A Grovedale family has faced a nightmare before Christmas when black mould was found in their rental home.
Chloe Patison, her husband Steve and their five kids were forced to evacuate their home after discovering potentially deadly levels of toxic mould behind walls and under floors of their property.
The mould was first found in early November when a tile in the bathroom came off and revealed black mould on the wall, spreading to the master bedroom and linen closet.
Ms Patison originally believed the problem was isolated to the bathroom before a mould investigator conducted a spore trap analysis around areas of the home.
“Most of the house was covered in black mould… and the spore count in my son’s bedroom was over 98,000 (90 times the safe range),” she said.
Ms Patison said the results helped explain the illnesses her kids and husband had been experiencing throughout the year.
“You expect that everyone’s going to get a winter sickness, but it just lingered this year for us,” she said.
“The kids’ health has still been a lot better than my husband Steve’s, who has been sick since February of this year. He left his job because of it, and his symptom list is very long.
“When we discovered the mould, because Steve has been so sick, I told him to get out of the house, and he took our two youngest children to his parent’s place in Colac.
“I waited another day to get the mould investigator to come through before I went to my mum’s house with the other kids.”
The family could only take minimal sentimental items from the house when they evacuated it, with many items left behind potentially being destroyed due to exposure.
They have rented the Grovedale home since 2021 and have taken the black mould issue to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Consumer Affairs Victoria.
A GoFundMe was set up for the family and has raised more than $2700 as of noon on Thursday, December 19. People can continue making donations at gofundme.com/f/chloe-steve-and-family
Consumer Affairs Victoria was contacted for comment.
