Water in the basement... and I don't know what to do!

[Scott Foster]

So this is my first flip, and I just when I thought all was going smoothly and we went into contract for asking price with buyers, this happened....

The buyer's had a home inspection, and the inspector tore us apart.  Approximately 1/4 of the inspector's complaints/bashing the work was incorrect, and I learned the hard way that I should have had my GC there to walk through with him or speak with him before the final inspection report was sent to the respective home buyers (lesson learned).  

However, to the inspectors credit, he did indeed find a small amount of mold and water in the basement,  and some water weeping through two of the basement walls (very, very, very small amount of water/dampness along the corner and middle of two walls after a hard rain), and there was stagnant water located in the bottom of the pit of the sump pump. 

There seems to be two issues at hand here:

1. Dampness/waterproofing

2. Mold

I got a quote from a legit/reputable mold company, $2,700 to eradicate the mold in the whole house (even though it's only in the corner, he reports that because the inspector located it in one little corner in an area of approximately 3 sq ft, he now has to perform an AQT and clean the entire unfinished basement and have all vents scrubbed and sprayed with antimicrobial solution). The mold contractor recommends taking care of the moisture/dampness issue first, OR just get a dehumidifier that drains into the sump pump because it is very normal for new jersey basements to have moisture in the basement.

For waterproofing: from speaking to different contractors, I was told my options are to install a french drain (best quote was $4,800) or another option was to escavate the exterior of the foundation to waterproof it from the outside, and re-grade the gravel on the exterior of the foundation (VERY expensive >$10k), or the third option is to just do the dehumidifier and drain it into the sump pump as the mold contractor suggested.

The buyers still want the house, but I don't want to spend a ton just to finish this out. 

My question is....

Is there a way around getting the AQT and just clean out that small area of mold? It is not anywhere else in the home. We did a full gut, and the entire home is completely rehabbed and pretty much brand new, including a full vent clean out....

Are there any other suggestions for dealing with the small amount of dampness/waterproofing?

Any suggestions for dealing with this incorrect inspection?

Thanks so much to anyone who can give some tips, wisdom, creative thoughts!!!

-Scott

[Account Closed]

Holy smokes. You're in what seems to be a world of crap. Let me show you the door out. This is what I would do in your situation. I live and work in waterlogged western Pennsylvania and I am a PA-registered and insured home improvement contractor. I am extremely familiar with this sort of issue.

Your first step is to say buh-bye to the mold contractor. Spend some time on Wikipedia checking out black mold, and you'll see that the big black mold scare is almost completely public hysteria. Get a gallon sprayer, fill it halfway up, and dump two cups of concentrated household bleach on it. Spray out the basement, paying special attention to the area you found the evil mold at. Your mold contractor doesn't seem to be a very bad guy other than overemphasizing how important his role is -- he gave you some useful advice, as you'll see

You mention vents, so if you've got vents, we're talking forced-air. If we're talking forced-air, you've got a filter. Switch out your existing filter for a new one, anything above a MERV 7 rating. Run the blower fan continuously for a day. Turn off the blower fan. Do a walk-through of the house with your bleach sprayer at a lower concentration, one cup per gallon, lighting misting all surfaces and the air. Drop the nozzle of the sprayer into each of the vents and let 'er rip for a bit. Open the fan access, spray the blower fan lightly and the exhaust heavily. Run the blower fan continuously for another day. Switch out the MERV 7 filter for a new filter. Your mold problem is gone like it never existed.

Actually, if you just spray out the basement with bleach solution and wait two weeks, you'll probably be fine anyway on any AQT. But go the extra mile. It's cheap.

Now you need to fix the dampness issue. Yes, the dehumidifier will help, and probably completely eradicate the problem. Over the long haul, when there are heavy rains, with any sort of continued erosion in the area, chances are the dampness issue will get worse. Your best long-term permanent solution is the interior French drain running into the sump pump along the bottom of the exterior wall that's weeping. This is expensive, as you've found, and you'll want to avoid that, even though the cost is really all labor -- putting in French drains that drain into sump pits is quite profitable for basement contractors. Anyone who quoted you the external excavation solution...wow. You might do that for a historical building with constant standing water in the basement. Retrofitting an existing basement like that on a flipped house with a minor problem...come on.

Make sure that the ground outside is sloping gently away from the house for 12 inches out on all sides. If that's a problem for one person to do easily with a few buckets of topsoil, well congrats, there's at least a 90% chance that you've found the source of all your woes. Dig it out and redo some basic landscaping with the help of inexpensive, unlicensed, unskilled guys you find off Craigslist (or perhaps standing around in a group outside your local home improvement supercenter that responds enthusiastically with ¡Vámonos! to the secret contractor code phrase ¿Estáis disponsible?) The $200-$300 dumpster rental you'll also need to get rid of the excess soil around your house will be well worth the expense. If you would prefer to forego that expense, there are always 4-mil contractor garbage bags at Big Lots that you can load in a van and empty at the edge of any unlighted strip mall parking lot in the middle of the night.

Make sure you don't have a downspout draining right over the area of the leak. This happens surprisingly often. If this is what's happening, use a downspout extension to move the drainage further out from your exterior wall.

Get the $200 dehumidifier.  Paint the interior walls and floor of the basement with a product called Dry-Lok. Dry-Lok is a controversial product and will not solve all your woes. But with the dehumidifier and proper earth grading on your exterior, Dry-Lok will buy you more than enough time to sell the house and have it operate trouble-free for a good long time, and perhaps permanently.

If you do all that and you still have water leakage, the expense of the interior French drain draining into a bigger sump pit is perfectly justified.

[Steve Babiak]

Originally posted by @Scott Foster:

....

there was stagnant water located in the bottom of the pit of the sump pump. 

...

A sump pump will not be able to discharge 100% of the water that accumulates in a sump pit, so there will always be water sitting at the bottom of the sump pit. A second type of floor opening for moisture control is a simple floor drain that will tie into the house's waste lines; those also have to be wet at the bottom, because they have a trap. 

[Patrick Liska]

Scott,

sometimes you do not have to go to the extremes of digging outside and re-waterproofing, or putting in a french drain. I would start from the outside first, as @Account Closed is right, if the sump pit is the enclosed type the sell and not perforated all around it, then there is always water sitting at the bottom of the pit, and all sump pumps are not designed to get every bit of water out, the intake for the water is usually about 3/8" up from the bottom of the unit, this prevent the motor from being clogged with mud.

a lot of times the home inspectors will exaggerate things for their clients.

[Scott Foster]

Thank you so much for your response. I'm talking to a contractor now to attempt to rid the mold in the way you suggested. Will post an update when this is all finished.

[Matt Turbitt]

it will probably be hard to find your states regulations but here a home owner and treat up to 10 sq ft of mold without the need of professional treatment, i had thought that was a fed regulation. I'd take some tilex to it and worry more about the water penetration, not the mold.

[Scott Foster]

Just an update: having my GC clean/spray the basement with a bleach/comparable solution this sunday, adding another 2 coats of dry-lok (already had 2 coats previously) and going to enhance the grading with more soil around the foundation, and add in a dehumidifier. Will repeat the spray/mold treatment in two weeks and get the vents cleaned prior to having an AQT ... Thanks guys!