Realtors, Real Estate Agents,
Real Estate Sales & Mould Problems
 
Medical and legal advice website about realtors and mould, real estate agents and mould, and real estate sales and mould.
 

[May 14, 2003]      

Q. I am a Real Estate Agent in Michigan, and a home that I showed was found to have toxic mould in the basement mostly, and some upstairs. My client would like to buy the house "As Is" and do all the mould remediation with his own contractors. There are a difference of opinions in what all the Mould removal companies say needs to be done. Question: #1 With mould remediation/removal, is it necessary to replace the furnace and all the duct work? Or, is there a way to just clean the duct work and is this always done in homes with toxic mould. Question #2 If there are several sources of the water problem (bad roof with no venting, poor grading around foundation, poor foundation, etc), do mould removal/remediation contractors usually attack the source of the problem too? So would this possibly need a new roof w/ venting, grading etc to make sure the mould does not come back? Or is it safe for Mould removal contractors to just remove the mould and not really correct the source?      

A. Only about 70% of the surface areas inside hvac equipment can be reached by mould cleaning and decontamination, leaving a serious pocket of possible mould infestation to re-contaminate a home. As to the duct work, if it is sheet metal with no insulation INSIDE the ducts, it is possible to clean and disinfect such duct work. Because the hvac equipment and ducts easily get contaminated if there is a serious mould problem in a building, and because hvac mould contamination can re-infect a house with a big mould problem, mould remediation needs to simultaneously take care of the building's overall mould problem AND the hvac equipment and ducts mould problem. The standard of care for effective mould remediation is to replace with new all hvac equipment and ducts. As to your second problem, mould remediation companies are not trained and licensed to fix water intrusion problems such as roof leaks and water leaks. The appropriate licensed and trained contractors need to fix such water intrusion problems BEFORE the mould problems are taken care of. Otherwise, the mould remediation efforts are wasted due to fresh water entry into building materials. 

Home Builder Mould Question & Answer

[Jan. 25, 2003]           

Q. We are in the process of building a new home and on two separate occasions the house has been flooded. The first time there were fans through out the house. The water came into the house from incomplete plumbing in the master bath. The second time the flooding water came through the den because the dry wall worker had put a screw through the pipe in the master bath shower. When they turned on the water to the new plumbing, the house was flooded again.  What can we do to assure we have no water damage or mould?           

A. You should hire a Certified Mould Inspector to completely inspect your new house while it is still under construction for both visible and hidden water problems and mould problems. One important mould inspection point is to drill one inch inspection holes in several areas along each wall, ceiling, and any wooden floor areas that were actually flooded to insert a fiber optics inspection tool to look for water damage and mould growth inside the walls, ceiling, and floor. Next the inspector should test the air in the various rooms, basement, crawl space, and attic, plus the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning [ hvac] equipment and ducts, to determine if there are elevated levels of dangerous airborne mould spores. It is very likely that your home has a serious mould infestation problem, but only thorough inspection and testing can establish whether or not your home has become a sick house because of mould contamination. If you want to do your own mould inspection and testing, please follow the directions provided in mould expert Phillip Fry's book Do it yourself Mould Prevention, Inspection, Remediation, & Testing Guide.  You may want to consider hiring a mould-oriented attorney to pursue any legal rights you have for damages from the home builder and/or contractors that have put your home into mould jeopardy.  For help in pursuing a home builder mould liability claim, look for environmental attorneys in the lawyer reference book Martindale Hubbell Directory of Attorneys, often available in the reference department of large public libraries.  Read Mold Legal Guide.

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Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Solutions

Phil can help you fix your own property’s mold problems at low-cost, more safely, and better-in- results than what is done by many mold inspectors and mold contractors.  How can Phil help you?

     1. Read Phil’s five plain-English, mold advice books to master mold inspection, testing, removal, remediation, and prevention for your house, condo, apartment, office,  or workplace.

     2. Buy do-it-yourself, affordable mold test kits, mold lab analysis, video inspection scope, mold cleaner, mold killer, and a mold-killing ozone blaster for the  successful toxic and household mold inspection, mold testing, mold species identification and quantification, mold cleaning, mold removal, and mold remediation to find mold, kill mold, clean mold, and remove mold from your residence or commercial building.

     3. Get FREE mold advice, mold help, and/or answers to your mold questions, by emailing mold expert Phillip Fry at envirodangers@yahoo.com. You can also email pictures of your mold problems in jpeg file format as email attachments.