The Flood Co. Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Taylorsville’

We perform a lot of inspections for people who are looking to buy a home. They don’t want to have any surprises. They are trying to investigate and understand all of the problems with a home before they buy it. Knowledge is power. If you know about something you can take appropriate actions. If a home you are considering buying has mold you can can find out what the removal and repairs will cost and adjust your offer to buy the home accordingly. Well this particular experience was a little different.

The prospective buyer who hired us did not want to know about the mold in the home. It was a bank owned home, and he was convinced that he had already negotiated a very good price on the home. In the process of getting a new mortgage on the home, the mortgage company required a home inspection. The home inspector pointed out some possible mold in his report. The mortgage company did not want to make a bad investment, so they required a mold inspection and report from a mold professional. That is the actual reason we were there, is because it was required by the mortgage company for them to grant a loan.

We did find a lot of mold. All of the basement walls were mold affected and about half of the ceiling. The water had come from problems in both of the bathrooms on the main floor above. Both bathrooms needed to be pretty nearly demolished, including a shower. This is alot of mold, a lot of work required and a lot of repairs; at a very considerable cost of course. The total cost of the mold cleanup and repairs was over $45,000. We wrote up a report for this customer and his mortgage company that described the damage and the needed repairs. The logical thing would be to ask the seller to pay for or share in the cost of the needed work. Well this man wanted this house pretty bad and I guess he thought it was worth what he had already negotiated for the home. He did not give our report to the mortgage company, instead he found someone that knew little or nothing about mold to write up a statement that minimized the mold problem. Even though he was not the owner of the home yet, he hid the problem from his mortgage company. He over paid for the house. He obviously did a poor or insufficient mold cleanup and he moved his family into this mold affected home. At times emotions can lead to irrational behavior, including loving a home too much.

Just in case you haven’t really been outside lately, I’m about to tell you something you probably already know by now: it’s cold outside.

Which means you will probably need to turn on the heating unit in your house soon.

Which means you will probably need to get your heating unit cleaned.

So by now, you probably have already had the aroma of burnt dust emanate throughout your house or business. This is because the dust that you smell burning up has been building up inside your air ducts throughout the spring, summer, and autumn months, and is just now leaving your air ducts the hard way. Now, if all that dust has been accumulating in your air ducts, think of what else could be lurking in there. Spider webs, mold, dead insects, and all other sorts of unsavory things could be in your air ducts as we speak.

Feeling nervous?

Well, the one thing you have to take into consideration is that air ducts, depending on the volume of people and animals occupying the building, should be cleaned anytime from every one to every five years. Vacuuming around the edges and just inside the vents will not get it done, either; a thorough and deep cleaning of all ducts and vents must be done to get the full effect. Not only will cleaning your air ducts cut back on the health hazards lurking in your air ducts, but it also reduces the risk of a fire due to the burning dust, and it also helps make your heating unit more efficient, saving you money on energy and natural gas costs.

So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t had a good air duct cleaning in at least the last year or so, perhaps it’s time to contact the professional technicians at The Flood Co.!

This landlord was looking for $100

Water Damage leads to mold if not dried quickly

band-aid like he was able to get from a “carpet cleaner” the last time his sewer backed up. As you can see he not only ended up with sewer contamination, but also mold. Cutting corners does not always save money, and can sometimes lead to much larger problems and much larger expenses.

His tenants are beginning to figure out that some of their illnesses or ailments may be related the sewer backups that have been improperly cleanup and the mold. Did he really save any money, or did he unnecessarily expose tenants to unhealthy conditions and possibly create huge liabilities for himself?

At most he only delayed the cost of the clean up. The property is for sale. A buyer or home inspector would have to be blind to miss the mold and the odor.

Make sure you don’t buy a water damaged and mold damaged property like this one, because this owner apparently thinks he can sell this property like this.