Mold in my town home, what should we do?

Question

My husband and I moved into a town home last Sept. and got our place inspected by an inspector last July. How we discovered this was we had a leak in our kitchen and right above it is the bathroom so we knew it coming from the show from the bathroom. We had a plummer come out to look at the problem and he cut the cieling in the kitchen and their was mold pretty much all over. We called our insector who inspect the home before we got the town home and he said to call our home insurance company and he had nothing to do with it. The plummer said the home insurance does not cover the mold because it was there before we purchase the town home. Who should we go after the home inspector? The people who sold us the town home? Any suggestions would help.

Should we get an attorney? If so what time of an attorney should we look for

Answer 1

Hate to give you the news, but the sellers are not liable unless you can prove that they knew about the condition when they sold you the house. The inspector is not liable unless this is something he reasonably should've found in the inspection (doesn't sound like it since it was inside the wall). Insurance probably won't pay if this was a pre-existing condition (not sure about this - they may pay, but even if they do they will raise your rates so probably not worth using them). Go look in the mirror and you'll get a pretty good idea who is going to have to pay for this.

But here is the good news. All you probably have to do is cut out all the drywall wherever the water got and throw it away. Take a mixture of bleach and water and rub that all over whatever mold is left on the wood. Let it dry and repeat the rubbing. Then patch back the wall with new drywall (yes you can hire a contractor to do everything). You also should remove and caulk in the bathroom that got mold on it. This should solve the problem and its really pretty easy and if you do it yourself, really cheap. Be sure to wear rubber gloves and masks for everything you do (mold could be harmful - or maybe not).

I wouldn't even report it to the insurance unless the expense turns out really big and you think it was not a pre-existing condition.

PS - I've done this (abated mold problems) about 50 times myself and it isn't really dangerous (used to buy older houses to resell). Still if you are not sure just hire a contractor (who, by the way will do exactly what I describe above but charge you 10 times what it would cost you to do it).

Answer 2

You should get a referral to a good contractor and fix your problem.

You own a house with a problem and are looking for someone to pay for it. You've been there almost a year so figuring out if it was pre-existing will be a challange, especially since an inspector didn't find the problem before you moved in. I'm sure if you read your inspectors contract you signed, there is an arbitration clause so hiring an attorney would be pointless.

I would hire a contractor and get it fixed. What the other posters said about mold cleanup is true, I've done it and it's not rocket science. Fix the leak, replace the drywall, clean up the mold. It's part of being a homeowner.

Answer 3

The first poster is correct. You would have to prove that the sellers were aware of the mold when they sold and did not disclose. Since the mold was contained inside the walls, my guess is they were not aware of its existence. The home inspector is not liable either, due to the same situation. He's not expected to cut holes into walls to check for possible mold.

This is a situation where you are going to have to bite the financial bullet for remediation of the mold.

Answer 4

most of what "bull rooster" says is true. except the part about doing it yourself. yeah, it can be pretty simple, but there are certain kinds of mold that are, um, FATAL if the particles are inhaled. do you know what that kind looks like? your best bet is to call a professional.