Real Estate and Mould Problems
[May 26, 2003]
Q.
I am trying to find someone who can help us renters here in
Huntington Beach deal with our landlord. My bathroom is full of
mould by the shower, I tore off the wall the other night to
discover it was covered in black mould and rust. I do not know what
to do. I have been very sick with a really bad cough that will not
ease up-I have seen my Dr three times for this problem, he thought
it was allergies or a cold.....but it isn't getting better. Do you
have any advice?
A. Your first step is to move
out of the apartment so that you don't harm your and your family's
health. When you are already experiencing health problems and you
have already uncovered serious mould infestation, you need to get
out. Don't move any of your personal property and clothing until
you have first done mould decontamination in accordance with the
standards and techniques explained in our book Do it yourself
Mould Prevention, Inspection, Remediation, & Testing Guide
which is available at
Mould Mart Second, before you relinquish
possession of the apartment have it thoroughly inspected and
tested by one of our Certified Mould Inspectors---visit:
Mould
Profession If you cannot afford to have pro
mould inspection, use our do it yourself mould test kits with our
expert mould lab analysis [Mould
Mart].
Next you need to find out what legal rights you have against your
landlord. Buy a one hour consultation with an environmental
attorney in your area [Mould
Lawyer].
[May 17, 2003]
Q. Just
yesterday, we had sewage water spilling into our condo. We used
a water hvac that the condo association supplied and got up most of
the standing water. This was a major undertaking. We started at
7:40 a.m. and didn't stop until 3:00 p.m. We had water all
through our bedroom, in our bathroom, down our hall. We had to
tear up our carpet and padding. We have cement floors
underneath. We live in a basement unit. We also had to tear up
our new Pergo floor. Today, Sunday, we walked outside our front
door and there was more standing water in the hall seeping into
our unit. We were standing in the water all day yesterday to clean
up the place. The condo association tells us they will send in a
sanitation crew. We have a cat and after reading the news article
on Mr. McMahon, I am REALLY WORRIED about the cat's health and
ours. Can you please give us some advice on how to handle this
situation.
A.
Sewage contamination can
cause both massive mould infestation and deadly biological
contamination of your condo. Insist upon the following remediation
steps, and get an environmental attorney if necessary to pursue
your legal rights [
Mould Lawyer ]. Any
building materials such as walls, ceilings, and materials and
timbers INSIDE your condo's walls that were wet for more than 24
hours can now be experiencing massive mould growth. You need to
insist that that at least any wall areas that were flooded be
stripped of drywall [strip at least 2 feet higher than the flood
level]. All insulation in such exposed areas needs to be
discarded. The wood timbers will have to be cleaned with either a
power planer or with a wire brush attachment to an electric
grinder. Then the cleaned out area, plus your concrete floors need
to be sprayed at least twice with antimicrobial coating. Both before
and after such work your condo rooms' air and hvac duct air flow
need to be tested for the presence of elevated airborne mould
spores. Read mould removal instructions at:
Mould Removal. Alternatively, you
can also hire our Certified Mold Remediators to effectively do entire home
mold remediation.
[April 24, 2003]
Q. We recently had a home built and moved in about 2
months ago. The top of the split level is completely finished but
the daylight basement is just ruffed in. It had been insulated
after framing was completed, however. My husband and I are now
working on beginning to finish the basement. While running some
additional electrical wires we happened to pull back some of the
insulation and discovered that the plywood was covered with mould.
It seems to be most prominent in the 2 north facing bedrooms. We
have not found any mould in the other areas of the basement. There
is no evidence of any leaks and the bedrooms are not even located
under any of the plumbing. Is there a possibility that some of
the materials could have been wet when the insulation was put
in?—this would have been about 4-5 months ago in November. How
fast would the mould have spread? The mould is seems to be very
dark green to black in color and I am concerned about various
health issues. Should we be concerned that there may be mould
behind the drywall upstairs? I can’t believe that we are dealing
with this problem already. We contacted our contractor immediately
and he agreed to come take a look at it. What would you
recommend?
A.
It is very possible that mould-contaminated building materials were
used in the building of the home. It is also likely that the
building materials got rained on while waiting to be used or
during rough framing, especially since your house is not even
closed in yet. Also high humidity [60%] at any time during the
past construction period can drive mould growth. All of the mould
contaminated building materials need to be removed, thrown away,
and replaced with new, mould-free materials after the cleaned out
area has been sprayed with 2 wet sprayings of antimicrobial protective
coating. The other areas you are concerned about can be viewed
internally with the use of a fiber optics inspection device. It
would be very wise for you to have your home carefully inspected
and mould tested by a Certified Mould Inspector. Visit:
Mould Profession. You should also visit the
webpage:
New Home Mould.
[April 14, 2003]
Q.
I recently purchased a town house in Florida and the building
inspector never mentioned mould in his report or verbally. I found
black mould (large amounts) in three places (washer/dryer area),
closet, and the bathroom. I did contact him and his reply was the
previous owner had stuff that he did not move to check. I purchased
the place in December and still haven't moved in. I never could
figure out what was making me sick until I read up about mould. What
should I do?
A.
Your first step is to collect samples of the visible mould in each
location using the Scotch lift tape sampling technique, and then
send the samples a mould laboratory for
expert mould lab analysis and mould identification. You should also
use mould test kits to test the various rooms of the house for
elevated levels of unhealthy mould spores. You should also test for
the same problem inside your hvac ducts, attic, and crawl space, or basement. For a professional, experienced
Certified Mould
Inspector,
please visit: Mould
Profession. After you study the mould test results from our lab, you should
then get competitive mould remediation bids from at least 3
reliable mould contractors. In any future home or real estate
purchases, hire a Certified Mould Inspector for a thorough mould
inspection and testing IN ADDITION to hiring a traditional home
inspector [who usually lacks the special training, expertise, and
equipment required for effective mould inspections and testing]. If
you believe the real estate seller intentionally failed to disclose
mould contamination to you, you should find a mould lawyer by
visiting:
Mould Lawyer.
[April 8, 2003]
Q. I'm about to purchase a house
in Poughkeepsie, NY, and my inspector has found mould (analyzed as
penicillin) in the attic on rafters and where the central air
conditioner unit is located. I know why this has occurred (lack of
ventilation) but would like to know what it would cost to have
someone come in get rid of this mould. The seller has two estimates
for this service with which I don't have any information on. He now
wants to give me 2000 dollars to the cost of this service. I'm
trying to figure out if he is doing this due to the cost being so
high that he doesn't want to pay for the service and wants me to
chip in for it. The home is a L-shaped ranch, 2000 sq ft above
ground, 1000 below. Would it be safer to get rid of the fiber glass
insulation and the A/C duct work and replace with new after the
service is complete? Once I fix the ventilation problem( open up
fascia and put in soffit vents, will the mould grow back and will the
mould that's been left, die?
A. Your first step is to get at least a 30 day extension
time period for your closing this purchase to enable you to arrange
for your own mould inspection, testing, and obtaining mould remediation
bids so that you will know the truth about the mould problem of the
house in question. Second, hire a Certified Mould Inspector [Certified
Mold Inspectors] to do a
very thorough mould inspection and mould testing of the entire home
including all hvac [heating, ventilating, air conditioning] ducts and
the hvac equipment itself. The $2,000 reduction in the purchase price
for you to take care of the mould problem is totally inadequate to pay
for the job which could run from many thousands of dollars to more
than the house is worth, depending on whether the mould contamination
has spread into ceilings and walls from the attic, and into hvac
equipment and ducts. Yes, it would be advisable to replace the hvac
equipment and ducts, but only after mould growth and mould spores have
been removed from the entire home first. Mould remediators will seal
off all of the return air ducts and supply air ducts during mould
remediation so that the moldy hvac will not cross-contaminate the rest
of the home as it is mould remediated. To know all of the steps
required for effective and safe mould remediation, please visit:
Mould Removal
Mould will not grow back after effective mould remediation as long as
there is no future water problem to drive mould growth. Preventing roof
leaks, siding water intrusion, plumbing leaks, and high indoor
humidity [above 50 to 60% humidity] are all essential to preventing
future mould infestation. All mould present in your home needs to be
removed. Good remediation leaves no resident mould [which can live
millions of years in a dormant state waiting for future moisture to
start growing again].
[April 6, 2003]
Q.
During our pre-purchase inspection last week, our inspector (who is
also certified as a mould remediator) found mould growing on the joists
under the house (especially under the sunken living room). In your
experience what is the frequency of such growth also entering the
space between the walls? There is evidence of repairs made to previous
mould damage - so it has been cleaned once before. There are also water
marks up to a foot high on the water heater. The homeowner disclosed a
"previous moisture problem" that was repaired by installation of a
sump pump (which she had placed outside of the home). Other than water
marks under the house, and a need to re-grade part of the yard, there
is no other indication of water damage to the home (nothing on the
walls or in the attic). The interior of the house is spotless - it has
not been lived in for the past 6 months, we've had unprecedented rains
the
past 2 months, and there is no indication of growth in the bathrooms
or kitchen. We are testing the mould colony to determine if there are
toxic moulds there. My husband has asthma, and we have a 2 year old son
- so I am now uncertain of the wisdom in purchasing the house.
A.
Mould growth in crawl spaces and on joists under homes can easily
spread into the floors and walls above. With your husband's asthma
condition, the present house mould problem, the evidence of mould
remediation having been done in the past, and evidence of serious
water problems in the past, it would probably be wise for you to find
a mould-safe house to purchase. Please remember that a house with a
mould problem history is difficult to re-sell, and that mould problems
in the past must be disclosed to all prospective buyers should ever
wish to re-sell this home in the future.
[April 7, 2003]
Q. I
have
lived in a rental unit for a year and a half. About 5 months ago
discovered a pretty bad case of black mould in a room which was leaking
severely. My landlady did not do anything about the issue until 2
months later, when she scrubbed the mould with a sponge and then
painted over it and replaced the carpet. We are about to move and
while removing books from the bookshelf that was against the wall in
the adjacent room (my bedroom) I discovered that the mould was in the
wall and had infested my book case and I happened to breathe it in (a
musty and spore like smell). I now have asthma like symptoms and have
had to get a prescription for an inhaler so that I can breathe at
night. I have a runny nose, I am constantly tired, and my lungs hurt,
not to mention that I have pain in my shoulders and neck. I would like
to get an inspector to come out here to check it out. In live in Napa
Valley, California. I have documented the case of mould since the very
beginning when it was found. The landlady did not seem to think that
it was a big deal but i don't want to be afflicted by this for the
rest of my life.
A. You should collect
samples of the visible mould utilizing the Scotch tape lift tape method
of mould sampling. You can also document possible elevated levels of
airborne mould spores in the air using our do it yourself mould test
kits. For info on mould testing and our expert mould laboratory analysis
and mould identification, please visit:
Mould Mart.
If you would like your rental unit to be inspected and mould tested by
a Certified Mould Inspector, please visit:
Certified Mold Inspectors
. Besides finding a mould-safe place to move to, it is important that
you not move your clothing and personal possessions until they have
been effectively and safely decontaminated of mould spores and mould
growth. How to remove mould from all types of personal property is
explained in detail in our book Do it yourself Mould
Prevention, Inspection, Remediation, & Testing Guide,
about which you can read on the above-mentioned website. Once you have
the lab proof of the mould contamination, you can consider hiring an
attorney to represent you in regard to your health damage and damage
to your personal property. Visit:
Mould Lawyer.
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