When Paivi Salo, M.Sc., began his study of eight homes under construction in North Carolina, he wanted to identify building practices and materials that promoted fungal infestations in new homes. By the time his research ended two years later, Salo had documented architectural flaws, construction errors, and negligence by contractors and new homeowners that virtually ensured serious fungal contamination inside the homes. Salo saw building materials black with fungi after they were stacked in puddles and mud, found leaky and unsealed ducts that promoted numerous problems, noted uninsulated cooling system components that caused condensation, and photographed poor grading that led to drainage woes.
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