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Updated about 10 years ago, 09/15/2014
another mold question
looking at a very nice foreclosure by me price is $65000 local comps are 180-215000 the house is 3 bed 2.5 bath 2100 sq ft built 1990s been empty for over 2 years with a flooded basement which is all cement walls, but rest of the inside of the house mostly the walls which is painted drywall has mold anyway to know if this is wipe off mold or drywall would need gutted and replaced? What would something this size typically cost? Its a 2 story house main problems is on the main floor but sure some has made it upstairs
Sounds like a good deal. I'd wipe the mold off with a bleach solution and then paint everywhere that you still see mold. It's probably growing because the house was empty and the air was not given a chance to circulate.
Lowes sells mold tests that you can send in to make sure it's not some deadly strain of mold but chances are that it is not.
Contractor here.
The darker the color of the mold, the more I tend to want to remove the drywall. Find as small area to test remediation and remove a piece of the drywall to see what the damage is. Do it in where you think the moisture is coming from where the mold is worst. You should be able to diagnose it from there whether to wipe or to replace the drywall.
I would definitely be removing some drywall, if only to see if the mold is on the side of the walls/in the insulation.
I know the goal is the make money, but I couldn't in good conscience move forward on a property if there was any doubt in my mind about mold being present behind the walls.
Do you know WHY the basement flooded? Leak in the foundation, water line leaking inside a wall on the upper floor, combination thereof?
not sure I just know the house sat for years empty currently power is back on with the sump pump draining some of the water and anyone have any idea on what worst case would cost ballpark price
Worst case is whatever the most expensive company in your area wants to charge you for it. Best case is you roll some paint on and the problem goes away because some windows are open and/or the air is cut on.
Is there water actively coming in the basement even when there's no rain? If not then you can just run the pump when the rain comes and maybe find the point(s) of intrusion and do something to prevent more water from coming in like caulking any cracks with silicone.
If it has a sump pump and the power was off for years that's the source of the flooding. I'd test an area and cut the drywall near a stud. If it's moldy on the back side of the drywall, on the studs and insulation just gut it. You won't ever kill the smell. If it's just the surface of the drywall scrub with bleach and use killz primer.
Odds are if you see mold growing on the surface of the walls that were painted its deffinatly behind the walls.
Proper mold remediation is expensive as you are going to basically gut all affected areas to the studs, spray to kill the mold then install new insulation, sheetrock, molding, trim, flooring, ect. If its the entire house then it will be expensive.