Wording for musty odor in FHA house?

[Tom4value]

I was at an appointment today, and when I walked into the house, there was a strong musty odor. This house has been updated (more like putting lipstick on a pig) new paint, trim, flooring, fixtures, appliances, cabinets, everything, inside. When I opened up the exterior crawl space hatch the smell just about knocked me over, I got a headache almost instantly and did not proceed from there. I did notice moisture on the gravel floor in the crawl space, but no standing water. I'm looking for verbiage, how do you state a smell in your report? TIA

Pretty much what you said here is fine. Sounds like you are hesitant about, “musty”. That word is fine. The word is factual (not biased), common enough so a typical reader will know what you mean and since it describes the odor, you are qualified to state it. You avoided calling it mold. That is good. You are not qualified to make that determination. You also report what you saw (moisture, no standing water).

A poster here said it is probably due to poor ventilation. While this is probably true, I would avoid saying that. That is an opinion that you are not qualified to make; especially since you said the odor was so bad you avoided a full inspection of the area.

 

[Zoe]

Pretty much what you said here is fine. Sounds like you are hesitant about, “musty”. That word is fine. The word is factual (not biased), common enough so a typical reader will know what you mean and since it describes the odor, you are qualified to state it. You avoided calling it mold. That is good. You are not qualified to make that determination. You also report what you saw (moisture, no standing water).

A poster here said it is probably due to poor ventilation. While this is probably true, I would avoid saying that. That is an opinion that you are not qualified to make; especially since you said the odor was so bad you avoided a full inspection of the area.

I would just state is considered a healthy and safety issue based on odor and needs inspection. I would not do the report "as is". It would be "subject to". The bank is in charge then and you are clean with FHA. I would not do an extraordinary assumption or anything like that. It would be "subject to".

That gets me off the hook of claiming anything about being a professional in that area.

 

[NC Appraising]

I was at an appointment today, and when I walked into the house, there was a strong musty odor. This house has been updated (more like putting lipstick on a pig) new paint, trim, flooring, fixtures, appliances, cabinets, everything, inside. When I opened up the exterior crawl space hatch the smell just about knocked me over, I got a headache almost instantly and did not proceed from there. I did notice moisture on the gravel floor in the crawl space, but no standing water. I'm looking for verbiage, how do you state a smell in your report? TIA

I do not want to come off being harsh.

Did you fully observe the crawl space? HUD requires the appraiser to fully observe the entire crawl space. Just opening the crawl space door and sticking you head through is not enough.

If the entire crawl space could not be observed, note it in the appraisal and describe as to why it could not be fully observed.

Make it subject to a inspection by a qualified professional.

 

[Elliott]

Just call it C5.

 

[Tom D]

Musty smell is a characteristic of some mold somewhere. Every house has some mold, but at that smell level, an indication of a higher than normal mold occurance, maybe. I don't make the rules, i just enforce them. Especially FHA, they have a really big stick to beat me with.

 

[Mark K]

FWIW, builders in this area are now installing dehumidifiers in crawl spaces and not installing crawl space vents. In some cases they're simply encapsulating the crawl walls with spray foam and plastic sheeting on top of the gravel and conditioning it with the house HVAC.

Crawl space vents let in a lot of very humid air in the summer and this air condenses on the HVAC ductwork and that creates large puddles of water on top of the plastic sheeting. I used to have gallons of water pooling on top of my plastic. I sealed up my crawl vents 20 years ago and installed a dehumidifier; its MUCH drier than it ever was with the vents open.

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

The word police have no jurisdiction in my work or my life.

Sounds like sovereign citizen stuff. It is not going to protect you

 

[Vermonter]

"Odor consistent with excess moisture and/or lack of adequate ventilation"

 

[Sadie]

FWIW, builders in this area are now installing dehumidifiers in crawl spaces and not installing crawl space vents. In some cases they're simply encapsulating the crawl walls with spray foam and plastic sheeting on top of the gravel and conditioning it with the house HVAC.

Crawl space vents let in a lot of very humid air in the summer and this air condenses on the HVAC ductwork and that creates large puddles of water on top of the plastic sheeting. I used to have gallons of water pooling on top of my plastic. I sealed up my crawl vents 20 years ago and installed a dehumidifier; its MUCH drier than it ever was with the vents open.

Sump pump might be an answer

 

[Sadie]

FWIW, builders in this area are now installing dehumidifiers in crawl spaces and not installing crawl space vents. In some cases they're simply encapsulating the crawl walls with spray foam and plastic sheeting on top of the gravel and conditioning it with the house HVAC.

Crawl space vents let in a lot of very humid air in the summer and this air condenses on the HVAC ductwork and that creates large puddles of water on top of the plastic sheeting. I used to have gallons of water pooling on top of my plastic. I sealed up my crawl vents 20 years ago and installed a dehumidifier; its MUCH drier than it ever was with the vents open.

Most houses need to breathe. I have been in homes that were too tightly sealed and they were rotting from inside the walls. And smelled like it. If you want to completely seal the crawl in a high humidity area, add in a de humidifier perhaps. I would think that using the homes HVAC system would be a big energy suck. I take it that a sump pump is insufficient?