Sewer backup - Mold - Posted by Robin

Posted by ski on April 14, 2006 at 19:51:01:

Had a simular situation. House was worth about 250k. Short saled it for 68k. Ripped out the drywall at about 6 bucks a sheet. Cost me approx. 1200.00. Also put in a new lift station at a cost of 450.00. Still a good deal. Don’t the "mold"tuff get to you. This is the next tobacco law problem.

Sewer backup - Mold - Posted by Robin

Posted by Robin on April 14, 2006 at 17:11:06:

Hi,

I am going to look at a condo this weekend: 2/2, 864 ssq ft, ground unit. There was a sewer back up, and there is now mold too. The underlying problem was repaired by the complex-- but the homeowner is responsible for drywall, and anything inside the drywall. Of course, he wasn’t insured… so he is selling for $45K under market (selling for $99K, FMV for rehabbed units is $145K - $150K).

The seller thinks it will cost $7-10K for cleanup and mold remediation, and $10K for rehab. I think the $10K for rehab is correct, but I have no idea how much clean up and mold remediation might cost.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Robin

Re: Sewer backup - Mold - Posted by Carter

Posted by Carter on April 14, 2006 at 20:33:50:

I’m an insurance agent by trade. I’ve been to a few mold remediation continuing ed classes. I’ve seen what it takes to completely get rid of it. I’ve also had a few water claims out of my office that went up drastically when the environmental engineers came in.

Every house in the country has mold, especially if it’s in the south. The problem, like was said before, is that mold is the next tobacco litigation. Unless you are going to have it remidiated by a professional, I, personally, would run from it. Not because it definately can’t be completed by a non-professional, but because of that starving lawyer that is looking to make a name for himself along w/ a nice 7 figure payday. Mold scares me for this reason and this reason only. “Black” mold (the deadly kind) is very uncommon, but that won’t stop an attorney from bringing this up in front of a jury.

Re: Sewer backup - Mold - Posted by Dons

Posted by Dons on April 14, 2006 at 18:20:39:

FWIW We had the same situation in a condo we owned, and because it was caused by a problem for which the HOA had responsibility (the sewer system) they paid for the clean up and carpet/pad replacement. They got to it immediatly and we had no mold. But…

…we also had a flood at our home when the hose on the washing machine broke. (I’ll never have another rubber hose again!) The laundry room is on the first floor, the flood water ran down the furnace registers from both the flooded laundry room and flooded kitchen.

That’s when we learned furnace pipes don’t hold water! Duh! The water distributed through out the ceiling in the finished basement, destroyed one room, several walls and all the basement carpet/pad. What a mess. We had all the wet carpet, pad, and dry wall removed within 12 hours.

So our insurance company wanted mold testing done. The engineering firm they picked charged them $5000 to do the preliminary tests! Then wanted another $2500 after the new flooring and walls were to be installed. The insurance company then sent in a mold remediation contractor and he gave a “rough” estimate of between $60,000 and $150,000 to remove mold! Huh??? What a racket!

The insurance company wouldn’t pay that (even though it was they who sent this contractor to us for the quote), and our insurance company just had us get the contractor I normally use to replace all the dry walls, and flooring materials…$17,000.

No mold. Dry as a bone. Problem solved.

If the mold guys can get that kind of money I wonder why I am doing REI instead of mold remediation. Mold license…a license to steal.

Don