I have black soot in my apartment that is sticking to mostly plastic items, cups, plates, trash cans, even in my bathroom sink and toilet seat. The maintenance department is stumped and my property manager keeps blaming it on candles. (I burn maybe one candle once in a while if I'm feeling crazy 2).
I haven't been staying there since I woke up and blew black soot of out of my nose. The property manager says there is no gas leak, no filters to change. I mentioned a boiler backfire and she said it's not possible since the boiler is not gas fired forced air. Anyone know where this can be coming from and what I should do to make sure it's repaired and finished? I just want to go back home!
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Do you have a local health department or a mold remediation company that can swab the stains and culture them or an independent home/building inspector? I would contact a neutral third party to investigate.
Post back with an update! Prayers for solutions.
I feel that there is damp/moisture through out this location, which is looking like mold. I'm assuming you do not have a fire place with poor ventilation/flew that would send build up throughout the space. This is not something to let go, either way this could cause many other issues. Have a professional check it out!
That is horrible and this is dangerous to your health. If you blew this out of your nose one morning I would say it is not mold but something else. I would contact a company who could inspect your apartment and actually determine what is going on. it sounds like this is something that just started happening at your home.
It sounds as if it is growing mold somewhere.,in your house.What type of heat do you have?It could be your heating source giving off blac soot.
I rented a twin house and had a similar problem. I found out that the attached neighbor was using a kerosene heater that apparently was not maintained properly that caused it to smoke excessively.
Being the houses were old and we shared a main wall, the soot was coming through small cracks around the flooring and baseboards from their house. I did ask them and they were using the heater, they did stop and so did the soot problem.
Also, when burning any candle, be sure to keep the wick trimmed. Normally the information about how much to keep trimmed and how long it should burn will be on the bottom of the candle. This can also cause a soot problem.
This happened to me. I searched everywhere for the source: changed furnace filter, checked to make sure vents werent blocked, emptied central vacuum...still nothing. Turns out my wife bought a new candle and it was letting off black smoke. Wives, am I right...!!!
Oh my god thank you for your post!!!! I was freaking out thinking it was mold...nope. I, like your wife, bought a new candle that has a wooden wick. BINGO. Thank you so much.
I had the exact issue and stopped lighting candles and it stopped. So sad. I love candles.
i am currently going through this right now, its all over my trash can, my bowls cups and plates (but my cabinet stays closed so idk how it gets on there) on my fridge, its just all over the place and its soo irritating, i meet up with my "landlord" today so fingers crossed!
This happened to me about a year ago and I ended up getting charged for damage to the walls by my landlord because it was all over the walls he claimed that I had been smoking in the apartment but I never smoked or even lit any candles. I had a wax burner that I would turn on maybe once a month. Never ended up finding out the source.
Usually black soot is from smoking but I think there could be other causes like candles and maybe mold but Im not certain mold would do the black soot like stuff on belongings.?
This black residue is common all over, no matter where you live. It does seem to be attracted to walls (latex paint?) and plastics, but it can settle anywhere. It isn't mold, it is an issue with air quality and air flow based on your geography. If you happen to live downwind (or at a lower elevation) of traffic (smog), chimneys, power plants, etc., then you'll get it. If you are lucky enough to live at a higher elevation, then it settles below your location. It has a slight magnetic quality, sometimes aligning with nail-pops in walls or ceilings, meaning that it is a by-product of burning (internal combustion, fireplaces, etc.), so the sources are numerous.
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