I've had a major, major aspergillus/penicillium problem develop in my home. The spore counts in the air were 10k+ compared to an ambient outdoor count of 40. The industrial hygenist and the independent mold remediators are both telling me that all the drywall has to be torn out where attached to the concrete block walls because the furring strips and the drywall itself is contaminated. They are also telling me that the parquet floors need to be torn out because they weren't properly sealed and the mold is likely down in all the cracks. I asked them about sanding the parquet down and sealing it now. They said they wouldn't recommend it but that I should ask a flooring specialist about it. They think the parquet floors are low quality and won't tolerate much sanding. I'd guess the strips are about 1/4 inch in depth. I'm mostly loathe to tear out the floors because this disaster is already costing me tens of thousands of dollars and I'm looking to save a buck anywhere I can at this point. Any advice is much appreciated! Even if it's tough love. I just want to make sure I'm not passing over any more affordable options that would be just as safe from a health perspective.

Is the parquet on concrete floor? Where is the moisture coming from? Slab on grade construction? What is the climate? Fix the moisture problem first. Install InSoFast on the block walls. Consider a decorative concrete floor instead of wood, if it is on concrete.

Think rationally before throwing money at everything.

Thanks for responding, Brad!

I'm chagrined to admit that the moisture problem came from not using air conditioning in the North Carolina piedmont, for five years. We'd open windows at night to let the cool (humid) air in and then close them during the day and use ceiling fans. This year nothing dried out for months because it rained every day or every other day. I ran a dehumidifier during the day sometimes but it wasn't enough for a 2200 sqft house.

Another source of moisture was the foundation. The ground got so saturated with constant rain this summer that I had water sheeting across the yard and up against the foundation like never before. So moisture was probably getting wicked up into the block from there. It's block from the 50s which is supposedly more porous. I've fixed the grading but will be doing even more to address that issue.

Naturally, I'm going to be installing a central air conditioning system once I get the place decontaminated.

The parquet is on plywood, not on concrete.

Knowing all that, any new advice for me?

Btw - I was looking at InSoFast and was wondering how it works when all the electrical is already installed. I see that it's easy to run wire new, but if the wire isn't already run where the grooves are in the InSoFast, won't I have trouble installing the InSoFast - or have to pay a ton to have all the electrical wiring re-run?

do you have a basement or crawl space? How is that space finished? has that space ever had water on the floor?

We have a crawl space. I had it sealed 4 years go. Up the walls, 12 inch overlaps, insulation on the foundation, the whole nine. There haven't been any infiltration problems that I'm aware of since then. I had a dehumidifier with pump-out running down there, but I figured out late in this very wet summer that the dehumidifier was shot. I heard it running so I thought it was working but eventually I got smart and put a collector to see how much moisture it was evacuating and it was nothing, even when it should have been. I didn't realize dehumidifiers often don't last more than 3-5 years. So, it was probably as damp as the living quarters were much of the summer.

You can grove the back of the InSoFast as needed for electrical and anything else. Also if the electric cables are or can be loosened you can often set them in the channels.

Nothing - I mean NOTHING needs to be torn out for mold. Get guardz sealer for hidden area, polyurethane for areas that show. Seal it up and live on. Source: Someone who knows the hell of allergies and how simple and easy it is to mitigate.