Retirees' Home Poisons Edgewater Grandma

EDGEWATER, MD — An Edgewater couple say their battle against black mold — and with the insurance company that won't pay the costs approaching a quarter of a million dollars — has compromised their health and jeopardized their future.

Kaye and Earnie Sylvester love the home they built on the water more than 20 years ago. It's exactly where they wanted to be — where they wanted to have their kids, grandkids and even pups enjoy being along the shore.

But the home turned out to be 2,000 square feet of misery and pain that ultimately stole Kaye Sylvester's health, the couple claim. Last year, she finally saw a doctor to address the mysterious ailments that were plaguing her. The doctor diagnosed her with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis and was prescribed medication.

Another doctor offered a second opinion after testing her blood showed environmental pollutants and toxicity. The second doctor determined Kaye was genetically predisposed to mold and that it makes her exceptionally sick. Her body cannot process mold and cannot get rid of it, so it builds up in her system, making her sicker and sicker.

"The doctor asked if it was possible Kaye could have been exposed to mold or algae," Earnie Sylvester told Patch. "We didn’t know, so we had our house tested, and a couple of types of black mold were discovered. That in itself isn’t necessarily why Kaye got sick. They say the illness (CIRS or chronic inflammatory response syndrome) can be triggered by some kind of traumatic event, physically or emotionally, and we were going through some difficult times when this started."

The painstaking process to remove mold from every inch of the Sylvesters' home, and to replace many household items that had to discarded, is costly. Their children created a GoFundMe page to help out the couple. As of Tuesday just over $12,000 has been donated toward the goal of $130,000.

The mold grew without the couple knowing it. An inspector found mold in their crawl space and their living room. The Sylvesters were told that water seeped into their home through the foundation walls during a particularly hot and humid summer in 2018 and that's likely how the mold began to form.

They thought back to when they were having a leaky window fixed and realized that's when Kaye first fell ill and began experiencing joint pain and swelling. She could barely walk. Kaye has been enduring a mold detox, was placed on a restrictive diet and cannot have physical contact with people or go into public buildings because they also contain mold.

"The protocol Kaye is following takes at least a year to get well ... I would say she’s around 40 percent of the way there," Earnie Sylvester said. "Her fingers are curling inward, and she can’t straighten them out. Her hands are so weak she can’t open a bottle of water. I have to dry her off when she gets out of the shower. She can’t dress herself. She can’t make her own meals. Her circulation is terrible, and she's always cold. She is generally always in pain somewhere."

Being in pain all day every day takes a toll on Kaye, Sylvester said.

"She went from being an active person to hardly ever leaving the house now. She’s not supposed to go into any buildings without a mask. And even though she wears a mask into other buildings, her clothes could have been contaminated while she was in those buildings. It’s absolutely mind-boggling trying to avoid exposing Kaye to mold," he continued. "She almost has to live in a bubble."

As they continue the battle against black mold, the couple realized they needed to move out of the home and stay with family nearby. They tried staying with their daughter and her family, but after three months, Kaye Sylvester felt no better.

"We had their house inspected and discovered mold there," he said. "It was a commonplace thing that happened. Their hot water heater leaked, and the water sat in the overflow tray for who knows how long and mold grew. ... So we left there immediately, and now we’re staying with Kaye’s brother and his wife on Kent Island."

The couple had to embark upon a costly remediation process to salvage their Edgewater home. It involves a technique called dry ice blasting and can strip mold from the wood. Mold seeps into everything and cannot be cleaned, so anything porous in the home must be thrown out.

Because this technique and mold removal is new, it's hard to find someone licensed to carry out what needs to be done, too. So far, insulation and duct work has had to be replaced. They've dealt with almost a dozen different contractors — and the bills to save their home and protect Kaye's health have been piling up. Ultimately, they want to move back in and enjoy the rest of their retirement, but they aren't sure how they're going to afford everything.

"We’re up to almost $200,000 to fix everything, and even today more problems were encountered, driving up costs even more. The problem is, we have to go to extremes to make sure no mold is left in the house or is brought back into the house," Earnie told Patch. "That means that a whole lot of furniture had to be tossed out because of having porous material, which can’t be sanitized. The stuff that can be sanitized will be picked up by a pack-out company, sanitized and stored in a clean environment until we’re ready to move everything back in. Our homeowners insurance claim was turned down by our insurance company, so we’re working with a lawyer to see what options we have."

Each time Earnie enters the contaminated home, he must wear a Tyvek hazmat suit. When he's ready to leave, he removes the suit, puts on a new set of clothes and puts the first outfit he wore there in a trash bag and seals it tightly.

Just to see their kids and grandchildren, they must go through a similar process of changing into specially laundered clothes after showering, keeping their travel clothes in a car so they don't contaminate Kaye.

"Because Kaye’s symptoms are so severe, the doctor advised Kaye to have no contact with anyone if she can help it," her husband said. "So when she does get the opportunity to hug our kids and grandkids, she’s taking a risk that one of them could have unknowingly brought mold with them."

The couple want to make sure everyone understands how harmful black mold can be and to take action right away if it is discovered in the home.

"Get it remediated ASAP by a licensed professional," Earnie said. "There are a lot of companies out there that will take your money, do a poor remediation, and you’ll be right back where you started … in a mold-contaminated house … and thousands of dollars poorer."