Under contract, finished basement signs of moisture

[Ben Bechard]

Hi everyone,

Good news is I'm under contract for my first house hack in Denver! Got the inspection report back today (Tuesday). After reviewing it there are signs of water potentially leaking into the basement's utility room which contains the unit's washer/dryer, furnace and hot water heater. 

There are signs of rust/corrosion all in this room (light switches, interior/exterior of furnace, water heater and other pipes). There's also 2 feet of mold a few inches high showing signs of previous water accumulation on the floor. You can see the water line along the wall. The only signs of mold or rust/corrosion are in this room with the exposed concrete floors/walls. Remainder of basement is completely finished so we're unable to see the exterior walls and condition of the floors under the carpet.

Under the seller's disclosure under "Flooding and Damage" they state there are 2 sump pumps in the basement and they say the basement hasn't flooded since they have owned the home the past 5 years. 

Any advice? Anything inspection wise needs to be addressed before next Monday. Initially thinking of doing invasive inspection? I'm new to Denver and basements in general so I don't know how often water gets in them and if water problems are fixable down the road. Thanks!

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Ben Bechard:

Mold requires a water source to grow, so there's clearly still a moisture issue down there. Two sump pumps, water marks, and rust all indicate water has been in the basement before. Unless they can show you where that water came from and what they've done to prevent it from ever happening again, I would pass. The fact that they have two sump pumps indicates they are concerned about water again.