Simon says: "Mold and Water Intrusion, Oh My!"

Simon says: "Mold and Water Intrusion, Oh My!"

There has been a lot of rain recently. If you drive around the streets of our fair city, you will likely see a lot of water leak detection, repair and mold remediation trucks out there. Beware! Many of these "contractors" who deal with mold are dubious at best. Recently I had a "remediator" who wanted to charge a client $350 a day rental for an air scrubber. My, very reputable guy came in to do the job and charged only $25 a day rental for the same machine. This same dubious "remediator" wanted to charge $6,000 for the job. My client had used the man before and was convinced he was a legitimate professional. After meeting with two other contractors who were veritably legitimate and honest, we received bids for the same job at $1,500 and $2,000. Unfortunately, it is my experience that more of these mold pros are on the seedy side than on the legitimate side of things. So, please be aware and don't trust anyone. It is a relatively new industry and a lot of these people virtually "certify" themselves. It is the perfect profession for sleazy people who want to take advantage of the inexperienced.

Some people wonder why mold is such a seemingly "new" issue. This has to do with the use of drywall instead of plaster in walls. Drywall has a paper backing, which mold loves. Old fashioned, or higher-end plastered walls don't have this vulnerability.

From what I've learned from mold professionals, very few of the homes with mold actually pose a health risk to the occupants. With the minimal amount of rain we experience in Southern California, the dry season, which appears to be almost the entire year, you can live in a home for years without ever being aware that mold is growing inside the walls. The threat to the integrity of a property from water intrusion and what may become a serious mold issue is really the problem. And these problems are fixed much more easily at their beginning.

To give you some insight into the process. When water intrusion is detected, a mold inspector or mold remediator should be called in. Unless it is a recent problem, there will be mold. An inspector simply tests for mold. Generally, they will drill a small hole in a wall, take an air sample and send it to a lab for analysis. If a severe enough mold case is detected, a remediator will come in to contain and clean all the mold away. Sometimes, if you are sure you have a problem, you can skip the inspection and just bring in the remediator. At the end of the remediation, to make sure it was successful, you will need to have an inspection and a sample sent to the lab. Different remediators have different success rates at coming up with a "clear," final inspection. Try to find one who has a good history with this, if you need help contact me and I'll give you some names.

Cleaning up all the mold is one thing, making sure it doesn't come back is another. There are leak detection specialists out there who are trained at finding out sources of water intrusion. Water is insidious and hard to track down. Sometimes, even the best leak detectors can't find the source.

If you are in escrow or will be soon, there are some things to consider. Sometimes a seller isn't aware of a mold and/or water intrusion problem, and therefore won't disclose it to a buyer. After you close escrow, you may not be aware of the problem until a severe rain happens. Sometimes, a seller will cover up the water issue and not tell the listing agent about it, and certainly not the buyers. The general physical inspectors, who are hired by almost all buyer's to inspect their prospective purchases, are not trained to detect these types of problems. Even the best of them, usually fail to do a moisture reading around windows and other seams in the construction. In fact, most do not even own a moisture reader. Additionally, there have been many instances when water intrusion was covered up or not noticed by a seller and/or missed by the general inspector only to show up a day, a month or a year after closing. Regardless of any of these factors, my policy is that if there is any question in your mind... do a mold inspection. A mold inspection will cost around $500-700.

You can also do a CLUE report for about $100, which is a search for any insurance claims on a property. The C.L.U.E. Report is more critical on a single family house than a condo. This is because insurance claims for water intrusion on a house can sometimes leave a new homeowner without the ability to gain insurance on the property, period. This risk is very rare in condos. Water intrusion almost always comes from the exterior of a condo building or from inside the walls. This leaves the majority of water intrusion in condos under the blanket insurance policy of the condominium complex. Since almost all condominium complexes have experienced water intrusion, the insurance companies would have very few clients if they took this same approach than condos.

It is important to note however that many times water intrusion is not reported to insurance companies, so the C.L.U.E. report is most of the time really about the properties insurability. Additionally, only the most foolish seller and/or agent would be unwise enough not to disclose something that was reported to an insurance company. However, if a property has been seriously plagued by these problems, then a dishonest seller may have a lot to gain by hoping a buyer will not find out about all of the claims.

Sometimes, the evidence of a water leak looks very insignificant on the surface compared to the $10-50,000 problem lurking underneath the drywall. As a buyer, do not fear that doing an inspection and discovering mold will put an end to your purchase. Once mold is discovered, the seller will have to remedy the issue or face the challenge of having to disclose it to all subsequent prospective buyers, who, like you, will want it repaired.

As a seller, having a mold inspection prior to the close of escrow, or preferably prior to the sale, will give you the ability to use your own contractors to fix the issue. If you wait for it to be discovered by a buyer, you could very well end up with less reputable mold companies, a hysterical buyer, and agents who don't really understand the problem. The risk of unnecessary stress and unnecessarily high financial costs isn't worth not paying the money for a pre-emptive mold inspection.

I have begun to think how strange it is that a seller is required to do a termite inspection prior to closing escrow but that a mold and water intrusion inspection isn't required. This doesn't make sense to me. Most of the time termites are discovered, it's a pretty simple inexpensive fix. Whereas mold and water intrusion repairs are far more troublesome and expensive.

Having mold doesn't always mean your health is threatened or that your property is going to fall to pieces. It doesn't mean your home is plagued by something sinister. It just means some water got inside and is taking long enough to evaporate that mold has time to grow. Anyways, I hope that this article helps people to better decide what is going to make sense for them.

To sum it up, get a mold inspection regardless of anything else. And, if you need to find reputable, honest people in this field, contact me. It's better to find the problem and fix it sooner rather than later.

Simon Salloom is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. He specializes in Westside real estate. His web-site is www.WestsideSimon.com

Simon says: "Mold and Water Intrusion, Oh My!"

Simon says: "Mold and Water Intrusion, Oh My!"

There has been a lot of rain recently. If you drive around the streets of our fair city, you will likely see a lot of water leak detection, repair and mold remediation trucks out there. Beware! Many of these "contractors" who deal with mold are dubious at best. Recently I had a "remediator" who wanted to charge a client $350 a day rental for an air scrubber. My, very reputable guy came in to do the job and charged only $25 a day rental for the same machine. This same dubious "remediator" wanted to charge $6,000 for the job. My client had used the man before and was convinced he was a legitimate professional. After meeting with two other contractors who were veritably legitimate and honest, we received bids for the same job at $1,500 and $2,000. Unfortunately, it is my experience that more of these mold pros are on the seedy side than on the legitimate side of things. So, please be aware and don't trust anyone. It is a relatively new industry and a lot of these people virtually "certify" themselves. It is the perfect profession for sleazy people who want to take advantage of the inexperienced.

Some people wonder why mold is such a seemingly "new" issue. This has to do with the use of drywall instead of plaster in walls. Drywall has a paper backing, which mold loves. Old fashioned, or higher-end plastered walls don't have this vulnerability.

From what I've learned from mold professionals, very few of the homes with mold actually pose a health risk to the occupants. With the minimal amount of rain we experience in Southern California, the dry season, which appears to be almost the entire year, you can live in a home for years without ever being aware that mold is growing inside the walls. The threat to the integrity of a property from water intrusion and what may become a serious mold issue is really the problem. And these problems are fixed much more easily at their beginning.

To give you some insight into the process. When water intrusion is detected, a mold inspector or mold remediator should be called in. Unless it is a recent problem, there will be mold. An inspector simply tests for mold. Generally, they will drill a small hole in a wall, take an air sample and send it to a lab for analysis. If a severe enough mold case is detected, a remediator will come in to contain and clean all the mold away. Sometimes, if you are sure you have a problem, you can skip the inspection and just bring in the remediator. At the end of the remediation, to make sure it was successful, you will need to have an inspection and a sample sent to the lab. Different remediators have different success rates at coming up with a "clear," final inspection. Try to find one who has a good history with this, if you need help contact me and I'll give you some names.

Cleaning up all the mold is one thing, making sure it doesn't come back is another. There are leak detection specialists out there who are trained at finding out sources of water intrusion. Water is insidious and hard to track down. Sometimes, even the best leak detectors can't find the source.

If you are in escrow or will be soon, there are some things to consider. Sometimes a seller isn't aware of a mold and/or water intrusion problem, and therefore won't disclose it to a buyer. After you close escrow, you may not be aware of the problem until a severe rain happens. Sometimes, a seller will cover up the water issue and not tell the listing agent about it, and certainly not the buyers. The general physical inspectors, who are hired by almost all buyer's to inspect their prospective purchases, are not trained to detect these types of problems. Even the best of them, usually fail to do a moisture reading around windows and other seams in the construction. In fact, most do not even own a moisture reader. Additionally, there have been many instances when water intrusion was covered up or not noticed by a seller and/or missed by the general inspector only to show up a day, a month or a year after closing. Regardless of any of these factors, my policy is that if there is any question in your mind... do a mold inspection. A mold inspection will cost around $500-700.

You can also do a CLUE report for about $100, which is a search for any insurance claims on a property. The C.L.U.E. Report is more critical on a single family house than a condo. This is because insurance claims for water intrusion on a house can sometimes leave a new homeowner without the ability to gain insurance on the property, period. This risk is very rare in condos. Water intrusion almost always comes from the exterior of a condo building or from inside the walls. This leaves the majority of water intrusion in condos under the blanket insurance policy of the condominium complex. Since almost all condominium complexes have experienced water intrusion, the insurance companies would have very few clients if they took this same approach than condos.

It is important to note however that many times water intrusion is not reported to insurance companies, so the C.L.U.E. report is most of the time really about the properties insurability. Additionally, only the most foolish seller and/or agent would be unwise enough not to disclose something that was reported to an insurance company. However, if a property has been seriously plagued by these problems, then a dishonest seller may have a lot to gain by hoping a buyer will not find out about all of the claims.

Sometimes, the evidence of a water leak looks very insignificant on the surface compared to the $10-50,000 problem lurking underneath the drywall. As a buyer, do not fear that doing an inspection and discovering mold will put an end to your purchase. Once mold is discovered, the seller will have to remedy the issue or face the challenge of having to disclose it to all subsequent prospective buyers, who, like you, will want it repaired.

As a seller, having a mold inspection prior to the close of escrow, or preferably prior to the sale, will give you the ability to use your own contractors to fix the issue. If you wait for it to be discovered by a buyer, you could very well end up with less reputable mold companies, a hysterical buyer, and agents who don't really understand the problem. The risk of unnecessary stress and unnecessarily high financial costs isn't worth not paying the money for a pre-emptive mold inspection.

I have begun to think how strange it is that a seller is required to do a termite inspection prior to closing escrow but that a mold and water intrusion inspection isn't required. This doesn't make sense to me. Most of the time termites are discovered, it's a pretty simple inexpensive fix. Whereas mold and water intrusion repairs are far more troublesome and expensive.

Having mold doesn't always mean your health is threatened or that your property is going to fall to pieces. It doesn't mean your home is plagued by something sinister. It just means some water got inside and is taking long enough to evaporate that mold has time to grow. Anyways, I hope that this article helps people to better decide what is going to make sense for them.

To sum it up, get a mold inspection regardless of anything else. And, if you need to find reputable, honest people in this field, contact me. It's better to find the problem and fix it sooner rather than later.

Simon Salloom is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. He specializes in Westside real estate. His web-site is www.santamonicarealestatesearch.com