What are your mold remediation horror stories?

Question

I'm considering buying an off-market home from an acquaintance, but it's a hoarding situation that reportedly (I haven't been inside for obvious reasons) has mold running up a wall. For extensive mold remediation situations like this, do they really get it all out, or is there risk that it could return or make future tenants/buyers sick? How has it gone right or wrong for you?

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Drew Clayton, the ugly truth about mold is: it is everywhere in every house. If you go to Home Depot or Lowes or any lumber supply, I can guarantee there is mold on every stick of that lumber.

Mold grows in high humidity areas.  So as you diagnosed, there is likely a leaky pipe in the area causing water, which is letting the mold grow.  I would have all of the moldy material removed and/or cleaned.  Not all mold is toxic, so you do not necessarily have to tent the whole house.  But get the active colonies out by removing drywall and any lumber that has majorly effected.  Scrub with the correct cleaner, different spores have different cleaners that will wipe them out, then DRY THE AREA.  If there is no humidity or leak, any last bit of mold will be wiped out.  Running a dehumidifier during rebuild can help.

I am not a huge fan of mold remediation companies, especially the "test and fumigate" kind.  I have had two different companies into my house around the same time and they both found different types and levels of mold in my house.  Both had different courses of action outlined.  They came about 2 days apart from each other.  How were there tests so far apart from each other, if this is a science as to what healthy levels are and which types are the "bad" mold and which are the good.  Both came highly recommended.

Account Closed · Answer

If the mold looks like its growing from the bottom up, or from a spot and outwards, and if there is any soft drywall, it probably is from a leak.

However, I have seen cluttered houses get surface mold on exterior walls because of bad ventilation, the clutter doesn't let air flow and some walls (especially exterior facing northeast, where it gets no sun) can be cold enough to encourage condensation. I see it often in corners and its sort of evenly distributed, not like its growing from one specific spot. You can wipe it off and be good to go.

You can get very cheap little moisture testers. Be 100% sure the surface is dry by resting the prongs on the wall first, then push the prongs into the drywall to see if there's moisture inside the drywall itself.

Uriah D. · Answer

@Drew Clayton

I grab a tyvek suit and one of those dual sided respirators. I do that myself. I bring in pros to do the remediation. Problem is they don’t know how bad it is, so they shoot high. Everybody gets a little scared with the word mold, but as someone said earlier - it’s everywhere.

Bill B. · Answer

One wall? Like in a bathroom shower enclosure?  A couple hundred dollars? Rip out the studs and everything if you want to be super safe. Call your local serv-pro for an estimate and that will be the high water mark.

Drew Clayton · Answer

Thanks, @Uriah D.. Who do you hire to tear it out? Would a GC even go inside the place with a significant mold issue, or do you have to hire a mold specialist to do that demo so you're sure they have proper protection for their crew and tent off the area to limit spore dispersal?

Uriah D. · Answer

@Drew Clayton

I second @Drew Clayton. We’ve seen at least 4 houses where this was the case. We pulled down drywall and it was dry behind the wall. Personally, we tear everything out first. Then decide what should happen. Asking companies to look at the surface of what could be wrong hasn’t lead to significant help.

Drew Clayton · Answer

Nicky, that's great insight. I wouldn't have known about the clutter and low airflow causing the mold, but it makes sense in this house, as it's a hoarding situation.

Evan Polaski · Answer

@Drew Clayton  I completely understand.

For us, it was a "pop top" rehab.  Our contractor promised us he would tarp the project, since this is an old house, so all the floor joists are old wood.  Needless to say, there were no tarps every placed and we have a lot of wet subflooring and framing.  We also were moving in with a 2 month old and 3 1/2 yr old.  At the end of the day, we were getting quotes ranging from $2,500 to, I think, about $10,000 for testing and remediation.  After many conversations with many builders, contractors, mold experts, etc we came to the conclusion that there was no "science" behind a lot of this.

Each case is different, and for me and my wife, it was a decision we made knowing we are the ones living here.  Tenants and/or a sale scenario, where someone else has to deal with it may have changed our minds on how to proceed.

Drew Clayton · Answer

Thanks, @Evan Polaski. That sounds unfortunately like the kind of insight I expected RE remediation companies. But if the extent of it is as bad as I've heard, I'm going to have to go that route, because nobody without a full hazmat suit would enter the place.

We hired a remediation company for my uncle's house, because there was mold and water damage under the kitchen counter that had eaten away much of the wood over some unknown number of years. It ended up requiring ripping out the counter, cabinets, and cutting out part of the subfloor, and then running drying fans for about 3-4 days straight. That was >$7000, not counting the reconstruction costs, new flooring, cabinets, etc. for which we hired another contractor. Might they have taken advantage of us in that case? Possibly a little, but to have peace of mind for an elderly relative's health, it's worth it.

I'm taking the approach of similar peace of mind to remove pathogens for renters.

Drew Clayton · Answer

From what I understand, the mold has taken over a wall in the living room, which says to me there's a leak in the bathroom pipes on the other side of that wall. So likely negative-pressure sealing the house, ripping out that whole wall (possibly including the studs), fix/replace plumbing, re-frame, drywall, paint. But I'm not sure how bulletproof mold remediation is, and whether the whole house is poisoned now from that amount of mold.

What are your mold remediation horror stories?

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