Life just got more complicated

Who knows where this dilemma will lead me, but a dry-wall contractor from Port Arthur came out and I started showing them all the problems, starting in the house with the ceilings. He was Spanish, and his wife and another man and his child were with him, and she served as interpreter, but they seemed quite knowledgeable. He told me that my ceiling is not Sheetrock as we know it, that when the mobile home was constructed, they use some special kind of Sheetrock that is rock hard, and all in one piece throughout the mobile home, that it is put on first and glued to the expand foam or something that is the insulation and all that is against the decking of the roof. Then after all that is in, then they go up with the walls. So, to cut out sections of Sheetrock and have insulation fall down is definitely not what will happen. The walls have a bit of a space at the top before they touch the ceiling, so when the ceiling would be knocked out in one room, it would crack and go across into the adjoining room's ceiling space. There is no way around it they said. They first told me I should jump up and down and scream and holler to have the insurance total out the whole house. Then after a little discussion, he said he could rip out the whole insides, ceilings, walls, and replace everything with normal Sheetrock, everything inside would be new. Geez! What a nightmare this is turning into!

I called a couple of mobile home sales and asked them about such construction, and they assured me that is how things used to be done, that now they use regular Sheetrock, but they didn't know how to repair that type of ceiling - evidently too young to remember! lol

I climbed in a chair and looked behind a piece of the trim that's up there that all this time I thought was covering seams, but it was solid behind it! No seam! At least in that spot, and it is very hard! The stipples don't flake off. And after being moved when it was new, being moved from Lumberton to Beaumont, being leveled, being in Rita, there is not one crack in that ceiling!!! Which tells me it's a strong son of a gun. Maybe such construction of a ceiling helped strengthen my house.

But what about the mold problem? The girl -- Rebecca is her name -- said the smell was starting to give her a headache. So, though it doesn't bother me, it's evidently still here. Other people notice it when they first walk into the house.

I've called my insurance lady and left a message on her cell phone. I had sent her an email Friday, and she never got that, which she said she doesn't get email unless she knows something is there for her - and I did tell her but she could have forgot. God Forbid!! I hope she hasn't quit or something! This new information will definitely change her numbers since she was figuing on normal Sheetrock repair.

The mold people never showed up. I called and come to find out, the secretary failed to tell them of the 10:00 appointment and the guy who was coming had a doctor's appointment. I canceled with them because the dry-wall people kept their appointment which was supposed to follow the mold people. After the mold people left, I called them back to see if they could come on out . They said they'd call me back and didn't. I HATE CONTRACTORS!

I wonder about them anyway. I think they're just basically contractors looking for regular type repairs. I had asked the secretary if painting or varnish would corrupt any air samples, and she said, oh, no they won't do air sampling. That's waaay too expensive, that it will be a visual inspection! Well, what about all those instruments and stuff? I don't know what they'll do. Maybe tomorrow, or I'll call some other mold people.

My inclination is to clorox the ceilings and paint and call it a day! It hasn't made me sick yet, and I'm not dead I don't think! If it smells, I'll just burn candles if company comes. I really don't know what to make of all this.

Edited for postscript -- I just called Larry, Vidor guy who leveled my house -- and explained about roof. "Oh, yes, just like mine. I'm going to have to do the same thing. You won't have to take out the walls, just take that out and replace it with ceiling tiles. Tiles will be less expensive than Sheetrock and if you have a leak again, easier to deal with. The mold and mildew won't go anywhere if it's sealed off. The whole thing might cost $4,000 -- don't know." I'm going to try to get him to do most of this, at least what he can do. I believe he's trustworthy and he does understand mobile homes.

So, I feel better. I just wish now my insurance lady would call me back. I know there will be an adjustment on her calculations, for sure. I'm getting a little worried about her now. I hope she didn't get in a car wreck or something.