Mold Problem (Houston: insurance, buying a home, neighborhood)

[THEDOORS]

I am thinking about moving to Houston, but the thing that has been bothering me is the mold that can be caused by the excessive humidity. Do all homes up there pretty much have mold problem?

How do you guys take care of your properties during the humidity and wet winter season? I am worried that I might be fooled to buy a home with toxic black mold buried under new wallpaper or something. Also what will the insurance company DO? will they cover the cost to clean?

Thanks...

[tstone]

We don't do anything special to keep the house clean and it doesn't change from season to season. Kitchen needs cleaning immediately after use, but otherwise a weekly rundown for a few hours with the bleach cleaner where there is water is all that's needed. Weekly vacuuming. Change the air filters every month. Don't open the windows unless it's below 40% humidity. People with poor hygiene in the "Dirty South" will have dispicable issues with their homes, however. I've seen/smelled my share, with tobacco smoke and animals as an added bonus. Some folks, especially poor whites, can be just nasty.

Anyway, insurance won't usually cover anything... if it does it's usually a very small amount of remediation written in as an added bonus. Mine is $5,000.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by THEDOORS

I am thinking about moving to Houston, but the thing that has been bothering me is the mold that can be caused by the excessive humidity. Do all homes up there pretty much have mold problem?

How do you guys take care of your properties during the humidity and wet winter season? I am worried that I might be fooled to buy a home with toxic black mold buried under new wallpaper or something. Also what will the insurance company DO? will they cover the cost to clean?

Thanks...

Unless you are in South Texas, I think you would actually say "DOWN THERE", but that is neither here nor there. Mold can be a problem but for the most part if you have an AC unit that is properly matched to your house you will be fine.

[Poltracker]

Well constructed and cared for homes do not have mold problems.

[Supermac34]

Things about mold.

1. All houses in Houston have some mold.
2. There is more mold outside than in your house.
3. The mold that is thought to be a problem tends to not actually be a problem unless you are specifically allergic to that kind of mold.

[baggiegenes]

Originally Posted by Supermac34

Things about mold.

1. All houses in Houston have some mold.
2. There is more mold outside than in your house.
3. The mold that is thought to be a problem tends to not actually be a problem unless you are specifically allergic to that kind of mold.

These are pretty much true. If you read or ask about propper construction in Houston you'll find that houses are built to allow for evaporation of moisture between walls to prevent mold and rot. If you walk into a house that has serious mold issues and is just being covered up by wall paper, you'll smell and feel it. It will stink like mold and be a very damp feeling house.

If you are buying a good neighborhood with well constructed homes you will probably be fine. For a few hundred bucks you can have someone come in and inspect a house for visual signs of mold, air quality, and moisture in the walls for suspicious areas.

[sunny57]

Baggie hit the nail on the head it's in the construction and staying on top of home maintenence... fixing the water leaks or roofing issues.

Jimbo also makes a good point making sure your a/c unit is a good match. It's my understanding that the a/c unit pulls the humidity out of the air.

It's not that big of a deal...Sunny

[texas7]

Mold comes from being wet and not humidity. It is that little leak that a homeowner ignores, a dripping a/c pan that goes undetected. A water damage (i.e., burst water pipe, washing machine malfunction or ice maker malfunction that floods the home) that is only taken care of by sucking the water up and replacing floors is a huge culprit. When you have a water damage - you need to call a company that comes in and makes sure that your walls are dry so that mold doesn't start. They dry your walls. That big box fan you have in your garage, just won't do it.

[snappy]

Make sure you are not buying a home that was built back before they realized how bad fake stucco is. We lived in an area where the fake stucco houses had bad mold (to the point of health issue problems). The houses in that area were built in the early 90's. Ours was siding so we were lucky. We moved to a house with real stucco and had no problems. We did have a stucco inspection done to make sure it was real and OK. It cost about $700 and was paid for by the seller because it was very close to the time that all the fake ones were having such bad problems. Not sure if you would get a seller to pay for it now.

I guess the fake stuff acts like saran wrap on the house and doesn't allow air moving - breathing if you will. Hence the excessive mold.

[Wysiwyg]

I do see a lot of <5yo houses with lots of mold on its sidings - is this the fake stucco youre refering too? I think mold grows on the side of their houses that does not get sunlight, gets moist (nightly here in houston) and does not dry up especially in winter months