain to grow from issues relating to your bathroom. A small crack in the floor's insulation or perhaps in the walls that causes water seepage often becomes a breeding farm for fungus and bacteria, which will quickly spread. A toilet that doesn't flush properly. An old busted sewage pipe. Even a faulty ventilation system can be a culprit, if condensation is allowed to form in the ducts and leak into the walls. In either way, over time it causes severe damage to wood, concrete and even plastic which sadly is often what buildings are made of. This is very important! If you find signs of mold in your apartment, (even actual mushrooms growing out of the floor!) and there is a strong odor and you find it difficult to breathe, that means the mold has allowed the spores to spread from it's original source, often during the course of a long time. As others have stated, this can become very, very dangerous to your health. Not only that, it can -and will- spread to the rest of your apartment, and even to other floors if not dealt with. At this point there's only one solution. The entire apartment needs to be renovated. Often this is too much to do on your own as construction equipment is needed, workers with respirators, etc. In all the cases I've experienced it, the floor needs to be completely removed in the -entire- apartment, the walls need to be thoroughly checked and if there are signs of mold they need to be torn down as well. If you're in the same situation I was the first two times, and are unfortunate enough to encounter a mold infestation in an apartment with wooden flooring, or where it's spread to multiple rooms, well... Everything has to go. Walls, floor, fixed furniture, toilets, bathtubs, piping, ventilation ducts, the layout of electrical outlets... Basically everywhere where the mold can infest. If worse comes to worse, the entire apartment must be emptied down to it's bare bones, how it was when it was first constructed. When that's done, they can start the lengthy process of clearing out the infestation which involves weeks (even months) of meticulously cleaning and drying the entire place inside and out until it's all clear. During this time me and my family always lived in temporary quarters as your apartment becomes completely unhabitable. If this is what Ross and Magda are experiencing, I'd guess that the lack of updates simply boils down to that they've encountered something similar. And that they're now going through the same process, perhaps finding somewhere to live while it's being taken care of. Or just moving out entirely. It can be stressful and impactful on your life, so I think that all we can do is give them time to sort this mess.