The Atlanta Journal & Constitution

By: Gabriella Boston - Staff Writer

   When Gretchen Richards and her husband, Don moved into their North DeKalb home two years ago, they were as excited as any other first-time home buyers. Buth within a few weeks, they were calling their dream home "the hell house".

   After only a month in their $200,000 home, the Richardses said, they started feeling ill, getting fevers and sore throats.

   By the end of August they had to go to the hospital emergency room, where they were treated with antibiotics, Gretchen said.

   "The doctors couldn’t tell me what was wrong," she said. "They knew we were sick. They knew we were dehydrated. But they didn’t know what we were faced with."

   Once they were out of the hospital, the couple, both computer consultants, said they felt better at work and worse when they spent time in their new house.

   They started doing research and hired an environmental consultant to do lab tests on their home. The 20 year old house had high levels of fungi and bacteria, said Gretchen Richards and Doug Milton, a certified industrial hygienist who tested the home.

   "We had to strip the whole house, the walls, the floors," she said. "We had to replace the furnace, the light fixtures, the tile." The Couple lived in an apartment for six months while $90,000 in work was completed.

   Gretchen Richards and Milton attribute much of the problems to pets that were previously kept in the house. The air conditioner coils were full of cat and dog hair; fungi and bacteria were growing on just about every carpet on every level of the house; and animal excrement had [been allowed to saturate into the carpet].

   But the previous owner, who lived in the house for 20 years, is emphatic that it had no air problems.

   "My daughter-in-law, who lived with us for six months, had asthma, and never had a problem with that house," the previous owner said.

   The Richards want other prospective home buyers to be aware of the possibility of contamination.

   Having an inspection done by environmental consultants may cost as little as $300, said Milton.

   Mike Smith, director of the Environmental Health Division of the DeKalb Board of Health, says that compared with other complaints his agency receives, indoor air quality is not a very big concern.

   "But I think we’ve seen a slight increase as people have become more aware of indoor air as an issue," said Smith. "If it seems warranted, we would advise an independent assessment [before a home is purchased]. But if there was no clue that there was a problem, I’m not sure what you could do to avoid that [a situation like the Richardses’]."

   Gretchen Richards describes the past two years as very difficult. "Sometimes we feel like it’s a great accomplishment." Other days we just want to sell it and walk away," she said. "It holds a lot of pain and bad memories for us."

   They had the house tested again about a year ago, and the conditions had improved significantly.

   "I want people to know that this can happen to anyone, even in good neighborhoods," Gretchen Richards said. "Literally, we did everything a normal home buyer would do, and we still ended up with this nightmare."