Black Mold in home, clean up/ repair anybody?

[EVILGTP98]

sup guys, my girlfriend and I have been looking at homes around the area and we found a house we can get for a great price for the area. The problem is that the basement has quite a bit of mold. Now it has not been tested yet, but everyone is jumping to the conclusion its black mold, deadly, pain to remove, blah blah blah. I dont know much about the situation and am hoping somebody on here has a little expierence with it. The bank is tossing around offers to fix, but if I can swing it I want to low ball the price even more and repair the damage myself, which wouldnt be a problem redoing drywall, wall studs, flooring and all that, as well as putting in better drainage on that end of the house.

 

Just wondering if anybody has any knowledge of mold in homes or black mold in general. I dont want to get into this house, get a great deal but end up sinking it back in trying to repair a huge mess. Also being stuck with something that we cant sell later on when we decide to move out. Any info would be appreciated as how I am totally novice in this area. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Jamie

[wnaplay1647545503]

First off, keep in mind that not all black mold is a "deadly" version of mold. And do not let even the most experienced mold expert to tell you it is. Where is the mold manifesting itself?

[Scotty2Hotty]

From what I know, lots of bleach, power washers, and some other cleaners may fix your problem. Rip all the drywall, insulation, and clean the ever living crap out of it. Black mold can make you pretty sick, I'd change all the filters in the house on top of that.

[EVILGTP98]

Well its all located in a finished basement with a fireplace, sheet rock walls, plaster, sheetrock celing. its bout 4 feet under ground on the side that the mold in manifesting, coming through the sheetrock in various spots along the entire wall and on the rear wall which is underneath a concrete slab porch, which presents its own problems. Like I said, there have been no test for positive ID of what type of mold it is, however the area affected is decent in size, roughly on the wall, an 8' by 12' foot section coming through in lesser and greater spots on the wall. Also there are a few wood fixtures in the basement that have lite dust that can be wiped off but has the appearence of mold. Which leads me to that its in the air, from what I read is how it travels as a spore.

 

Tearing out sheet rock is no problem, replacing anything is not a huge deal, I am confident I can do it all. Also the room has carpeting, which is stained badly anyways and my plan is to remove and put down hardwood floors, laminate, tile, etc to make it a nice family room with the fireplace and all. So thats bout all the info I got now, I will give you guys as much knowledge as I got to help but I really do apprecaite all of your help. Thanks again.

[EVILGTP98]

I have got access to labor and machinery to dig out that entire side of the house that is seeing the mold. Looking if I take on as a project, dig out that entire side, pressure wash, clean, seal, gravel, french drain, so on, perhaps tearing out the concrete slab, I want to add on eventually and build a nice porch out back so not a major concern.

[Scotty2Hotty]

Good time to make a man's den

[T Rex]

I have heard some horror stories about mold being everywhere in a house w/o the homeowners even knowing. If you do buy this house be prepared to gut the entire thing. Im not saying that there is mold everywhere but just budget accordingly.

[Dave1647545494]

sounds like the basement got wet your in for a gut and clean in the basement for sure if the upstairs is dry you should be fine

 

you can always have a place like servepro come out and check it too

[wnaplay1647545503]

If your dealing with mold that is in a home which is not exactly yours and you are unable to do verifiable tests as to the condition of the "mold" issue, your pretty much stuck with dealing with whomever owns the home and see what they are willing to let you do as far as an inspection. Start calling around and trying to find a home inspector experienced with testing for mold issues. Home test kits are available as well. Your correct in thinking far enough ahead to considering doing some sort of drain system. But depending on what the homes construction is, there already may be one in place. These are prone to root penetration, material breakdown, and various other issues which could be blocking what is already put in place. This could be a quick or an expensive fix. If one is in place, you might be able to have the drain inspected with a camera. This would tell of possible issues. Now this may get to one blocked section and they may not be able to see past this one for further issues. One of the biggest fears of dealing with mold, is trying to remediate the situation with as little disturbance to the home as possible. However you have stated the carpet and and sheetrock will most likely be coming out for remodel work anyways. Now when you do(if you do) go to remove these items, do so with masks, gloves, and bag everything up before carting it through the house. You want to keep as little airborne as possible. Once the items have been removed, cleaning residule mold off of concrete and block walls is not all that difficult. The first step is identifying what type of mold you have, and figuring out the root cause of the mold. It sounds like you wanting help ballparking worse case scenarios, which is difficult to do in this type of situation, given such few details.

[wnaplay1647545503]

Keep in mind, drain issues can be handled as easily as diverting water away from the home with dirt around the homes exterior. Most people just consider this part of landscaping. Or they can very easily cost thousands of dollars depending on how in depth the steps are needed to correct the problem. One good thing, it doesnt sound like there is flooding or standing water in the basement. You can sometimes see if this has happened by looking somewhere on the block( I assume the basement walls are block) for water lines where the water has crested. If this is in fact the case, then correcting drain issues may be awhole lot easier. Look and see if the walls ( if possible) have ever been sealed(inside) with a water barrier. If it appears it may have been painted, keep in mind, that this might just be paint, and if it is, it can not be sealed ever. once paint is put on, thats it with normal sealing products. Now they may have come out with something recently, but as far as I am aware, its a one shot deal. If it is painted, hopefully it is a product like drylok(which is a pain to put on). A more drastic approach might be to dig on the outside of the house down to the water table( varies depending on location) and applying a rubber sealant to the walls. This could be as little as 3' down. Depending where you live , you may also have to have a permit to do any of this work. This means inspections and following codes. Around here, you are required to now put egress windows into finished basements, and using foam insulation down a foot below the freezing line inside basement walls. These are all things to consider which makes your decision that much harder.

[Akula]

tough getting rid of mold. call an expert.

[EVILGTP98]

Thanks for the info guys, yeah, its 50/50 I think, like you said its a risk either way, we may luck out and we may not. Also hard to really delve into the wall when you dont own it. To be honest I am not really sure what the sheetrock is butted against, weather it be studs or block, either way its going to be gutted and redone. A. to run some new wiring for outlets and switches, B. to hide cable/tele lines, they are ran through ext track system which looks like SHIT. I am looking worst case scenarios, if it goes through and we make out okay, well lucky us, but I would rather prepare for the worst case. I am going to make some calls in the next few days, see bout getting an expert or someone of better knowledge than myself. Ill keep ya updated on what we find, thanks for the help. I gave all the details I got, now I just got to find out more. I am hoping its not terrible, it would be a great home to have, 2 car garage, needs some work, other than mold but would be a great fix up and sell. thanks again guys, appreciate the help.

[Hwilli1647545487]

Walk away....

[EVILGTP98]

thats it then, your not invited to the beer drinking/mold removing party, How ya been Hwilli?

[FourString]

LOTS of bleach. When I gutted my bathroom I ran into this problem. I removed as much mold infested stuff as I could without changing my structure and sprayed the shit out of the rest with bleach. I went through a gallon of bleach.

[EVILGTP98]

I talked to a couple contractors I know, he basically told me the same knowledge, his main statement was you need to find out the source, see if its coming in through the floor or through the walls and redo the drain around the entire side of the house. We may go check it out again and see if I can get more knowledge about it. Thanks for the input guys, appreciate it a ton, lot of help, now its decision time.