Hello, does anyone know about mold?

Question

I am new to the site and fairly new to REI. I own one SFR that I have been renting here in Maryland for the last year. I am now looking to grow my business and purchase my first multifamily property. I've found one that I have my eye on, however, the property had a leak in the plumbing and now has mold growing in two of the six bedrooms.

Does anyone have experience in mold remediation? I am going to have a mold inspection done but, the cost of the cleanup has me concerned. I've budgeted 10k for the mold remediation and plumbing work to be done, does this sound right or am I way off base?

Justin

Ronald Wentz · Answer

@justin harrell Bleach and water mixture in a spray bottle if area is small or use a pump sprayer from your local big box store. If drywall is damaged you must replace because it is porous. Moisture helps mold to grow so purchasing a dehumidifier would help remove moisture.

Good luck

Kathleen Leary · Answer

My home inspector (who knows everything!) has encountered toxic black mold ONCE in 30-plus years & many thousands of inspections. Just because it's moldy & black doesn't make it "THE" black mold. Odds are in your favor it isn't.

Obviously, first repair the plumbing & make sure the roof, windows, doors & foundation are water-tight. Assuming the mold is just the regular stuff, your repair budget will go toward fixing the cause.

Depending on the extent of the damage, you may not need a remediation service. It's a matter of replacing the drywall, maybe baseboards & painting once you remove the cause. Check with your local authorities.

FYI - not as a result of plumbing leaks, but I've had entire walls mold caused by people piling boxes/trash bags against walls or in closets. Ventilation is super-important!

Dave Visaya · Answer

Hey @Justin Harrell welcome to the site! It's great to have you. You may want to use keyword alerts for that?

Regards,

Dave

Travis West · Answer

@Justin Harrell

See my response to this issue under another forum post titled "Mold Disclosure."

It it easier to reference they post than to retype it here.

Travis West

James Wise · Answer

@Justin Harrell

welcome to the site.

Andy Kaye · Answer

Not all mold is toxic mold. Leave a slice of bread on your kitchen counter, and it will grow mold a week later, but its probably not gonna kill you.

Justin Harrell · Answer

@all

thanks for the feed back. i certainly appreciate the insight. the mold inspection guys were very "sales pitchy"

What's the deal with all of the talk surrounding black mold? I've heard for years how dangerous and even deadly it can be.

Chris Martin · Answer

$10K? Two rooms? Sounds too high.

My non-expert opinion only. Pre-Katrina, mold remediation was a booming business because of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). The FUD factor kept contractors in big bucks. Then Hurricane Katrina happened. If you believed the FUD, people should have been dropping like flies. But they didn't. As Andrew said, fix the leak, remove the drywall, cleanup the mess.

NIH Study Abstract from 2010: "...no increase in the occurrence of adverse health outcomes has been observed in published reports to date. This article considers reasons why studies of mold exposure after the hurricane do not show a greater health impact."

http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.012809.103643?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dpubmed&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&journalCode=publhealth

Christopher Hunter · Answer

@Justin Harrell welcome to BiggerPockets Justin.

Andrew Syrios · Answer

Generally, removing mold is not that hard. Drywall repair and painting isn't that expensive. The hard partnis making sure it doesn't come back. If the mold just came from plumbing leaks, and you know where thos leaks are, it shouldn't be that difficult prevent from coming back. If its from a drainage or foundation problems, it could be a bit tougher. Every situation is different, but I think $10000 is probably plenty to the situation fixed.