Mold

Mold

This is an excerpt from the Book called “Estimating Rehab costs”  by J Scott . Continue reading to learn more about Mold, thanks to the author.

Mold Overview 

For many investors, mold is the most terrifying renovation issue they’ll ever face.  Hopefully, after reading this section, that won’t be the case anymore. 

Mold is a fungus that occurs naturally in the environment, mostly in soil and on dead or decaying organisms. In fact, if you were to do a mold test outdoors, you’d find that the mold spore count is pretty high. But you don’t generally worry about encountering mold outside, do you?   

Mold only becomes a problem when it starts to grow in exceptionally large quantities indoors, or when certain types of dangerous mold spores start to grow.  In order to grow, mold need two things; moisture and a food source such as wood, insulation, sheetrock, or cloth. If you take away either the moisture source or the food source, mold will stop growing.   

When you have mold growing in a house, the remediation course involves three steps; 

1. Remediate the moisture source.
2. Remove the mold that has grown.
3. Perform mold test to verify remediation.

only an AQT cab tell you for certain if your house has mold and what type of mold, but if you see mold in a house, that’s a pretty reliable indicator. Some people believe that if you smell mold, there is a big problem. In reality, many distressed houses haven’t been lived in for long periods of time, and it’s pretty common for these closed up houses to smell musty without there being a major mold issue.  In many cases, opening up the windows for a couple days or getting the air conditioning running again with take care of the smell, and an AQT will indicate that there are no remaining mold issues.  

 That said, if there is a mold problem, the first course of action is going to be to determine the source of moisture and get it remediated. This should be done prior to bringing in a mold remediator, as remediating the mold won’t be a long-term fix if the moisture problem isn’t resolved—the mold will just grow back.  

At any time in the process, you have the option to bring in a testing company. But if you’re fairly certain that there is a mold problem, the testing will only confirm what you already know. Save your money, do the remediation, and then do the testing at the end to confirm that the remediation worked.  

Regardless of what anyone tells you, mold remediation of any area larger than ten square feet is not a DIY project. Instead, you’ll want to bring in a qualified mold remediator. Different states have different requirements for licensing mold remediators—in some states, you need to be licensed to legally remediate mold problems; in other states, there are no requirements whatsoever, so finding a qualified remediator can be a bit more difficult. 

Once the remediator evaluates the problem, it’s very likely he’ll recommend removing any porous building materials that have been impacted by the mold. This might include wet sheetrock, wet carpet and pad, and moldy cabinets. While you may be able to do this demo yourself, some areas have very strict biohazard rules around disposing of moldy material. Ask your mold remediator if you can do the demo yourself or if he recommends doing it himself.  

I look at mold problems just like I look at roof issues , cracked windows, or dirty carpet—it’s going to require bringing in a knowledgeable contractor or two, paying some money, and getting the work done. While it may be more expensive and time consuming than those other fixes, ultimately, it’s no more complicated or daunting. I don’t let mold stop me from buying a house at the appropriate price discount, and neither should you. Just note that, in some states, you will be required to disclose the mold to future buyers; if you had the work done by a reputable contractor, you should also have a warranty that will ease the buyer’s minds and you’ll hopefully find that resale isn’t any more difficult than if the mold were never there.  

Inspection Tips

There are several way to do a cursory mold inspection in a property that you’re walking through, but the most basic—and often the most accurate-is to simply use the sniff test. Mold tends to have a very distinctive rate—is to simply use the sniff test mold tends to have a very distinctive smell, and after you’ve smelled it once, you’re unlikely to forget it.  

Keep in mind that a musty smell isn’t always indicative of mold—houses that have been closed up for long periods of time without much airflow will often have a stale odor. It’s common for foreclosed homes. Or homes where the electricity is turned off, to have a strong smell of stale air and mustiness. If you come across this in the property you’re inspecting, don’t be alarmed—but definitely take note and do some additional investigation and due diligence to determine if mold is the issue or not. 

In addition to smelling for mold, you should be on the lookout for mold on walls, in closets and especially in any place where there is a risk of water intrusion or leaks. When I inspect a property, I always carry a flashlight, and do a detailed search of all parts of the basement, attic, and garage—there places where mold is exceedingly common.  

On any property where I find or suspect mold, I will open up some of the vents and ducts to investigate if there is mold growing in the HVAC system. This is a common health hazard that is often overlooked by investors, but for the couple hundred dollars that it costs to have HVAC ducts cleaned and disinfected, it doesn’t need to be. 

Finally, remember that mold can sometimes be very difficult to find, even if you smell it or otherwise suspect that it’s there. If you suspect there is mold in a property, but can’t verify it yourself, I highly recommend bringing in a specialist to investigate further. 

Life Expectancy 

N\A

Scope of work (SOW) tasks

Here are the major tasks associated with mold remediation;  

Remediate water source 

This task actually isn’t part of this section. Removing a moisture source should be done as part of what- ever major component is causing the moisture. If it’s a roof leak, you should resolve the problem when doing roof work. If it’s a plumbing leak, you should resolve the problem as part of the plumbing renovations. if it’s foundation issue, you should be resolving the issue as part of your foundation work. 

Any moisture issue should be resolved prior to doing any mold testing or remediation. 

Demo moldy material 

This is another task that isn’t really part of the mold remediation. Depending on the scope of the problem, you may need to do extra demo to remove moldy sheetrock, flooring, and cabinets. Depending on the rules in your state and the extent of the problem, you may need a more complex demo process to avoid any contamination form the moldy materials. 

Air quality test (AQT) 

To verify whether there is still a mold problem, or to find out the specific types of molds present, an air quality test can be performed. These tests should definitely be done after mold remediation to ensure the problem was adequately resolved.  

While air tests are the most common type of testing, in some cases the testing company may recommend a surface test, where a sample is taken from the floor or a framing member in order to verify that there is no mod on those surfaces. 

Mold remediation

There are many ways to remediate existing mold, depending on the scope of the problem, the location of the mold, and the type of mold. And if you ask five different mold remediators how to resolve a specific problem, you’ll likely get five different answers.  

In general, the process involves ensuring that the water source is remediated, killing existing mold using a biocide, removing existing spores through sanding or wire brushing, and then maybe encapsulating the previously contaminated areas using a sealant. Some remediators will use encapsulation to remediate hard to reach areas or to ensure that the dead mold spores do not get released into the air or affect the surrounding areas. Don’t hire a mold remediator who plans to only encapsulate instead of killing and removing the mold—this is a substandard method that many scam remediators like to use. In many cases, the remediator will put dehumidifiers in the house for several days post-remediation; this will remove any humidity from the air and will dry out the house as final remediation step.  

There are lots of different techniques that can be used for killing, removing, and encapsulating mold; unfortunately, even if I were to spend the next 20 pages discussing the details of mold remediation (not that I know enough to fill that much space), I wouldn’t be able to generalize what mold remediation techniques to use under what circumstances. 

Cost guidelines

There are so many different circumstances surrounding mod problems and so many different remediation techniques that it’s nearly impossible to outline what the cost of a particular job should be without having all the details about the particular property and the exact problem. Here are some tips on what to expect when getting quotes for mold work; 

Air quality test (AQT)

$100-$200 per test.  

This is pretty standard pricing for third-party air quality tests or surface tests. The variable that is hard to determine without specific knowledge of the problem is how many tests will be needed. If the mold is confined to a small location (a room or crawlspace, for example), a single test might be sufficient. if the mold was airborne and suspected th have contaminated the entire house, the testing company may recommend two air quality tests per floor, and perhaps one or two surface tests as well. In general, I like to budget $ 500 for testing when I’m dealing with a medium-or large sized mold issue. 

Mold remediation

$500-$10,000+. 

while you may be able to remediate small problems for less than $500 and you could someday run into a problem that will cost more than $10,000 to fix completely, on a typical 2,000 square foot or smaller house, that range should cover pretty much every mold problem you’ll  encounter. 

To know exactly what a project will cost, you’ll need to get several bids. Remember, mold remediators recognize that mold is scary topic, and will often use this fact to hike up their prices, telling you that if you find a solution that costs anything less, you’ll be endangering your family or whoever ultimately moves into the house. This may not be the truth, but in general, the cost of remediation will be relative to the amount of time it takes to remediate, and the amount of manual labor involved. Make sure you ask lots of questions about how the remediation will be done and how long it will take.  

If the remediator plans to put dehumidifiers into the house to complete the job, expect to pay$50-$100 per day for each dehumidifier while this may be a necessary part of the remediation, this can significantly drive up the price of the job. 

Determining your local prices

The only way to know for certain what mold remediation job will cost is to get several quotes from qualified contractors. Once you find a qualified contractor you like and trust, he may be able to give you some general guidelines that you can use for future pricing. 

How to pay for job

Most remediation companies will ask for the work to be paid in several draws that correspond to the specific work being done. For example, a company I often work with likes to get one-third of the price upfront (the morning work starts), one –third after the bulk of the remediation is completed, and then one-third after third-party testing has been completed and has verified the problem is resolved.