Mold and Section 8

[Jak Dadi]

I have fourplex in San Pablo, CA, where one of the units has recently developed a lot of mold in coat closet, bedroom, living room etc.

1) I am all set to have the sheet rock, flooring, bathroom redone. Should I go with an mold remediation company who is given me an estimate of $6K for just the remediation part, and is estimating another 15k-20k for the rehab, whereas my maintenance man, who has been doing this for 15 years, is planning on basically tearing out the walls, redoing entire bathroom, flooring etc for the same amount, after treating the mold. Of course material cost is separate. I was planning on getting the place tested before he puts it back together. Since I want to continue renting to section 8 tenants, is there a requirement to go the certified mold remediation company route or can i get it done by my maintenance man, and then get a clearance from the testing co.

2) we had a tenant there for 20 years, with no mold issues, he moved out early last year. we started seeing the mold when we had a toilet overflow problem that the new tenant had, a few months ago. Is it possible that that could be a driver for mold. The overflow sat there for a week, since the tenant was out entire week...it went to all the rooms from what i am told....i am trying to see if we have any chance with insurance claim?