UPDATE: Readers write about housing conditions in their hometowns:

I am sure there are many homes in other communities that are probably in bad shape similar to those in Quinhagak if not worse. I am writing to you in regards to homes in Metlakatla that were built in the 70's, 80's, and possibly in the 90's that are structurally unsound for our climate conditions, extremely wet and humid. Some homes also were supposedly modified to take care of the water and/or dampness and were similar to the vapor lock fix as referred in your article and this fix only compounded the problem with mold. Respiratory problems do exist with many of the community residents and I didn't think about the possibility of the homes they live in being the source. ...
-- Arlene, Metlakatla

...

In rural Alaska, most HUD Home Designs are going to have the same problems in a lot of the different villages. In Wales in a 1976 house, my mother in 1990 was fixing their bed, and by the window her foot punched a hole thru a plywood floor that had a vinyl tile, and if her jacket got soaking wet in the rain she still weighed less than 120 pounds.
In some homes, you can pull plywood off easily once you get a grip on a corner, even the wall studs could be rotted out.
We look forward to seeing how the UAF home (in Anaktuvuk Pass) holds out. The State gets most of its operating revenue from rural Alaska, and spends the majority of it in urban areas - once the oil runs out - most of those people will just move, we live here. Why can't the State & Fed regulators for oil & gas just cap rural Alaska petroleum prices at Anchorage prices.
In the winter these houses are cold, and now very expensive to heat - it is not right that this is happening.
-- Toby

...

I live in Marshall in a house that was built for AVCP Housing Authority in 1978. It was built in Idaho for the low-income housing program. From the beginning, you could see that the building was made from low grade products. Mold and mildew are a major problem, and my wife was recently diagnosed with asthma as a result. It has since been turned over to me, but before it was, the housing authority did a cover up of the rotted wood and drywall inside and out, sealing the mold inside the walls. I pointed out the rotting beams that were uncovered at the time the work was being done, but the superintendent brushed it off, saying they were not to deal with any of those type of problems and just covered up the rot. Right now our floor is rotting out because of the cover up and will be expensive to replace. The high cost of living in the bush prevents people from spending on those things. I think if the government is going to provide these houses, they should make sure they are safe before turning them over, not give people rotten products. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. I can't help but feel cheated after paying so much on the house for years and ending up with a very unhealthy and low grade product.
-- David, Marshall

ORIGINAL POST:

Photo by Aaron Cooke, Cold Climate Housing Research Center.

As many as a third of homes in the Lower Kuskokwim village of Quinhagak are rotting and potentially unsafe, officials with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center said today.

Researchers recently visited Quinhagak to look at 55 homes built in the 1970s, chief projects officer Ryan Colgan told roughly 75 people at a downtown meeting on Alaska housing.

“Our visit revealed a real concern that these structures may be unsafe for occupancy," read the center’s PowerPoint presentation to U.S. Deputy Housing Secretary Ron Sims. "These concerns involve inhabitants’ physical safety due to the soundness of the structures and the health and safety due to the presence of mold.”

They illustrated the point with a photo of a screwdriver someone had pushed into the wooden foundation of one of the homes.

What’s alarming is that Quinhagak can’t be the only village suffering the same problem.

“That’s why you see such a high rate of respiratory illness in the Y-K Delta,” said Aaron Cooke, an architectural designer who visited the village.

He said that upgrading the homes made the problem worse by creating a kind of double vapor lock that traps water in the walls.

Mayor Joe Klejka described almost exactly the same problem in Bethel when I asked about the sagging city fire hall. “The wood turns to powder,” Klejka said back in July.

If you live in a village or city where there are widespread problems with mold and rotting walls, please e-mail me at khopkins@adn.com.

The good news for Quinhagak is that the Cold Climate Housing Research Center plans to work on a prototype home for the village – just as they have for Anaktuvuk Pass.

More later.

Photo by Aaron Cooke, Cold Climate Housing Research Center.