" Is this typically something a lumber yard would take responsibility for and cover all costs "

Not that I would ever imagine nor even heard of being broached and I was in the lumber business for 20 plus years. They store materials outside and there is never a promise of anything other than a sound piece of wood and even that is not always the case. They supply materials not a finished product. Your builder is trying to pass the buck.

There is a previous extensive thread re: mold and this house. Various approaches were recommended.
Complicating the situation are differences in the approach to and validity of assessments in “ mold inspection “ and the whole industry of mold remediation. Which may or may not be going on here.

Your builder is trying to act like they are doing something and pushing things forward so that it will be too late to do anything at all.

It's virtually impossible to build any house in a temperate climate with mould-free wood. Mould is everywhere.

So it's hard to imagine any lumber supplier agreeing to remediate all moulds in a finished house.

In any case, only a few types of mould are a health concern. If those are multiplying in your home, remediate and (maybe) litigate.

claim will be denied. Lumberyard will ignore

@millworkman I agree and can’t imagine why the lumber yard would assume responsibility for this. I do think they think the lumber yard will pay for it or else I don’t understand the logic behind acting as if someone wronged them which wronged us.

@worthy the types of mold one should be concerned about and that are health concerns, are present at high levels. Our builders want to “make it right” however it appears it’s dependent on someone else making it right. I definitely don’t think it’s our responsibility to pay to fix their mistake.

@marmiegard we have extensive and expensive lab results confirming the types of mold and what remediation protocol is recommended. They have been eager to have the results to build their case with the lumber yard, although I’m not sure why they would want the liability of having to disclose this should the deal fall through. Never once did they say they aren’t going to make it right but I’m not sure they’ll do the work that we are asking them to do. So why even waste all of our time and energy pretending to?

@lomo can you please elaborate on why it’s not something a court would require? If mold is present on virtually every piece of lumber, how can the court determine that remediation isn’t necessary? Is extensive documentation lab results from the samples taken at the site? I’m not sure how this wouldn’t be considered sufficient documentation.

@jeffrey grentz surely they know the lumberyard isn’t going to pay for this. By assuming they will means they’re acknowledging someone messed up and needs to pay. Feels like they’re digging themselves a deeper hole.

I am going to copy this from an earlier post on the same subject...

I really don't want to get into the mold discussion, but it is one of those areas where there is a lot more misinformation than good information. Indoor molds are simply not that bad for you. The single study that found a connection between indoor mold and health problems was rescinded by the CDC when errors were found in the study. Since then hundreds of peer reviewed scientific studies have found no connection between indoor mold and health problems. The mycotoxins in indoor home environments simply don't approach harmful levels, and have really only been found in agricultural areas and buildings. In most of the country, indoor air tends to have fewer mold spores and mycotoxins than outdoor air. Feel free to look further into it, you can start here - http://users.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/soundscience/mold/gots1.html

Mostly, news and litigators exaggerated this story. This is not to say that mold should never be addressed, but it shouldn't always be addressed. Indoor molds may be problematic to those who already have a sensitivity to it, such as those allergic to mold and those with asthma, as an asthma sufferer I want to add, indoor environments are still better than outdoor, but you want your home to be as comfortable as possible, mold isn't really a problem for me personally, but dust and pollen can be.

Mold remediation companies almost always find harmful mold. Because harmful mold is incredibly common. If you live in an area where the grass is cut regularly you likely have an entire yard full of toxic mold… mycotoxins are just not rare. While we are on the subject of naturally occurring toxins, everyone in Southern California breathes asbestos in every single breath. Toxins are not poisons…

Why is the above important? Because if there is a payout it will probably be your builder’s risk insurance. The insurance is likely going to make you prove that the mycotoxin levels were too high rather than just the presence of mycotoxin producing mold. The lumber yard will likely be indemnified by the fact the wood was used. If toxic mold was apparent in significant enough quantities for the lumber yard to be negligent (a massive stretch anyway) then the framers shouldn’t have used it.

Note: I feel builder’s risk insurance is a bit of a misnomer. While it can be bought by either the homeowner or builder, it is typically purchased by the homeowner as protection from losses during construction. It is essentially a homeowners policy for homes under construction.

Good luck

I am curious if the mold was already on the wood when it was brought to the site or did it develop while the house was under construction?

Wish I had read this before going to small claims. I had prepared a speech to present evidence that I wanted to present about damages that a roofer did to my house in 3 specific small areas that I had documented and listed the costs to do those 3 small repairs, but I was not allowed to present any of that documentation because the "judge" kept interrupting me and got me sidetracked into a discussion about mold remediation. Looked only at the documentation about the mold remediation, but would not look at any of the other evidence that I kept trying to present (i.e., the damage to the roof that caused it to rain and snow directly into the house). Had I read this prior to small claims, I MIGHT have been able to find a way to not get sidetracked into the mold discussion.