Possible Black Mold Between 1st And 2nd Floor

TurnkeyConst

Got a question for you guys. Well I have a friend who we have a done a lot of exterior work for. My father a couple years back had fixed a leaky pipe between there floors about 2 years ago. Then they patched the drywall and everything. Well since then they have started having allergic reactions. well to make a long story short after they had allergic reactions and my dad having asthma attacks they have been to the doctor for allergen tests and it comes back to black mold. Well the house is 2000sqft bottom floor and 1800sqft upstairs. Well how complicated would it be and costly to remove the mold? Or would you seal up all the cracks and caulk the light fixtures and everything to keep from allowing the mold out and then sell the house and let someone with more money deal with it. Note this is in a neighborhood that the lowest house sells for $225,000. Resale is ok in the neighborhood but I could go in and do a lot of interior upgrades, painting, molding, lighting upgrades to help sell the house faster. Please let me know I have a feeling the mold remediation would be expensive even though I have not had tests to confirm that it is up there we would like to know how to estimate it before we tear into. Thanks guys could really use the help on this one!!!!

red_cedar

Not revealing things in a house sale is illegal as well as unethical. Could come back to bite someone if it was ever discovered that the mold was known.
The mold is the new asbestos of the 21st century.

Teetorbilt

Mold = damp. There could be rot as well. Personally, I'd open up a few places to determine what is going on.

__________________
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TurnkeyConst

ok appreciate it was just asking for a friend and knew you guys would be able to point him in the right direction. maybe I can get some work out of it!!!

woodmagman

Mold is a business now, and going to be more of it in the future. Get some certification for mold removal. Someone on the cleaning threads can help you there. It goes hand in hand with renovations. Knowing what to do wll save you, your guys and the home owner. And it is profitable....You can not swing a cat without finding something like this in baths, basements and roofs.

Tonkadad

http://www.ncsu.edu/ehs/www99/right/...emediation.htm

MadDog

Im in the buisness of converting appartment complexes to condo's. We take everything down the the origional drywall (interior and exterior) and deal with this every now and then.

At the very least, make sure the source of the moisture is taken care of. Rent a couple of dehumidifiers, dry the place out, bleach the hell out of it and spray everything down with Killz.

Oh and when in the presence of the buyer, never call it "mold" call it "discolloration" but make sure you take care of the problem.

rjordan392

Do a search on mold removal. I seen a story or thread somewhere on the net where a homeowner died after coming in contact with mold in the basement of his house.

EMCustom

Please do not just use bleach to clean up the mold. I used to do work in the mold remediation industry and while bleach can kill mold spores there is still the problem of the dead spores laying around. A dead mold spore is just as "allergenic" as a living one. Also the simple act of wiping down the area will send thousands of mold spores into the air, and they can permiate the house.

Professional mold remediation is no joke, a certified remediation company will contain the area under negative air pressure and use air scrubbers with HEPA filtration to capture airborne spores. Any poruous building materials other than wood that have mold growth should be removed. Wood/concrete can be dried and sanded or media blasted.

Just my opinion, but if you are truly dealing with stachybotrys (the real "black mold") I would not screw around with it. It is considered highly toxic and can cause serious illness

And yes, professional mold remediation = $$$$$

DUSE

[QUOTE

Just my opinion, but if you are truly dealing with stachybotrys (the real "black mold") I would not screw around with it. It is considered highly toxic and can cause serious illness

And yes, professional mold remediation = $$$$$[/QUOTE]

Just how long will effects take to set in

EMCustom

Just how long will effects take to set in[/quote]

I wouldn't venture a guess since I'm not a microbiologist or in the medical profession. However, since you have mentioned allergic reactions and asthma attacks in your original post, it sounds like some of the effects have already set in. Will their symptoms get worse? I dunno. Prolonged exposure increases the risk of health problems. I don't want to sound alarmist, some people live with mold in their basements for 40 years and aren't affected by it in the least. Then again I had a customer whose aunt died from a rare disease where mold grew in her lungs It really comes down to how sensitive a person is to mold, and what type of molds are growing in the ceiling. But who would want to live in a place where they start wheezing and coughing every time they walked in the door? Consider consulting a certified industrial hygenist.