From the day I begin investigating...

...behind the Douglas Fir baseboard under which fungus is creeping, I feel as though I have opened a very large can of worms. And I don't intend on going fishing. Or do I?

Pulling off the baseboard reveals even more fungus, as well as MOLD. I pull off a bit of drywall, and notice that the wall studs behind are rotted. Now some detective work.

Only the bottom 3 feet of the studs are rotted, which tells me that the moisture is coming from the floor, and wicking its way up the studs-- or so I think.

As I pull off more drywall and work my way to the corner of the room I make an alarming discovery. On the back wall, which is made of cinder blocks (because there is earth on the other side) the drywall is adhered directly to the wall with a construction adhesive. Is this common?

"What kind of hack artist
adheres sheet-rock
directly to a cinder block wall?"

"Oh no," I mutter.

Despite obvious concerns about adequate behind-wall ventilation (i.e. to dry out any moisture), it just seems plain careless to slap together a wall in this way and call it done.

Part of me wants to carefully put everything back how it was and sell the house. And it must have seemed like such a simple solution to the guy to did it in the first place. What an easy way to get off without having to frame a proper wall.

As I investigate further, I see that the water is wicking its way through the subfloor, too, creating fungus growth between the subfloor and the oak planks, causing them to warp drastically. At this point I sit down in the corner with my face buried in my hands, crying. The realization hits me that the entire room will need to be emptied and torn apart to fix this problem. I choose to wait.

Cut to 1 year later. You know those 'motivation burst' moments-- the ones where you are determined to fix a problem, and you don't care how drastic the measure. One of these hits me, and an hour later the room is emptied. I'm not sure exactly what is driving me-- anger with the guy to did it wrong in the first place, frustration with the problem as a whole, or fear of what will happen to the room if I don't act now. Regardless, I am tearing up wood flooring with a crow bar-- splintered, rotted, mold-infested, fungus-covered oak planks and plywood subfloor flying in all directions. That said, I'm somewhat careful to only tear up what is absolutely necessary, as the water has not crept all the way across the room. Since the drywall won't simply pull off of the cinder block, the only "somewhat easy" way I can find to remove it is to use a jackhammer. I've rented the lightest one from Home Depot, which I am able to hold it up against the wall and chisel away at the construction adhesive. As crazy as it sounds, it is the best feeling to see the drywall GONE, and the corners of the room stripped down to the concrete slab below. By this time, the room smells like a giant mushroom, because of all that is now exposed. God knows what I have exposed myself to, because I'm not wearing a respirator.

But at least now I can get to the bottom of what exactly is causing this problem.

...to be continued