This inspector thinks it will be unlikely that remediation can be done sufficiently because of the severity of my reactions not necessarily the severity of the mold problem in the house. When people are as hypersensitive as I am, they react to very small amounts of anything and everything.
He had no explanation or clue as to why I reacted to the outside area.
One of the greatest issues is finding quality contractors to do the work correctly. Inspectors don’t typically do remediation (and aren’t supposed to as it’s considered a conflict of interest). Unless the inspector knows of really good remediators in your area who are CIRS knowledgeable and careful about
not cross contaminating spaces and are extremely thorough, you could have a hard time getting it taken care of.
Also, leaks inside of walls or ceilings or roof leaks can be especially problematic. There’s no way to know every path the water has traveled, as water doesn’t necessarily travel in a straight line. The extent of water damage can be much greater than suspected if it travels downward. That adds mucho $$$ to the cost and can mean that all of the water damage and mold may not be found or remediated.
Make sure you understand the cost involved. Remediation alone can be in the tens of thousands. Then you still may need various other contractors to do work - a plumber, a roofer, a carpenter/drywall installer, painter, etc. Unless you are able to do a lot of the work yourselves and have enough knowledge and experience to do it well, costs can be astronomical.
We are finding that everything costs hundreds to thousands more than we would have expected. Just something to think about
.
Again, from my perspective, I wish we had not bought another house with known water damage. We are lower income and did not have the money to look for better housing. Not that more expensive housing wouldn’t have issues, but it limited our choices.
We did look at probably 120 houses and put offers on 2 others before this one. When we went through with buying this one after consulting with a CIRS remediation expert, we felt the house was pretty good overall and thought we could get the work done properly and with much less money than it turned out. We didn’t dream that both contractors we hired to make corrections to prevent further water damage were going to cause far more water and structural damage than what was there initially.
Also, when we had the home inspection, I spent a lot of time there that day trying to check things out. I brought a hygrometer to check the temperature and humidity. I took it to each major room. The temperature and humidity was even throughout, and I believe the humidity was 45%, which was pretty good. That was in March, before the weather got hot. Temperature outside was in the 70F’s that day, and inside temperature was 70F.
After the latest leak, we set the thermostat on 74F. I thought that would keep the house cool and the humidity below 50%.
Saturday when the inspector came, it was hot in the house, but he confirmed the actual temperature was 74F. Humidity readings were 58.6%. Definitely not good.
What is so odd about
that is the comparison to the relative’s house we are in. In the relative’s house, if the thermostat is set on 77F in the day, it is comfortable and the humidity is around 49-50%. Both houses are on a slab foundation (hers much thicker), no trees around the house (ours has shrubs around the house), and a lot of windows with blinds and no drapes. Neither house has spray foam insulation in the attic.
This seems similar to our moldy house that we left, in that we had to turn the thermostat much lower to get the house to feel cool enough and there was higher humidity in the house.
My point of this long story is that things are not always how they appear and fixing those things can become an endless money pit.
Post Edited (WalkingbyFaith) : 7/1/2019 7:59:04 AM (GMT-6)