Mold-in home we want to buy

[famer_manda]

My family and i went last night to look at a house. Its beautiful. but there is a problem. A pipe had busted in the basement that wasn't caught right away and now there is mold. They removed the carpeting and tried cleaning up some of it but they didn't tear the drywall down and now there is black mold on the drywall. It appears to be contained to the basement. We could put an offer in with the contingency that the mold must be cleaned up to our standards.

It is an absolutely beautiful house. The house its self is relatively new but was put on an older foundation it appears.. maybe.. maybe not. The regular part of the house is around 10 years old. The basement is poured walls so I am not sure if that is something they used to do or if it is a more modern thing. It was an amish home originally.

Would you buy a home that has mold in the basement? If it was all cleaned up that is.. to your standards. The rest of the home is amazing. It is just so beautiful. I really love the house and so does my husband until we saw the mold.

Can it be salvagable? The mold seems to be just right at the drywall in the basement. it had been a finished basement. It looks cleanable.

WHat would you do>?


This place is really beautiful. Just had a stupid man who bought it from the original owners and it wasn't lived in for awhile when the pipes burst. The rest of the home is dry and .. ooh I love it . Please tell me its cleanable.

[WisJim]

Anything can be cleaned up, for a price. But mold is not such a big deal, only has gotten lots of publicity so that now people think that any mold of any kind or amount is going to kill them dead.

Tear out the moldy drywall, and if the framing it is attached to is questionable, tear it out tool. Figure what it would cost to do this and lower your offer by that price if youthink that is appropriate. Mold on a poured wall can be cleaned with bleach water.

You probably could get a quote for clean up from a cleaning company too.

[famer_manda]

Would you just give a substantially lower offer price then??

[Lisa B.]

I would get a couple of estimates of how much it would cost to have it cleaned/replaced by a professional. A professional will know if it can be cleaned or have to be removed. I would then either put a contingency that it be taken care of before closing, or lower my offer by that amount. Have the estimates to show why you are lowering the price that amount. Good luck!!!

[alpinechicken]

I think your main problem would be with getting insurance on this house.
I would talk to them before you make an offer.

There's "mold" and then there's, GASP "mold"..

I totally agree with the previous poster who said that so many folks now think that all mold is the same..it's not..and yet..mold isn't great stuff no matter what kind it is unless it's cheese in the refrigerator..LOL..

If it were me, I'd do what's already been suggested..get it inspected (just to have the documentatation & an estimate) and offer a lower price accordingly.

[longshadowfarms]

My brother just went through something similar selling a house. He had mold in the attic because he had not put in vents. He cleaned it himself but the surfaces were all open to the air. I'd get some estimates and ask each person how they will accomplish the job. Have them show you where the mold is and how they will make sure they have gotten all of it. My brother purchased something to spray on the mold, then after it was killed, he washed all the surfaces. The inspector then swabbed the surfaces and they tested to ensure that the mold had been killed. If I remember correctly, there are always some mold spores on most surfaces. The question is how many, perhaps what kind, etc. The problem in this situation might be that some of the mold is in places that will need to be pulled out (drywall) in order to get it. Once you know what you are dealing with, you can make informed decisions about how you want to handle it - if you want it professionally done or if you think you can handle it yourself. I can ask my brother if you end up with some specific questions but an inspector should also be able to help you.

[carly]

Mold can be cleaned to be safe for breathing, but be sure to check the heating system and make sure no mold got in the ducts of the system at all. That should be a complete dealbreaker unless they are willing (or you are) to have an entire new heating system with all new duct work installed. That is a very serious consideration.
Personally, I would not ever buy any house that has mold of any kind. I flip houses, (this is my 4th in five years) and every time I look at a house to flip, if there is mold, I consider the consequences or cleaning with maye good results or not, and then the resale, as no one really wants a house with mold.

If I were you I would call a compnay that does home inspections that specialize in mold. Don't poo-poo this; as it can be very serious to your health.

You may find this link helpful..it's all about mold in homes and IMHO pretty much answers all questions in a reasonable manner..


http://www.cal-iaq.org/MIMH_2006-06.pdf

[wottahuzzee]

Get a qualified, experienced home inspector.

[Jeff54321]

I have to disagree with some of the opinions on the severity of mold. ANY mold is a sign of a potentially large problem.

I have seen entire (everything..ceilings, walls, floors) home interiors gutted to find and remove mold. As for your health, mold problems range from "not good for you" to "it will kill you". Find a specialist in mold removal and see what they say about this particular house. Personally, I would find another house.

[cricket]

There is no such thing as a mold free environment. Period. Everything has mold. Toxic mold is very obvious once you know what to look for. Replace the drywall and have th ductwork cleaned. Cleaning the ducts is going to be around $500 or so. Or have the sellers remove the drywall and you can replace it. Make sure to check the floor joists if any are present. And you might want to core the concrete just to be surethe water didn't rot the concrete. You can take a boring to be tested at most concrete companies and will cost about $20 or so.

Toxic mold is VERY RARE. What you are seeing is common mildew unless it looks like a spider web and is hairy. Then run away from this house.

[famer_manda]

Most of it was just discoloring in the drywall...the floor itself was clean and hmmm around some plywood there was a bit of fuzzy mold and a mushroom. ?? Any idea on mushrooms? super bad sign or different kind of mold. i mean.. mushrooms are fungus and mold is fungus right ?

[Shadow]

Here in the south you have mold to live with all the time if you set still long enough you will mold. Seriously most insurance companies no longer cover mold damage. We have State Farm and they have stopped covering mold damage. Houses with mold problems are hard to sell and selling one could lead to lawsuits down the road. Some inspectors always find mold and then always charge to spray under the house for a fee. If you still see mushrooms the water problem is not completely cleared up.

[famer_manda]

so mushrooms dont signal a more serious mold? Just a matter of water somewhere?

[goatlady]

It's my understanding taht "black" mold is the dangerous type which can cause lung probems. It has to be removed in it's entirety i.e. rip out the walls and any lathing that shows signs of mold. If there are mushrooms growing you have more than "just a water problem" you have a BIG water problem. You really need a home imspection as a contingency to buying the house. Fixing a water/mold problem to "your satisfaction" won't fly on an offer to purchase, but to meet health standards as per a licensed inspector will fly.

[silvergirl]

Hubby and I have been running a homecleaning service for a good few years now... we also do tile work (bathrooms, floors, fireplaces, kitchens, etc.) and have seen our share of mold - in both businesses... There are different types of mold, some are more or less harmful than others but essentially, you don't have to write off the home just because there is mold or mildew. Surface mold can be killed with bleach. If the mold is in the wallboard itself, you can do one of two things - you can seal it up with Kilz and re-paint or you can do the full treatment which is to remove the mold stained wallboard, any moldy framing behind it, and then bleach and seal the concrete foundation, and re-build your walls.

Your ventilation and heating ducts will need to be cleaned as well - get a professional to vacuum them - and then mist pure vinegar into the ducts and get your blower going... Chances are if there is no mold evident anywhere else in the house, it has not spread beyond the initial site. Check behind dressers and furniture - that is where the mold/mildew would be growing - in hidden, undisturbed, places with little or no ventilation.

I wouldn't worry about the mushroom - it just means spores got into the area and found fertile and moist enough ground to sprout. It does not necessarily indicate an ongoing water problem.

(BTW we knew a lady who called in government hazardous waste experts about mildew in her home and they shut the place down for months... so I wouldn't involve any official type people in your project, if I were you...)

Good luck
Silvergirl

[perennial]

Mold is really bad - especially if you have any allergies. I just lived in a rental for 10 months that had been flooded out and i had to take all my allergy stuff for the entire winter also which = $$$.

Maybe i'm a pessimist, but what are you going to do if it is supposedly cleaned out, you close on the house and then discover more evidence of it.

Why did the pipe burst?

I guess i wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole because the basement is the foundation, if that's messed up it isn't good.

It's like alot of people on the home shows who would be so concerned with the interior and size of rooms on the 1st and second floor and then have a rotting foundation or sill.

mold is bad - do you research. Also, it's almost hopeless to get rid of the smell. It will come and go.

[busybee870]

i remodeled a house with mold, it was only on the bottom of the walls where the wanescoat was, I cut that out along with the insulation, sparayed straight bleach, wiped off the mold, let dry then repeated, then used kilz for all the new sheetrock, both sides, and all the frame work. make sure you fixe the original cause first of course. also if you have some type of ventilation in mold prone areas. if you have a spot in the walls you can cut out a section of sheetrock on a closet, and drill a hole in the 2 x4 frame so that you have air coming from the closet and through the walls

[frugalville]

Just be sure that it was a 'busted pipe' and not something else...

like foundation issues. Old foundation/new foundation ?
Poured Walls...

Check the sump/gravity feeds ...
Check the corners/ floors...
Does the basement have a wall membrane/drainage.
How about vertical cracks bigger than the thickness of a dime ?
Are the floors level ?

If you are not sure, get a good home inspector to check that foundation out.
Just to make sure it is 'just a busted pipe'.