Since May, the Garber family has been living in a fifth wheel, even though their house appears fine. Kelsey said their whole world fell apart after their house tested positive for black mould.

“We had four types of toxic mould. Our worse numbers were in our dirt basement, which is where our furnace is and so then it is circulating through out the house,” Kelsey said.

“We knew we would find something. Our house is 103 years old; it has a dirt basement.”

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The family is the fourth generation to be living in the house near Foremost, Alta.

Kelsey could not have predicted the devastating effects of black mould. Throughout the years, the family had symptoms but none of them seemed to line up. They all experienced fatigue and red eyes.

Kelsey said she would get vertigo every spring, while her husband had a cough since the day she’s met him. Her kids are also greatly affected.

Thirteen year-old Payten has had neurological problems, and was diagnosed with PANDAS, an autoimmune disorder. Ten-year-old Dylan was constantly having stomach pains and bladder issues that appeared to be a urinary tract infection, but tests always came back negative.

The list goes on for all of them.

Now they are out of house, they are noticing some of the symptoms are lifting but it’s unclear if all of them will go away.

“There are so many symptoms and they didn’t make sense and we all had different ones.”

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Kelsey said they thought about testing for mould but it can cost more than $1500, and they kept putting it off.

“The guilt is unreal, because it is some we had thought about and talked about for years,” Kelsey said.

She said some of the symptoms would go away during the warmer months, but it makes sense now because the furnace would be off.

Insurance won’t cover the house or the contents because it’s considered an ongoing issue. The Insurance Bureau of Canada said mould growth happens over time caused by a damp environment.

“Insurance covers specific perils, fire, wind, hail, etc. and does not cover a damp or moist environment that has likely been that way for some time,”  IBC media relations manager Brett Weltman said in an email.

Rainbow Restoration’s Adam Scranton specializes in removing black mould. He said they get about three calls daily about these concerns. He said he hasn’t  seen many cases as bad as the Garbers’.

“A lot of our experience is not what you’re seeing, it’s what you’re not seeing,” Scranton said.

Scranton said if you see even a little bit of mould in an area like a baseboard, if you pull it away there is likely a lot of mould hidden.

“It can form anywhere but the major areas are bathrooms, furnace rooms, anywhere there’s lot of development of water and also not a lot of air movement.”

He said keeping humidity levels between 30 and 50 helps, as well as keeping blinds open so windows don’t trap moisture and even keeping furniture away from the walls can prevent it.

He said it’s usually isolated to individual rooms. Scranton also said symptoms will appear like heavy coughing and flareups of asthma.

What’s next

The Garbers aren’t sure when they will be able to have a new home, but they are getting some help. Kelsey said it’s overwhelming to see the support they’ve had from strangers, community members, friends and family. People coming to drop off meals and offer messages of support have gone a long way.

An online fundraiser was set up and it raised nearly $20,000 to help them start over.

“Our miracle goal is to have (a home) by winter, everything takes time,” Kelsey said.

Kelsey said they will likely have to sell some farm equipment and other items to have enough for a down payment, but they plan to stay on their farm for years to come.

The Garbers want to pay it forward and are donating their house to the fire department.

“They are going to come train with it for a month and hopefully that helps some else if there’s a house fire,” Kelsey said. She noted that because Foremost is a small community there aren’t fires daily, and this training could go a long way.

“A house is just a house, home is where your heart is and our home is with our family, our friends, our neighbours,” Kelsey said.