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Hello everyone. I put an offer in a home that is really nice, HOWEVER I am getting jitters.. Here's why... The home was sold, during the inspection someone turned the water on in the laundry room on the second floor, and it flooded the house. The buyers backed out. The owner was forth coming and told me it was about 10K gallons! It flooded the master, and two rooms below. The flood remediation was:
1. They removed/replaced 2ft of drywall upstairs and redrywalled in the master/laundry room.
2. They removed/replaced all drywall in the 2 downstairs rooms portion and carpet and are replacing that.
This happened months ago, and I went into the home while some of the beams where still exposed. It smelled ok.. and I didn't see any mold on the exposed floors.
What I want to know is... Is this sufficient remediation. I read that beams/walls must be primed for mold before remediating. I want to make sure this was done.. How can I go by doing this. Also for the home inspection is there someway I can see if the inspector actually 'rate' the remediation that was done and detect any mold? Is there something in the contract I can put to protect me? Also what will this do to the home insurance premium? Finally, what would this mean for resale value?
Feel free to post any comments! Knowledge is power.
Your realtor should be able to direct you to the CLUE system where you could verify the insurance claims made for this property and get an idea on future premiums required to insure it.
There is a specialty test for mold detection, however it can run into the 3k figure.
Do a web search to locate such companies and contact them for further info. and price quotes.
You know water leaks happen. It is not uncommon to see water stains under a bathroom. I am more worried when they don't replace the drywall. I don't think drywall dries very well...at least out in my area. Ripping it out and replacing with new is the way to go IMO. The fact that there is new is a good thing, to me.
I agree that you should get a copy of the invoices that the contractors did for the home owners. On it, it will say exactly what they did. Out here if the beams are exposed they just let them dry. They use a moisture meter to make sure they are dry before dry walling. I mean they build houses in the rain so it's not like beams never get wet. They just need to dry.
If they haven't closed up the wall yet, then you can ask them to do an air sample and a swab sample of the area. Those tests run around $600 out here. I don't know what you mean they must be "primed for mold before remediation." Usually they only do remediation if there is mold.
Out here if it was fixed it would mean nothing for resale. I have sold three homes now that had water damage from burst pipes. The buyers just wanted to see the contractor receipts which the sellers had and that was it. Whether or not it is a problem in your area for resale is a question for your real estate agent.
Hello everyone. I put an offer in a home that is really nice, HOWEVER I am getting jitters.. Here's why... The home was sold, during the inspection someone turned the water on in the laundry room on the second floor, and it flooded the house. The buyers backed out. The owner was forth coming and told me it was about 10K gallons! It flooded the master, and two rooms below. The flood remediation was:
1. They removed/replaced 2ft of drywall upstairs and redrywalled in the master/laundry room.
2. They removed/replaced all drywall in the 2 downstairs rooms portion and carpet and are replacing that.
This happened months ago, and I went into the home while some of the beams where still exposed. It smelled ok.. and I didn't see any mold on the exposed floors.
What I want to know is... Is this sufficient remediation. I read that beams/walls must be primed for mold before remediating. I want to make sure this was done.. How can I go by doing this. Also for the home inspection is there someway I can see if the inspector actually 'rate' the remediation that was done and detect any mold? Is there something in the contract I can put to protect me? Also what will this do to the home insurance premium? Finally, what would this mean for resale value?
Feel free to post any comments! Knowledge is power.
Thank you.
I would avoid, unless the land is so valuable you could tear it down.......
There is a big difference between a home flooding from a busted pipe and a home flooding for a storm such as Hurricane Katrine.
Busted pipes should be an easy fix. Remove the damaged areas, dry them out and replace back with new materials.
I wouldn't think twice about purchasing a home that flooded from busted pipes as long as it was dried out right and all damaged materials were replaced.
Now on the other hand. If your home flooded from a storm the treatment would be different.
If you flooded for a day or so you should remove all damaged materials and dry out all areas. Next you should treat all areas with a product such as Safe Shield and then replace drywall etc.
If you home sat in nasty water for days then you should remove all damaged materials and dry out the areas. Then you should have all areas Soda Blasted, then treat with Safe Shield and install drywall etc.
I would ask them how long the water sat and which way did they treat for mold. If they said it was treated with bleach and water then they wasted money because bleach and water doesn't stop mold from growing. In fact it will cause the mold to come back because it doesn't kill the mold completely.
Hello everyone. I put an offer in a home that is really nice, HOWEVER I am getting jitters.. Here's why... The home was sold, during the inspection someone turned the water on in the laundry room on the second floor, and it flooded the house. The buyers backed out. The owner was forth coming and told me it was about 10K gallons! It flooded the master, and two rooms below. The flood remediation was:
1. They removed/replaced 2ft of drywall upstairs and redrywalled in the master/laundry room.
2. They removed/replaced all drywall in the 2 downstairs rooms portion and carpet and are replacing that.
This happened months ago, and I went into the home while some of the beams where still exposed. It smelled ok.. and I didn't see any mold on the exposed floors.
What I want to know is... Is this sufficient remediation. I read that beams/walls must be primed for mold before remediating. I want to make sure this was done.. How can I go by doing this. Also for the home inspection is there someway I can see if the inspector actually 'rate' the remediation that was done and detect any mold? Is there something in the contract I can put to protect me? Also what will this do to the home insurance premium? Finally, what would this mean for resale value?
Feel free to post any comments! Knowledge is power.
Thank you.
I checked your profile and see you appear to be in Houston. Based on that I can provide some answers.
First off, your details are sketchy and somewhat confusing. You ask about mold but did not specify if "Mold Remediation" was called for. I will expect that it was not but will provide some information there.
You should understand though that because of Hurricane Ike that Houston has supposedly gotten tough on contractors, mostly because of fraud. I would go to the Houston City site (or whichever city the home is in) and check all of their licensing, registration, etc., rules and laws for contractors. Ask who each company was that was involved in the repairs and make sure they are properly licensed, registered, etc. If a company was not properly licensed, registered, etc., and they were required to, then you might not receive any help from local government chasing them down later. It might turn to a "Civil Court" issue.
Remediation of flood damage is not controlled by a specific State Professional License. There might be various other trades involved that are licensed, such as a licensed electrician if who might have had to replace damaged fixtures, recepticals, wiring, etc. A plumber might have been brought in and they must be licensed as well. Other than those two trades the only other professionally licensed people are Mold Assessment Consultants, and Remediators. Check all professional licenses as well as local contractor licenses/registrations.
Mold assessment and remediation is controlled by the Texas Department Of State Health Services Mold Program Home Page. Mold remediation efforts are usually only required if 25 Sq. Ft. or more of mold was noted, or if a Mold Assessment Consultant inspected and tested for mold, found unusually high levels and/or determined remediation efforts were needed. Ask if a MAC was called in and if so ask to see the MAC's official report. There is usually an initial report, a remediation plan written by the MAC, potentially periodic reports if the client requested them, and then a final clearance report where the MAC certified any remediation work was accomplished if he wrote a remediation plan.
You were already told to request the owner provide you with a CLUE report which should provide an idea of how much damage occurred if the owner filed an insurance claim. If a claim was filed ask to see the claim adjusters reports (initial, any follow-on and closure) to see what they recommended and the insurance company was paying on. Ask the homeowner for all documentation from all contractors who worked on the issue. Compare those with the Claims Adjusters reports, estimates, etc., to make sure all work was performed. You should also ask your insurance agent how this will affect not only future coverage but also your insurance premium payments. A major water damage claim could potentially cause higher insurance premiums and loss of certain coverages.
10,000 Gallons is a lot of water and the potential is always there for damage that was not caught and repaired. If you are concerned about remaining damage I would highly advise you consider to have a infrared thermal imaging scan performed with testing using moisture meters as well. That can help find potential damage still exisiting. But you also need to realize that the opportunity for a 100% check for proper repairs/remediation ended once the sheetrock, wall/floor/ceiling coverings have been replaced. You can ask the owner if they have any photo documentation of repairs as they progressed to show the old/damaged and the new.
Broken pipes and flooding is very common. When this happen, most people get it fixed and move on with their life. They do not abandon the house like maybe adolpho might.
It sounds like a typical pipe break and resulting water flood, AND a typical repair.
Most of the time when there is water damage, they remove the drywall 2 - 4 feet from the floor, get it dry, check for mold, them put it all back together.
It is likely they checked for mold during the repair and dealt with it.
Its an added bonus that you were able to see the house during the repair process. It's pretty amazing how well things dry out if caught soon enough. Getting the drywall out fast is going to prevent a lot of mold from getting started.
I'm not sure just how much value a thermal image will be, since the source of the water is known, and it is not likely things are still wet.
Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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I would have no idea why structural lumber would be sealed to prevent mold. Sealing any wood that had a higher than ambient moisture in it, would be a perfect way to induce dry rot.
Mold spores need a moist environment to thrive.
All of the things that Silverfall said ring true with me, but then again, she's almost always dead on.
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