WIRE GAUGE QUESTION

I found this question in my most recent Popular Mechanic rag......

The general question I have, and I believe most do-it-yourselfers have, is about the mixing of 12 gauge and 14 gauge wires in a home improvement project.  An electrician told me you can go from 14 gauge to 12 gauge wire but you cannot go the other way.  I figured that if you connected the 12 gauge wire to one side of an outlet you could safely hook a 14 gauge wire to the other side and extend it to additional outlets.  Do you agree?

SOUTHERN UTAH MOLD STORY

HURRICANE, UT - November 14, 2001 — For Hurricane resident Mitzi Vaughn it’s the little things — her Bible, her photos and family heirlooms. Vaughn’s husband, Rick Vaughn, may have to leave behind his grandfather’s yachting trophies. 

“These are things that can never be replaced,” she said. 

The Vaughns are afraid they may lose their house, furniture and all other possessions to a blanket of green and black mold clinging to the walls of their bathroom. 

After a laboratory test indicated the presence of stachybotrys, a toxic mold, in their home the Vaughns were told the only things they could safely remove were items made of plastic, ceramic or vinyl. If the mold spores attach themselves to other porous materials they could conceivably be spread to other buildings where the Vaughns’ possessions might be taken. If the spores are spread to moist environments active mold could result. 

After the deadly mold was found in her home, Mitzi Vaughn spoke with a man in Oregon who burned his house down after laboratory results confirmed the presence of stachybotrys. He told her the only way to get rid of the mold was to burn the house down. Others say the mold could be cleaned off without burning the home. 

While the fate of their home is still under debate the Vaughns worry they may have to leave their home and their possessions behind. 

The Vaughns moved into their home on 800 North in April 1995. Mitzi Vaughn’s first symptoms began in May of that year, including headaches, muscle spasms, depression, sinus infections and chronic flu-like symptoms. 

“It was just like having a flu every day of your life,” Mitzi Vaughn said. 

Rick Vaughn experienced fewer symptoms because he worked outside the home every day, say the Vaughns, but he did experience some health problems. 

“It just took away all my energy,” Rick Vaughn said. 

During her six years in the home Mitzi Vaughn has undergone two sinus surgeries and 18 electric shock treatments. She even had a surgery for temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), thinking it would reduce some of her symptoms. It did not. After leaving house each time for different treatments she would return home and get sick again. 

“Every time I was in a hospital I got to feeling better so they let me come home,” Mitzi Vaughn said. “The minute I got home I would get sick again.” 

The depression was arguably the worst of what the Vaughns believe are illnesses caused by mold. 

“In December of 1999 we had friends over for New Year’s Eve and after they left I walked through my bedroom door and didn’t come out for three months,” Mitzi said. “I was so depressed.” 

Both Vaughns say they have experienced mold-induced memory loss. They have what they refer to as “mold moments,” when they cannot remember simple facts. 

Mitzi Vaughn first suspected mold infestation when her doctor told her she had chronic sinus infections. She looked for the causes of chronic sinus infections on Internet. What she read indicated that most cases are caused by mold in home. 

Earlier this year a pipe for outside faucets broke inside the Vaughn’s dining room wall. 

“It flooded for a good 25 to 30 minutes before Rick could get someone to come over and turn it off,” Mitzi Vaughn said. A cleaning company came over to get rid of the water. 

“What they failed to do was put a dryer in to dry out the wooden studs,” Mitzi Vaughn said. 

The Vaughns saw mold growing on wall after the cleaning. 

“The minute I saw mold I called the insurance company,” Mitzi said. 

AAA Disaster and Cleaning Services of St. George then came and got rid of the mold. AAA brought a dryer as part of the second cleaning. 

Things greatly improved after the AAA cleaning. 

Then about two weeks later got Mitzi Vaughn got sick again. In an effort to remedy the problem the Vaughns repainted a couple rooms with mold-resistant paint. As they were painting they saw little black spots on their bathroom wall above the shower. 

“We saw this horrible, horrible black green stuff,” Mitzi Vaughn said. 

They sent a sample of the mold to Aerotech Laboratories, Incorporated in Arizona. The results confirmed what Mitzi Vaughn suspected - Stachybotrys chatarum mold (known by its synonym Stachybotrys atra). The black spots represented a separate mold problem from the dining room mold that began when water entered the house through a leak in the roof. 

Mold spores of all kinds - including stachybotrys - can lie inactive on a surface until they are introduced to a moist environment. 

The Vaughns have been in and out of hotels and are currently renting a house across the street from their home until their insurance company decides if/how much of the cleaning process will be covered. 

Mike Johnson, manager at AAA Disaster, said that process would involve gutting the bathroom and sterilizing the rest of the home and its contents. In the bathroom the sheet rock would have to be removed. The wooden studs below would be sealed with a mold-resistant coating. 

Johnson said an environmental hygienist would instruct the workers on the exact manner of cleaning. Afterward they test the entire house to make sure the mold is gone. 

Although many think dangerous molds only exist in humid climates the Vaughn’ s home is not the first home with Stachybotrys AAA has seen in Southern Utah. 

“We deal with a lot of these,” said AAA owner Curt Bracken. 

They recently finished cleaning a home in Springdale that had even more visible Stachybotrys mold than the Vaughn home. In that home the black spots of mold covered the walls of an entire basement. 

Bracken said burning homes with toxic mold generally only occurs in humid climates where the mold is likely to return even after extensive cleaning. The dry climate of Southern Utah would help prohibit re-growth so likely the environmental hygienist would not recommend burning the house down as a remedy for mold.