Woman: House for Sale in Taylor a Health Hazard

TAYLOR, Mich. (WJBK) - From afar, it looks like a nice place to call home, but as a FOX 2 viewer says, looks can be deceiving. She claims the house that's up for sale is a health hazard.

It is a house built by high school students. We first reported back in 2006 on the bad roofing job and the mold in the attic. We thought we had the problem resolved, but five years later we've learned it's worse than we ever could have imagined.

"It's been a nightmare," said Wendi Kristobans. "Basically, we would have to tear our house to the ground and start over."

"It turned my life upside down," said John Kristobans. "You work all your life for everything and it's taken away in an instant."

Earlier this year, Wendi, her husband, their son and her mother were told to leave their Taylor home because it was toxic.

"That was a beautiful house, big yard -- gone," John Kristobans said.

FOX 2 first uncovered the problems at 23630 Koths in Taylor back in 2006. A high school class at the Taylor Career and Technical Center had built the house eleven years earlier. Wendi didn't know it had been constructed by students. The roof was a disaster and there was mold in the attic.

Taylor Schools agreed to re-roof the house. They hired Belfour to remediate the mold. However, they allegedly only removed the insulation and painted over the mold.

"We were told that our house was safe. It was mold free," Wendi Kristobans explained.

However, the problem was far from gone.

"She is so, so sick," said Wendi Kristobans.

Her mother, who lives with them, was on life support and almost died. She was diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Her doctors told Wendi to check her house, there was mold and it was making her mother very sick. They were right.

"Eventually it spread through the paint, started coming through the ceilings and became airborne in our home," Wendi Kristobans said.

Michigan Mold Inspectors tested and determined the family had to leave right away.

"He called me the next morning and said, 'You guys need to leave your house immediately. You cannot live there until a professional remediation is done,'" Wendi Kristobans told FOX 2.

Wendi's family had to walk away from their home and everything in it. Remediation would have cost $50,000. They've lost everything, but their old home is now on the market, and they have a word of warning for any potential buyers.

"I just don't want anybody else to go through this. Don't buy this house," Wendi Kristobans said.