mold after water damage--right before closing

homebody_2007

18 years ago

Hi all,

We were 2 weeks from closing on an old house, 1905 Foursquare. Unfortunately, the seller (bank owned) mistakenly turned off utilities & froze the pipes, then mistakenly turned them back on and flooded the place.

The water damage seems to have come from the bathroom, down through the dining room. Part of the dining room ceiling (looks like drywall over plaster/lathe) fell in.

The bank wants estimates from general contractors & plumbers, and wants to continue with the deal after repairs.

Since I wanted to at least speak with repair guys, they've suggested that I meet with general contractors, etc. & get the estimates.

Here's the dilemma: the one contractor I've spoken with, as well as our inspector, don't think mold will be any kind of problem. The walls are plaster/lathe, to our knowledge there is no insulation. There are some pieces of insulation at the top of the basement walls, where house meets basement, and those are wet.

There is mold starting to grow on the bathroom ceiling, as well as on the vinyl covering the basement stone walls (some kind of french drain system?). I don't want to overreact to the mold, or under react either.

I'm wondering how long the insides of the walls will remain damp, and allow mold to grow, and also possible structural damage to plaster/lathe will show up in the future.

We love this old house, and the location is wonderful, but we don't want to get in over our heads--we were going to do some rehab, but will be living in it. We're actually considering pulling down the ceiling & walls to allow wood to dry & then re drywall--or we could walk away from this deal. We don't know how far the bank will go with repairs or how they'll react to the mold.

Any advice much appreciated!!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

emb7
18 years ago
I love those old houses too, congrats! I don't think it should be that bad due to this one pipe breaking. If it had years of bad seepage that's one thing, but this can happen anywhere, any time. I'd talk to the contractors but have learned from a garage mold issue that you can easily kill and and keep it from coming back. It's a type of paint and may even be called kill or something similar. I would meet with contractors b4 finalizing and closing- make sure you're comfortable. Good luck!
jeff147
18 years ago
A service can be called that will come in and determine mold-level of home using air testing equipment. I would talk to bank/vendor and make sure they first certify with this type of service or there can be future problems.
Related Professionals
Corpus Christi Architects & Building Designers · Madison Heights Architects & Building Designers · Cibolo General Contractors · Dorchester Center General Contractors · El Monte General Contractors · Haysville General Contractors · Homewood General Contractors · Jackson General Contractors · Middletown General Contractors · North Highlands General Contractors · Parsons General Contractors · Rotterdam General Contractors · Universal City General Contractors · Portland Home Stagers · Mount Vernon Interior Designers & Decorators
jubileej
18 years ago
This sounds very, very ominous. The bank and yourselves should each hire a reputable mold remediation company, such as Service Pro, to come out and do a thorough inspection using tools such as infrared hygrometers and boroscopes. Your realtor's firm and or real estate lawyers should get involved and make sure that the bank pays for every bit of the related cost before you close.

Or else walk away -especially if any in your family have respiratory issues.
housenewbie
18 years ago
Whatever you do, don't buy it as is. Make sure the bank fixes the damage, and does it properly.
homebody_2007
Original Author
18 years ago
thanks all. It specifies in our contract that if damage occurs, the seller must repair to original state, and now they're getting bids (though a bit late) on the job. Fortunately, there is no carpet involved, and likely no insulation in the 1905 walls. . .;-)

The contract also indicates that we get a 48 hour prior to closing walk through, I assume that's another time we can re inspect repairs.

We don't have any respiratory problems, immune problems, or kids, so that's good news there. I think the mold remediation situation will force itself on the seller, as signs of it are showing (and will until they get it dried out). I don't think they'll be able to hide it.

I've heard that the mold tests aren't that helpful, and there is no set amount of mold that's acceptable or not acceptable--mostly what I'm getting (even from the CDC) is that if you get rid of moisture, you get rid of mold.
Every person I've talked to, (general contractors or water damage people etc), has a different opinion on the mold issue, ranging from "no big deal" to "run for your life".