All Forum Posts by: Matt Schambeau

@Scott L., good luck with it.  The clean outs should make things easier to repair, but you may be revisiting it every couple of years.

@Thomas S., I had an inspection done, but this was not discovered.  The tenants clean the walls and it really does not seem to be an issue in the summer which is when I purchase.  Thank you for the feed back.

@Adam Abdel-Hafez, I'm working on finding an HVAC guy to look at it before I start the rehab to see what can be done to improve it, but I don't know that much will because it appears to just have one return and I'm not sure that there is a way to add another one because of the way it is place in a small mechanical closet with the water heater.  Thanks for the advice.  Do you know of any good HVAC guys in the Roswell area?  One of the mold guys is supposed to be referring one to me, but I have not heard back from them yet.

@Russell Brazil, I appreciate your feedback.  I was really hoping for some other feedback as this is going to kill my rehab budget on this project...but I don't want to throw good money at bad either.

One other note is I had an insurance adjuster come out to the property.  My rental property insurance for mold has a limit of $2500 with $1000 deductible.  He stated that he believes the type of mold was Aspergillus which is not as dangerous as some other types.  

I gave my tenants 60 day notice not to renew the lease which ends in April so I can get the remediation work done then.

I purchased a duplex (two 2/1 units) in Roswell, GA in July of 2017.  I recently went into the property and the tenant showed me a bunch of mold growing on the inside of the bedroom walls around the North perimeter of the house (two bedrooms) from the floor to about knee high.  The unit has a roof less than a year old and all windows have been sealed well.  It was built in 1962.  

In speaking with the tenants with a translator (they do not speak English), they told me that the previous owner new about it and it had been an issue for many years.  These tenants have lived in the property for over 10 years.  They even told me that the old owner used to pay them to clean the mold off the walls.  They also stated that it is only really an issue in the winter.  In the summer it goes away. It is my understanding that the seller has a legal obligation to disclose this to buyer if he is aware of it.  Is that correct?

I had two mold remediation companies come and look at it and they both said it is due to the temperature variance in the winter from the craw space to the bedroom.  There is no insulation on the floor and the vapor barrier also does not go all the way to the exterior of the house on the side with the issue.  I have not received the quotes yet on the cost for the remediation.

I spoke with my realtor who advised I speak to an attorney, but said the seller has deniability because he did not live in the unit so therefore would not know.  I spoke with another realtor that said my realtor and brokerage should start the conversation with the seller.  My realtor disagreed.  Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated.  Also if anyone has a referral on an attorney in the Atlanta, Georgia area...that would be great.  This is my for rental property, so I'm just figuring things out.  Thanks for your help!

I just wanted to try and wrap this thread up.  The final price to get it all replaced with a clean out on both the sewer tap and at the home is $3750.  The line is draining, but slowly.  The first time the company went to do the repair, the tenants did not have all of their personal stuff out of the way outside.  That is my fault as they told me it was moved, but I did not go by and make sure.  So...it has been rescheduled twice since then, but we keep getting rain delays.  Hopefully it will get done this week weather permitting.  If anything weird happens I will update this post.  Thanks again for everyone's feedback!

I just wanted to add an update onto this post.  I had a Mr. Rooter come out and take a look at the issue (@Joe Splitrock).  He told me that for a grease issue, rootering the line would not help.  It would be like churning butter and would only be a very temporary solution.  He said I would have to jet the line at a minimum and recommended replacing it the line to the sewer.  His prices were not good as they have a lot of overhead and different people taking a piece of the pie.  Everything was done on a ala carte type menu where one thing did not take in to consideration another piece of the project doing part of the job.  I won't be calling them back.

I called the public sewer and they told me they are going to have someone come and camera the line from the sewer side as they don't have my property mapped.  Trouble is with the holidays it sounds like it will be after the 1st of the year (@JD Martin).  Good news is the line is draining right now...slow but draining enough to function.

I also had a referred backhoe and trenching guy come out that gave me a price from $2500 - $3500 to replace the entire run with a clean out on both ins depending on where it ties in to the public sewer.  So now I'm just waiting on the city and I will be able to move forward.  He also gave me another referral to jet the line in the even that the line completely clogs before the city gets out there.  I will send another update after I get the repair done.  Thank you everyone for the feedback!!!

Thanks @JD Martin, I had not thought about that angle.  I will call the public sewer department to see what they say on Monday.  Unfortunately the unit that is clogged does not have a clean out which is part of the problem or I would just try jetting it out for around $500. 

I got another quote that was $500 to look at it again with the camera and that would be applied to a max of $5K to replace the entire thing if it was necessary.  I also have anther guy coming on Monday to give me a quote that is a local backhoe and trenching company that regulary does this type of work.

I looked for a RotoRooter company locally that does not do sewer line installations @Joe Splitrock, but I can't fine one that does...they all do installs too (RotoRooter, Rooterplus, MrRooter).  I'm still going to give them a call to see what they say, so thanks for the advice.  If I can get out of this with only spending another $100 it will be amazing.

Thanks everyone for the feedback.  I already ran the snake from the hole at the toilet.  Then they ran the camera and said the cast iron is packed with grease.  I asked if the two units had the same sewer drain, and he told me no...that they were separate.  I'm not sure but will dive into that detail a little more.  I update this as I find out more.

Thanks @Corby Goade.  I inherited these tenants and their current lease which expires in April does not have any language in there to help me out.  When I put together my lease, it definitely will. 

I'm going to work on getting a couple more bids today and hopefully I will be able to find something a little cheaper.

One other note on this, the run is about 35' and it looks like some sort of repair has already been done on the other side because there is a clean out already built on the other side.  Thanks again for your help/advise.