The big project

2702 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Teetorbilt, Feb 6, 2005

Teetorbilt

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2005

At the request of a major client I have agreed to put together a repair proposal for one of his employees.
Here comes the fun part. It's a stick built house, T-10 and drywall, insulation and vapor barrier done northern style. All exterior walls were hosed and penetrated from the hurricanes, everything has remained wet since Sept. Mold is beginning to penetrate the drywall.
This is a first for me and I have to produce a proposal by Monday. My personal vision is that the house is totaled. This is a General Development Corp. home, the cheapest of the cheap when it was built.
Has anyone had experience in this situation? I envision rotted studs, wasted fasteners...........on and on.
Given the current property values this is a $160K house and I'm thinking about $50-75K in repairs if we can save the kitchen.
I'll follow up once I get an eyball on it.

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JustaFramer

· #2 · Feb 4, 2005

I don't know how wet wood fairs in the humidity down there but our lumber is generally wet all year round. It doesn't dry till the roofing is on and sided.
Sounds like it should be knocked down and start again.
You can get houses down there for 160k? House at that price up here are called fixers or rentals.

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Teetorbilt

Discussion Starter · #3 · Feb 4, 2005

This stuff has been enclosed in, I'm guessing, close to 100% humidity for 6 mos. I'm also guessing that the studs are fast grow white pine, the usual crap used in these garbage homes. Depending on what is found, I may terminate the structure.
This home is in St. Lucie County and you can still find a 3/2 there in the 160's. If you dig hard and are fast, you can still find a block home in Martin Co. (where I live) for the same price. The median value here is $235K and increased 30% last year, the storms didn't slow anything down at all. Everything is going nutz down here.

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DecksEtc

· #4 · Feb 4, 2005

Sounds like you'll have your hands full taking that one on Teetor. One of those, don't know what you'll find until you start taking things apart. Makes for a difficult estimate.

As for house prices, about all you can get for $160K in the Toronto and surrounding area is a 1/1 that would need a HUGE amount of work to be livable. And, it would be in an area of town none of you would park your truck in

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KtotheJ

· #5 · Feb 4, 2005

Mold Abatement

My experience is limited to the abatement process in a multifamily environment dealt with as soon as mold was realized. We immediately got fans, and dehumidifiers going. A company came in with more fans, more dehumidifiers, scrubbed all the trusses with a bleach solution, more fans, then sealed the floor trusses with Kilz primer. These floor were over 5' poured crawl space. This process cost us approximately $4 per sq ft! The total was amazing. I cannot fathom what this looks like after 6 months. Also, the liability alone for warranting any work if you don't total scares the hell outta me.

Kevin

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Glasshousebltr

· #6 · Feb 5, 2005

Keven are you anyway assosiated with Omni Homes in the St Louis area?

They had a Keven working for them.

Bob

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Teetorbilt

Discussion Starter · #7 · Feb 5, 2005

Omni, I've been thinking of this all along as well as a way to weasel out of the whole mess.
The problem lies in the originator of the request who was beneficial in the startup of my marine business, has become a good friend and still throws me $500K worth of business every year.

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magnum

· #8 · Feb 5, 2005

Hey Teeter I read a post not long ago about a little voice that we all have and sometimes dont listen to. If your hereing it you might want to listen. Just be honest with them maybe give them best and worst case scenario. Good luck.

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Teetorbilt

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 6, 2005

Little voice is confused right now. Smart little voice says 'Run like Hell'. Intelligent little voice says 'Maybe you can price yourself out of this job without ticking off the big guy'. Worst case is that I get the job, make a pile of money and hope that my mold exclusion clause holds up in court.

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PipeGuy

· #10 · Feb 6, 2005

Teetorbilt said:
Worst case is that I get the job, make a pile of money and hope that my mold exclusion clause holds up in court.

Just make sure your mold exclusion clause language mimics that of your insurance policy. If anyone knows how to properly shirk exposure to risk it's the insurance underwriters.

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trekr

· #11 · Feb 6, 2005

If you somehow repaired it would the homeowner be able to insure the property? I had a friend from Houston that bought a house that the previous owner had claimed water damages. He ended up getting insurance through the state pool for some ridiculous amount. That might be a good argument for knockdown.

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Teetorbilt

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 6, 2005

I'm praying that it's a goner. I'll post before the superbowl, doing the survey at 10:00 AM.

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