Mold Infestation

[DadOfFour]

Help!!!!!!!!

We just bought a home and I've discovered a horrible mold issue. I've found black mold all over the drywall in one of the bathrooms (it's going to be a total gut), there's mold behind the wallpaper, there's mold in the floor joists, there's mold in the underlayment all through the kitchen (it's probably in the carpet too) I spoke with a local contractor who's had experience with mold and his suggestion was to go room by room tearing down wallpaper and if I find any mold to tear out that wall and re-drywall it. I've got four young kids, two of whom have had breathing troubles in the past, so I need to get this taken care of asap, however my last name isn't Rockefeller, so I need some suggestions on how to fix this problem, and hopefully not break the bank.

 

[inspectorD]

You need better advice. Get out a company to help you out doing this project, how much money is your family worth. Never take down anything with mold until you scope out what type it is, you could make it worse.

Also you need to find the source of moisture and fix that first, otherwise it starts all over.

 

[MWStout]

You should also contact your lawyer (if you had one) on the house purchase. If you did not have a lawyer for the transaction, ask you real estate broker for a recommendation. You need to get advice on what recourse (if any) you have against the seller. Depending on the law of your state, certain conditions must be disclosed if the seller was aware of the problem. Latent defects are not necessarily covered, but this is worth looking at. It should not take him more than two hours of time to figure this out and make some calls. Tell him that when you hire him. Depending on his initial evaluation you can decide if it is worth going after the seller.

Also, before you do anything, you should contact your insurance agent and go over your homeowners policy. Although many policies are now excluding or limiting coverage for mold, this is worth investigating. You may have to include your lawyer on this as well. Good luck.

 

[mikemeier]

You could also try a mail in mold test kit. Most home centers sell them. It will at least tell you what kind of mold you have. Some aren't as bad as others, but all will usually affect allergies and asthma.

 

[mooie]

I am just going thru the same thing myself altho limited to a wall between the bathroom and bedroom. Most likely I will come across more as I get deeper into the house, but this is as far as I've gone. The previous owners claimed no knowledge, of course, so I had to turn to my insurance co. who sent in a remediation company and after I had the source of the problem fixed, they tore out all the affected drywall, removed insulation, cleaned all the affected wood and sprayed them with something? Then I had 48 hours of negative fans running in the back end of the house before I could get the drywaller in to repair. This is just the beginning of undisclosed things I found in the house, (such as rotted boards along the sill and asbestos pipe wrap in the crawl space) and altho it probably won't do me a darn bit of good, I have contacted a lawyer to see if I have any recourse.

Teresa