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Mold/Mildew Remediation - What has been your experience?

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Ricky LaFleur

Junior Member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Professional Status
Certified General Appraiser
State
Kansas
I have some family that are looking at buying a house as a foreclosure that included a walk-out basement. The house apparently was vacant for at least a year, and the bank had the carpet in the basement removed along with some of the drywall near the floor and some built-in cabinetry. It didn't seem as though there was a serious level of water standing for extended time as I couldn't see obvious water marks along the walls, but there was what looked like signs of mildew on everything from drywall, doors, trim, etc in parts of the basement. The house had some water leak in on an upper story, which might've leaked down to the basement, or there may have been some other source. The bank was obviously taking precaution by removing the carpet and lower drywall (why carpet in a basement, I'll never know). Pictures would have been helpful, but I didn't think to take any while I was there. Most of the discoloration I could see was nearly white in color (hard to see on drywall without flashlight at the right angle), with only some places under cabinets being darker colored.

My family was thinking a rag with some bleach would be sufficient to wipe everything down and be good to go, but I've always heard it was much harder to completely rid of mold/mildew once it started. Do you have first hand experience with cleanup and removal and how costly/serious it is or isn't?
 
Part of the problem is that a significant increase in humidity can be enough to get mold growing throughout the structure, including in many areas that cannot be observed or wiped with bleach.
 
if your house has a hot air system that ran with that mold then it is all over the house & if it is in your duct work, then that is not a easy fix. you might consider a professional service, this is not the place to be cheap. the danger is if anyone living there has an allergy to that mold. super big law suit especially if you knew it previously had mold. by the way, my experience with foreclosures is that there are more hidden problems that you will discover when everything is on and running.
 
My family was thinking a rag with some bleach would be sufficient to wipe everything down and be good to go, but I've always heard it was much harder to completely rid of mold/mildew once it started. Do you have first hand experience with cleanup and removal and how costly/serious it is or isn't?

You won't find a basement in the midwest that is mildew-free.

My office where I'm currently typing is a converted SFR in a commercial district. It has a basement prone to water seepage. When I bought it there was a couple of inches of standing water in the basement (defective sump pump). I drained it and let it dry for a few weeks with a dehumidifier. There was a lot of mildew. I bought a respirator mask (not just a covid mask), put about a quart of bleach into a 2 gal garden sprayer, and proceeded to spray down the entire basement. After a few days I wiped down most of the surfaces (including wood paneling) except the concrete block walls. No problems.

You can only control mildew in a basement, you can't get rid of it. Wipe or spray it down with bleach water (10-20% solution), get a dehumidifier, and don't worry about it.
 
@Tom D , surprisingly the HVAC was running and water/electrical was on when we visited.

Do any of you suppose that a home inspection would be able to determine how severe the case might be, or is that typically something a home inspector would recommend another profession be called in for?
 
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