Somers self-help homeowners plead for help

Mold has turned up in the crawl spaces of several homes in the Tiebucker Estates II self-help housing project near Somers, but officials overseeing the program say it's not their responsibility to fix the problem.

Homeowners want the mold removed and have asked that proper ventilation be installed in the crawl spaces. They also want to be reimbursed for an independent mold study they commissioned and want another study done in one year.

But Doug Rauthe, executive director for the Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana, said it is each homeowner's responsibility to check their crawl spaces regularly for moisture and make sure humidifier switches in the conditioned crawl spaces are working property.

Community Action Partnership is the nonprofit housing developer for the USDA Rural Development mutual self-help program that gives low- and very low-income families and individuals a chance to work together to build their own homes. Homeowners are required to put in "sweat equity" and complete two-thirds of the construction work.

In a letter sent July 21 to Tiebuckers II family liaison Christine Caye, Rauthe said the conditioned crawl-space system and the crawl space itself were designed to USDA and current construction standards.

"We do not accept responsibility or liability because the [humidifier] switches were not on and homeowners did not do regular inspections, maintenance and procedures in their conditioned crawl spaces," Rauthe said.

Caye and other homeowners maintain they never received any instruction about the switches, and based on a report from David Quinn, a certified residential mold inspector who inspected homes at 1167, 1367 and 1385 Klondyke Loop, they question whether conditioned crawl spaces can work properly in this area.

Rauthe declined to comment on the switch issue and reiterated that conditioned crawl spaces are an industry standard.

An article by Joseph Lstiburek in the Building Science Press contended that conditioned crawl spaces "perform better than vented crawl spaces in terms of safety, health, comfort, durability and energy consumption."

Mold was first detected in the crawl spaces during construction in the winter of 2008. Homeowners were told to treat the mold with bleach water and a construction foreman also applied an encapsulation product.

When the homes went through final inspection in July 2008, the mold appeared to be gone.

"I don't think the mold was ever gone, though," Caye said.

Jessica Johnston, a mother of two young children who is thankful she and her husband, Graham, qualified for self-help housing, said she is worried the mold is a health hazard.

"If mold was a problem before, they should've said exactly what steps we needed to take," Johnston said.

Annelizabeth Burton, another young mother of two, said she has mold allergies and has had "a lot of lung issues." When a pipe burst earlier this year and caused some flooding in the home she and her husband, Kevin, own, the insurance adjuster said mold found in the crawl space was pre-existing.

Caye's 2-year-old grandson lives with her and she, too, is worried that mold spores are circulating within the home.

Caye alerted Marney McCleary, housing director at Community Action Partnership, noting in a letter that mold had accumulated again "due to no ventilation in the crawl spaces." When homeowners got no response they took the matter to Rauthe.

Rauthe participated in a conference call to other housing officials about the mold, as well as other issues homeowners had. The consensus was that any further work with mold is the homeowners' responsibility.

"The common mistake made by the homeowners was deactivating the switch, thus turning off the very important fan during the summer," Rauthe wrote in his July 21 letter to Caye. "... we do not accept responsibility or liability because the switches were not on and homeowners did not do regular inspection, maintenance and procedures in their conditioned crawl spaces."

Caye and other affected homeowners insist they never touched the switches.

Rauthe sent a final letter to Caye on July 29, stressing again that Community Action Partnership was not the general contractor and is not responsible for the acts of any contractor or vendor involved in the construction. He told the homeowners he didn't believe further meetings would be productive.

Tony Hill, the construction supervisor for Tiebucker Estates II, said he could not comment on the mold issue.

Glacier Air, the firm that installed the furnace in the crawl space, could not be reached because the phone is disconnected.

Lad Barney, the local area director for Rural Development, said he's aware of the mold issue, but added there is no grant money that he knows of to pay for any mold remediation. Homeowners can apply for a 1 percent interest loan of up to $20,000 to get financial assistance for health and safety issues.

With all of their options seemingly exhausted, Caye said she and the other homeowners with moldy crawl spaces are considering legal action.

IT'S NOT the first time mold has been an issue at self-help projects near Somers.

Four years ago mold surfaced in another section of the Tiebucker Estates project. In that case the mold and a number of other problems such as building-material delays and subcontractors stretched thin by rapid growth in the area rankled homeowners. Officials blamed the problems largely on the size of that project, which with 27 homes was more than double the normal number of homeowners in a single project.

Wet weather compounded the mold problem that year, but officials dealt with remediation before the homes were completed.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com