NEW HOME, TOXIC AIR THE HVAC NOBODY TESTS

New Homes Can Still Harm
Dr Pompa 0:00

I think it should be illegal to put HVAC systems in attics.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I think it's just a lot of building science deficiency that people are not thinking about, even with HVAC systems.

Dr Pompa 0:11

If my son just chose to sell and move and not fix it, the next family, the next family, they're all going to get sick. It's affecting you and your family. And you don't smell it, you don't see it, and that's the danger.

SPEAKER_01 0:25

We think new home, no problems, beautiful home, no problems, but unfortunately that's just not the case.

Mold Dogs Then Targeted Testing
Dr Pompa 0:43

We discussed that with the mold dog, right? Yep. And um because, first of all, we don't know if it's a problem or not just because Gus or the mold dog finds it, right? So you were able to go in after Gus because he kind of finds the hot spots, right? So kind of explain that a little bit and then we'll get to what we uh uncovered.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah, absolutely. So Gus and Stacy do a great job of finding those initial spots and isolating them, kind of identifying where there might be issues. And then it's up to us to kind of come in behind and do boroscope and some other, you know, use some other tools and measurements and devices to try and confirm. Um that comes down to also testing, right? So like even the shower spot, we we took an air cavity sample in there just to confirm what we have back there.

Dr Pompa 1:23

The extent because that's where testing works, once you actually find a hot spot. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Then we can see, okay, how big of a problem is it, what kind of molds are there. So but most people try to test without finding the hot spot. And that's what happened here.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yep.

Dr Pompa 1:37

So in my son's house as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, a lot of just ambient, um, ambient air sampling, too. So just you know, kind of a spray and pray approach of trying to get these spores, but a lot of them are isolated. We have densities of spores, uh, the different sizes and variables, even just airflow over those filters is very low, right? It's 15 liters per minute. So that can change, and that's typically why we like to get uh a very dedicated space to actually pull air from after we agitated it.

Dr Pompa 2:03

In that case, you was behind the wall. Yeah. Right? I mean, that's where we went in with a hole, went in with the camera, saw where it was, and then you're able to test that and figure out a problem. Okay, so we we found something

Attic Stains And Roof Leaks
Dr Pompa 2:15

else, right? So because uh Gus couldn't go up into my attic, right? But that's a place that you always, always look. And by the way, you were up on my roof. Matter of fact, we have videos of you up on my roof, right, looking for potential problem areas, which then can help you determine maybe what's going on underneath. So you went up into my attic into some really small crawl spaces. Okay. So what are some of the things that you found?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yeah, absolutely. So we always like to get on the roof and in the attic crawl spaces if you have them. Luckily, none here. Um but yeah, so we crawled back there, got to the attic, and we saw some decking that was uh stained, right? So we saw a big area of staining. But meaning under the roof. Under the roof, yep, right under that that deck and that sheathing right there, just all black. So there's at some point there was a leak there, maybe it was brought in like that. Maybe it happened during construction. Um so took a swab of that and uh we're gonna see what comes back there. But it's it's an issue, right? Because that can come through pathways like we were talking about with pressurization of the house. Um and that was interesting. You're talking about how you feel when you come into this space, which is right above,

Pressure Pathways Into Living Spaces
SPEAKER_01 3:15

right?

Dr Pompa 3:15

Yeah, the irony is that would be the only thing. It's like in the morning, I would come in and it into my kitchen, and not every morning, but many mornings I'd get dizzy. Yep. And you explain if when the attic's positively pressurized, that will come in through the lights into the house. And I feel because I'm very sensitive. So I was like, oh my gosh, it literally right above me where I typically feel it. Like that's you know the irony of that. Um, and then you found another spot. And again, now I'm we're gonna have that properly remediated. Yep. And my remediation guy is here. I hopefully I can pull him in just to talk a little bit about why it's important to build a containment. Because if someone goes up there and just starts sanding and treating, all those spores go into all my insulation through my house.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Correct. Yeah, correct. Yeah, we want to isolate it, want to get posit uh negative pressure on it, contain it, decontamination chamber for pulling those components out. Want to remove any of the porous materials like all that insulation, right? That now has spores that are selling, settling on it. Um, clean the framing, right? So wire brush under hepper shrouded tool. And that's all something we'll write in a protocol. So it's it's actually the step-by-step of what we recommend for the area.

Remediation Needs Real Containment
Dr Pompa 4:21

And that's where a lot of people go wrong. They don't hire the right person remediating. That's why I I wanted him here to complete the whole thing, right? I mean, I didn't know if I was gonna find anything or not, right? But we're I was really doing this all for this information because Jonathan, you have no idea how many people we deal with that have got their home tested and they're it's fine, it's fine. They're not fine. Yep. And then we bring a mold dog in and a building biologist like you, and all of a sudden we find stuff. Yep. And then they get their lives back. So first of all, I appreciate what you do. And I I love the fact that you travel because my program's virtual. So our people are all around the country, so we have to do it right. And we're trying to get Jim, our remediator, to start traveling too. But okay, so you found something else too. I went up on the roof. I don't recommend you do that. But um, where the chimney case is where the, you know, you have pipes come out, one of them was moved and it broke the seal. I could see it. So I didn't know if water got in there or not, but you f said you saw water stains running down, and you didn't know if it went in the area or not, but you found that.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Yep, correct. Yeah. So thank you for pointing that one out and getting up on the roof. And yeah, so we we crawled all the way back and we saw underneath on that sheathing on the casing, there was some staining around that particular pipe that you pointed out, and it did trail down that pipe. So it goes down to a chase that we need to check now.

Dr Pompa 5:39

Yeah, yeah, we haven't even checked there yet. We're about to. I'm trying to do these interviews as this goes on.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yep.

Dr Pompa 5:44

So we're gonna we're gonna check that out fully. But you know, what I what I want people to hear is just this is a a newer home, two-year-old home. How common this is. You know, built things aren't either built right or they are built right with good intentions, but bad things can still happen. Yeah. Right? Like that pipe was moved, it broke the seal. I mean, any that can happen to anyone, right? So and I'm not sure what happened up here yet. Um it could have been nails, it could have been something that allowed that water to come in, who knows? Um, but we're gonna find out. But you went to my son's house, which was four years old, yeah, and it was a heck of a lot worse than

A Four Year Old House Disaster
Dr Pompa 6:22

this. What what did you find? Four-year-old home. First of all, Gus came in.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

Yeah.

Dr Pompa 6:26

His house, I I said this on one of the earlier podcasts, his house was tested several ways and it was found to be okay. Gus didn't think so, you didn't think so.

unknown 6:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

Um, so yeah, Gus pointed out a lot of areas that we dug a little bit deeper into. Um, and it was like I was telling you, kind of like the layers of the onion, right? Like we found some areas, and then as we started, you know, addressing those areas, got the testing back and saying, okay, this is a remediation scope and plan. Let's attack those regions. As we did that, we pulled insulation from the attic, we got that all removed. The remediators did that, and then we started finding all these different areas of you know, leaks from the roof line, uh, you know, siding issues, uh, standing metal seam roof had issues, uh, chimney enclosures were all leaking around it, and that actually leveled out multiple floors.

Dr Pompa 7:13

Now that house was built like crap.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Yeah.

Dr Pompa 7:15

Like, you know, unlike this house, it was actually built good, and there were still issues that happened, right? I want people to hear that. This house was not built right. You know, it matters you found that, tell me if I'm wrong, but the the roof shield, the you know how they built a roof like with basically the wood first and then they put a sealer on it, Tyvek or whatever it's called.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Yep.

Dr Pompa 7:36

Um, and they were two feet short of coming all the way to the end.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Correct.

Dr Pompa 7:42

Like to me, that builder should be arrested. I mean, because here's the problem is if my son just chose to sell and move and not fix it, the next family, the next family, they're all going to get sick. Yep. Because that house and the windows, whatever though Stacy described it, that they weren't sealed, so we had condensation mold around most of the windows and doors.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Yep. I mean it's insane. Yeah, it's uh thermal bridging around all those areas and gaps. And without a mold dog, it's something that we can't really like find, yeah, you know, unless there's a lot of signs and symptoms. Or if we do a wall cavity sample, so that's the blessing of having uh Stacy and Gus. But yeah, a lot of just building deficiencies and just errors, you know, just just basic errors that lead to these big problems of intrusion and growth and keep people sick, you know. And see, we think new home, no problems, beautiful home, no problems, but unfortunately that's just not

Live Seminar Invitation And Testing
SPEAKER_01 8:32

the case.

Dr Pompa 8:32

Join me live in Houston in October 16th through the 18th. First time ever, doing a public seminar for 20 years doing doctor seminars. That's why I'm really excited about this. Look, for my followers, people looking for an answer, want to know more about mold illness, want to know more about heavy metal toxicity, want to know more about hormone conditions, thyroid conditions, and even find what's wrong with you. Well, that's what we're doing at this seminar. Oh, yeah, you're gonna take the very test, something called a visual contrast sensitivity that can look for something called biotoxic illness. You're gonna fill out our AI version of our neurotoxic assessment that all my doctors use. Okay, because we're going to involve you in the discovery. Why? Because people are looking for answers. So I said if I'm doing a seminar, I want people to experience what I do, what I've been teaching. And look, of course, we're gonna have amazing teachers. We're gonna have breakouts on these topics, right? You're gonna hear breakouts about weight loss resistance, health in children, you're gonna hear breakouts about mold, how to build homes safely, what you need to do in your home to make it safe. We're gonna be blowing the lid off of some of these topics that really nobody's talking about is causative factors for why so many people are sick. I'm gonna put a link below. All the details are there, but it is October 16th through the 18th in Houston. People are flying in from all over the world. So can you? Look, you want answers, uh answers that you're never gonna hear in another seminar. Come to this one. You're gonna be blown away. Check it out. Where where would be last point?

Where Problems Hide Most Often
Dr Pompa 10:09

Tell people where that you find the biggest issues, because you've done you know hundreds of if not thousands of homes.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Yeah. Um I would say the windows, big issues in the windows, uh chimneys are another big one. And then now we're seeing a lot of uh sewer gas intrusion that we were talking about, so endotoxins, right? Um and that's that's a big thing. And you measured that here today? Yeah. Yeah. We took a four-gas meter and looked all around the plumbing stacks and everything to make sure nothing was leaking. Um we always recommend typically a plumber smoke test, too. That's something that, you know, biotoxin leading and a lot of these people talk about as uh a great source for finding leaks in the home because it's not just mold and mycotoxins we're thinking about, it's biotoxins in general, right? So plumbing can be a big one, especially even just pea traps that dry out and start to backflow into the house.

Dr Pompa 10:55

So yeah, and you tested all that. And you also went in the attic, you test did smoke testing to see which way the air was moving, because that was a problem with my son's house. There was no airflow, am I right? So that's why there was so much mold in the attic. Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Yep. It was stale and there was framing mold, and then they had a lot of interstitial spaces like over the patio that were just right up to a living space. So you have that thermodynamic of hot versus cold and condensation potential. So I think it's just a lot of building science deficiency that people are not thinking about, even with HVAC systems, right? Like yours are in a nice conditioned space. Most times they're outside, they're a package unit, it's a contrasting temperature, so it's a big issue.

Dr Pompa 11:32

You know, and I I think it should be illegal to put HVAC systems in attics. Agreed. Yeah, because invariably there's a an issue that the insulation breaks away or something, or it's a in condensation and massive. I I've watched people get sick with that so many times. Yeah. And I had a friend that um his house was tested several times. Uh-huh. And a woman said, I, you know, I just think your house has mold. I sense it. Well, I had it tested so many times, right? They brought a mold dog in and they found it. Wow. And yeah, it was in the HVAC system because of what happened in the attic. But the dog was just, you know, constantly going to the events and it smelled it.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

So yeah, and the HVAC is to that point a huge issue, usually either the primary or the secondary reservoir for mold, right? Because it's such a condensed area. Yeah. And usually um, in a lot of states that we see, even in different parts of the world, they happen on the exterior, right? Or in attics or unconditioned spaces where they're just trying to blow the opposite temperature in whatever season it's in. So you have that high potential for growth. And then you have things like ductboard, which is uninsulated, you know, unfaced insulation. Yeah. Just a reservoir for mold and dust and all sorts of bacteria.

Dr Pompa 12:41

So it's such a common problem. I would say HVAG, you said them HVAGs, windows, doors, chimneys, um crawl spaces.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Yes, crawl spaces are brutal. My son's was bad, right? Yeah, he did. I mean, definitely not one of the worst ones we've seen. So his was his was a little better than we usually see, but there were some leap points there, you know, and it just depends on how they sealed everything, how they plan for drainage around the outside of the house, um, all that comes into play, and and a lot of times they're just not thinking about it, or just how even it's encapsulated. A lot of times they're unencapsulated, right? So um they can be there can be a lot of issues, and even when now they're spray foaming everything shut.

Dr Pompa 13:16

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Now you have no ability to see any damage, even just from termites, but let alone moisture damage, right?

Dr Pompa 13:21

Right. And so a lot of times if it's spray foam, it's on the outside of the you know, it was like the one up there, they're pushed in with positive pressure. Yep. And you're it's affecting you and your family.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

100%.

Dr Pompa 13:32

And you don't smell it, you don't see it, and that's the danger. Gus smells it.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Gus smells it, yeah. And they have in those crawl spaces, they're running a lot of duct work usually or systems down there, right? So and they're not always sealed. I mean, they're never usually 100% sealed, right? So that there's potential, like you said, how small those ultra fine particulate are to get into the system along with hyphal fragments and cell wall degradation and all that to make all these inflammagens and and pronounce them into the space, into the living space.

How To Get Help And Share
SPEAKER_01 13:58

Tell them where to find you. Yeah, jfhealthyhomes.com, Instagram, JF Healthy Homes.

Dr Pompa 14:03

And uh And he travels, man. He came all the way here. Yeah. Yep. And you know, I I want people to hear this because I know I can't I've been doing this for over 20 years. Yeah. And I deal with sick people who can't find what's wrong. And I teach my doctors this all the time and my coaches. If someone's doing all these things and they're still not right, their hormones aren't right, they can't lose weight. You know, one of the first places I look is their home. And I don't want some stupid air test. You know, I I want someone like Gus coming in and someone like you coming in. Thank you. Um and then I also look at the mouth because I don't know if you know this, but a lot of people get sick from here. Yes. But these are the causative factors that in my space people aren't really looking. If you remove the interference, the butt God designed our bodies to heal, and that's the reality. But where I find we're missing it in alternative medicine, um whatever you want to call it, functional medicine, they're spending a lot of money on testing, not just their homes, but their bodies. Right. And we're missing it. Yep. But I'm telling you, if you get to the cause, that's how you get people well. That's how I got my life back. I didn't get my life back by taking hormones. I didn't put my life back by uh doing genetic testing or taking the next vitamin. I got it by removing the cause. Yep. And sick homes was a part of my perfect storm uh as well as this, as well as mercury in my brain. Yeah. But that's why you're here, bro. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Okay, you need to share this show because people need to hear this information. This is the most important, impactful uh episode I've ever done on the Dr. Pompa podcast because so many people need to hear this information. And this time I brought the resources that we use in my program and we use to help people that are sick and challenged around the country. Share this, please, Dr. Pompa Podcast. Thanks for being here, man.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Thanks for having me.