Should I perform a mold inspection?

 

There are many inspections you can perform when purchasing a property and a mold assessment is just one of them.  We find mold issues in 60 to 70% of the properties we inspect.   That is a big number, but should not be surprising consider the age of housing stock in the Northeast.  Many property owners conceal mold issues, this is very common when homes are flipped, as the home is bought cheap and typically in need of major repairs/upgrades and fixing mold is rarely addressed and often covered over.Basement mold inspection  

Remember:

  • Mold is indoor air pollution and can and will affect your health.

  • If you are having health concerns and think mold is the factor, it likely is mold.

  • You had a water leak that occurred for longer than 72 hours at your home?  Probable happened to the home you are buying.

  • You are buying a home that was flipped and everything looks nice including the finished basement, that has a history of water issues, that you won't know about until after you move in..

  • You are buying a home that has a finished basement.  Again, water infiltrates basements, basement remediation projects are our number one area of remediation.

  • You are buying a home that has been unoccupied for 6 months or more.  Unoccupied homes are not heated or cooled and are subject to wide swings in temperature and humidity, which allows mold to grow.

The finished basement in the photo was from a house that was bank owned and FLIPPED.  Owner smelled musty odors and Curren found mold behind the sheetrock walls.  water was getting in from cracks in the foundation that the flipped covered up with sheetrock.   This is a common, common situation.

mold in flipped home

 

                 Why be concerned with mold?

Mold can absolutely affect your health. Mold is caused by water or moisture.   Water leaks that last longer than 3 days will have enough time to allow mold to grow.    House flippers buy houses that need updating and renovate the house for sale.  We have found homes that were flipped where mold was concealed or was never addressed as part of the renovation. 

 

Finished basements can be a nice additional space to a home, but all basement are subject to moisture issues.  Finished basements are one of our four most common areas to find mold.   House flippers will convert an unfinished basement to a finished space, not knowing that the property has seasonal water issues.    Worse still, flippers will sheetrock over foundation cracks or mold in the ceiling.   Greater than 50% of newly finished basements from house flippers have mold.    When this happens we windup deconstructing the work to get at the mold.

 

Why was mold growing in this built in work station?  Water entry that wasn't prevented during renovation, only took 2 months for the new homeowners to have to fix this mold issue.

residential mold inspection

 

We have over 25 years of environmental consulting experience.  We have completed thousands of projects over the years.  Our office is staffed with trained professionals and mold is just one of our areas of expertise.  May firm you find that are involved with mold are little more than someone working out of their home, unlicensed and inexperienced.  Only 11 states have mold licensing and New Jersey, Pennsylvania nd Delaware are not one of the 11.   This leaves consumers having to deal with unlicensed inexperienced entities.

 

We offer thorough old inspections and professional remediation services.  call our office to speak to a professional, we are happy to answer your questions.

 

Ask the Experts 888-301-1050

mold in basement

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