I had two contractors come out to the house today to give me an estimate on mold remediation. Â They were both very different but there were some common threads in the conversation.
The first contractor was very professional. Â He walked in and immediately handed me a card and a pamphlet about his company. Â I apologized for the mess in the house and then we walked around. Â The first part was the wall that had the leaking roof. Â He pulled out a few gadgets. Â One was some thermal imaging type thing that had a screen on it. Â It showed where any moisture was. Â He seemed a little confused by the results. Â The whole wall was okay except one small area.
Next was the basement stairway. Â It ended up being the worst area and the one where they both spent the most amount of time. Â When the first guy got in there, he said it could cost thousands to fix that area but if I wanted to start with cleaning, he would be able to do that for around $500-600. Â After seeing that area, he got very concerned that there was still a leak somewhere, like in the siding.
Lastly, we went to the garage where the alleged black mold is. Â The first thing he said was that water must still be getting in somewhere. Â However, his gadget once again didn’t show any moisture so he looked confused again.
Before beginning any work, he wants me to have a siding expert come take a look. Â He’s not comfortable doing anything until he knows for sure that there’s no water coming in the house anymore. Â He doesn’t want me to spend the money to clean it all up only to have it grow back again right away.
His final quote was for $1,425 to take care of all three areas and I got the quote within an hour of him leaving. Â He would be cleaning and spraying those areas with special chemicals. Â That doesn’t really include anything else. Â They only rip stuff out, they don’t put it back in.
The Second Contractor
The second contractor was much less professional. Â He was a little late. Â He forgot his card. Â I didn’t feel as uncomfortable walking him around my disaster of a house as I did with the first one because he was so casual. Â He was really into the whole demo thing. Â He basically wants to rip my whole house apart. It sounds like his quote is going to come back really high, like well into the thousands.
When we were talking about the hallway wall, he said he would rip the whole wall out. Â He didn’t have any special gadgets. Â You can’t really see any mold so I don’t know what led him to that conclusion.
Next we went into the bathroom. Â Right away he wants to rip everything out. Â He said that he would rip the bathtub out but it would save money if I did it. Â It seemed like he was talking about lots of money but that I could handle it myself so I guess I’ll rip it out.
The basement stairs, like with the first guy, is where he really wants to do all the demo. Â All the pots and pans and cleaning supplies have to come out because he will rip out all three walls and the ceiling. Â He was emphasizing that he will only be ripping it out, he won’t be putting anything back in.
Lastly, we went to the garage and the alleged black mold. Â I asked him if he had to report it if there was black mold in someone’s house and he laughed at me. Â I said that you always see that on TV how someone comes home and their house is in a bubble. Â He said that he has actually had to do that to people before but it was for asbestos, not mold.
After inspecting the basement stairway, I was curious if he thought there were anymore leaks and he said that he didn’t. Â He thought it looked like fixing the roof had stopped the water. Â We also talked about insurance. Â He said that they might cover the wall because of the leaking roof. Â We’ll have to call as soon as possible to find out.
The second one hasn’t sent a quote yet. Â I really think that it’s going to be a lot. Â It sounded like he was easily talking in the thousands.
They both found it surprising that they couldn’t smell any mold or musty odors with all the water damage. Â I think that’s a good sign. Â Neither one could find any moisture so I think that’s a good sign too. Â The second one said that mold spores can sit dormant for years though until a water source happens to come along. Â Then they can grow again which is creepy. Â He also told me of a good mold killing product that you can buy. Â Bleach supposedly doesn’t actually kill the mold.
Our house flooded last year (we live in California). With the removal of all the flooring and drywall that was necessary throughout the house and then rebuilding it, the final bill came to about $70,000 for repairs, damaged personal property and living expenses. Thankfully the insurance picked it up. You might have a clause that will cover some of the damages/repairs. You might also have a clause that won’t cover any of it since it came from outside. The mold may also not be covered. You really need to talk to your insurance company.
I would be inclined to heed the advice of the first one and make sure the leak is really fixed. If he was detecting water in an unusual place, it could be a drip that happens to land there. Your insurance company might be able to help with these kind of things. Ours made the initial arrangements for drying us out, demolition and for hotel stay. Hope all goes better than expected!
Wow wow wow!! $70,000? Yikes!! I hope we’re no where near that amount. It didn’t sound like it but I’m still curious what that 2nd quote is going to come in at.
It sounds like they are just wanting to tear it out. The rebuild is what adds to the cost. They spent months at our place putting everything back together. I sure hope it is nothing too major. Of course, they had to empty our place of everything. The cost included hiring a packing firm to pack up all our belongings and then store it for 3 months. It adds up so quickly!
Wow wow wow again!! LOL!!! 3 months and $70k. That’s a lot of time and money. I don’t think this is that major but I don’t think it’s going to be as minor as I’m thinking either.
What was the good mold killing product you could buy?
It was called OdoBan. He said that you could get it at The Home Depot.
Hmmm…what to do, what to do. I think one of the worst parts is that they will rip everything apart and don’t “put it back together”. That’s what happened for us. We had to have the the entire tub replaced in my kid’s bathroom. I don’t remember exactly but it was leaking. The pipes could only be reached by making a hole in the wall going up the staircase. The dry wall was ripped out and the flooring was a mess. But no leaks, right?! Back to being a mess like every other room. It’s all crazy. We have huge leak in the garage ceiling under where our bedroom is. Someone ripped out parts of it and replaced it with blue something drywall and never finished that. We don’t have to fix it anymore. Someone bought our house as is! OMG, it’s incredibly. I am so ready to leave. We had a huge rain storm day before yesterday and water was gushing in the basement. I squigied it into the sump pump. Overwhelmed!!!!
Congrats on selling the place as is!!! Now you don’t have to worry about all that anymore! I’m a little worried about them leaving it all ripped apart because we’re not the speediest people in the world lol. I hope it doesn’t stay that way for too long! It will mostly depend on when we have money to work on it.
Tearing everything out is easy. Rebuilding it takes the time. Some contractors don’t do the rebuild. They will only fix the initial problem like a leak. Glad someone was willing to take your house projects on!