PBS is a good stress reliever. Shows like The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood decreases blood pressure points. Another show that does that is This Old House. First, Bob Vila used to lead the charge, and now, Kevin O’Connor hosts the show. There is something satisfying about watching the transformation process, particularly when a house is raised when it seemed sure that it would be razed. Mold, or water damage, is often a troublesome issue to address.
When a house has mold, one needs to rip out the moldy materials - carpet, sheetrock, trim, etc. If it isn’t ripped out, the mold will keep coming back.
Often, the question is asked: Why not just burn the house down? The best answer to that is that it will do more harm than good. The toxic smoke will contains the mold spores, and these spores will aimlessly spiral through the air and land where they please. This means that people can inhale the spores into their lungs, and the spores can and will infiltrate other structures, if the conditions are right. Plus, there is no guarantee that the mold is gone, even after a blaze. It can still lurk in the soil, in cracks, and on surfaces.
Similarly, when a family is full of “mold” - a pernicious pestilence, such as resentment, an unforgiving heart, or a grudge, that continues to grow and destroy the structure, there are two options. The first is to just ignore it and let the “mold” continue to grow to the point that either the inhabitants die or move out. The second is to strip the structure down to the “bones” to discover the source of the problem and rebuild.
Either way, a collective decision needs to be made by the property owners, which is everyone involved, about which option to pursue. Of course, abandonment or a non-decision is a decision. . .for the first option.
Some might say, “it’s just a house, and there are many of them, so just build a new one.” On a metaphorical level, that’s true also. Property owners can break away and curate a new family structure of carefully-vetted friends, other family members or respected/chosen adults and kids.
However, as every website attested, burning or abandoning the house may solve a temporary problem, but it creates even more problems in the long run. In other words, you can build a new structure, or you can curate that new family, but the mold is still present, because you took it with you when you left. If you didn’t treat it, it’s still there.
So is this old house worth saving?
On PBS, I’ve watched Norm, Tom, and Kevin (sort of) do it over and over again. The question is whether or not the property owners are willing to invest and do what it takes - not to rebuild the old one - but to revive and restore it to the home that it was meant to be.
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