Archive for the ‘Mold’ Category

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The House with the View


2010
04.05

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Posted in Buying a Home, Contract, Mold, The Offer | No Comments »

Day 2 - Out for blood!

 

Push back. Yeah, that’s what I’m calling it. Let’s see, so much going on, how to jump in… Home inspections.

 

Well, there wasn’t anything major, a few things that needed to be fixed, circa 1970 washing machine that leaks, sump pump that doesn’t work, a baffle that won’t close on the septic system, a skylight that was installed incorrectly, a shower faucet that you can’t turn, a slight mold problem (we all know how I feel about that one), some radon, old termite damage, etc.

 

After a few back and forths with the seller we decided to ask for the health issues to be addressed. Radon, mold, sump pump (if that fails, well… leads to more mold). We waited, no response… and we waited, still nothing. And we waited, the required 5 days. Turns out they have elected not to respond.

 

The sellers, we now know, are elderly. In their 80’s to be exact. And have recently entered an assisted living facility. These people have been the only owners of the house which was built in the 1970’s. So, needless to say… They are just a bit attached. Old sweater syndrome kicking in.

 

What is old sweater syndrome… Well, you give your friend a sweater you no longer like or need, you see it on them and immediately want it back.

 

The sellers think that they got ripped off on the purchase price. Well then, I ask you… Why did they accept our offer? In their minds, it should have sold for more and now they are refusing to budge. Hmmm. I’d like to see them get more for the house once it sits on the market a few more months with radon and mold issues, which they now must disclose. How much do you think people will offer for a totally peach house with spores partying with radon gas? Anyway, they weren’t budging, not even in writing and our deadline was here. Today we have to decide if we want to go forward with them not concedeing to anything, or find the contract null and void and walk away.

 

Well, my friends, I thought about it long and hard. Even slept on it. Skipped doing my morning exercises to do some research and here is what I have concluded. First of all, there is no law stipulating that a seller must fix a radon issue. Quite frankly, I think there should be. Also, it looks like if we walk today we should be able to get our deposit back. We have, however, forked over around $1,300 in inspection costs, which we will have to do again on another house. Locked-in on an interest rate that seems to be rising by the minute. Spent countless hours with Roxie marching around town seeing what’s for sale. And quite frankly there isn’t much out there that compares this house. Actually, if the sellers would watch some of the shows on HGTV they would see, some fresh paint (not peachy) and a few minor updates they probably would have gotten another $40,000 for the house. So, my conclusion, We’re going forward… with the tricks I have in my back pocket.

 

The contract… ahh, The Contract (yes, read this one too, three times.) Here are my favorite “legally binding” highlights:

 

#21 (on my contract) “Condition of Property and Possession” which states the following:

 

“All electrical, heating, air conditioning, plumbing (including well and septic), and any other mechanical systems and related equipment, appliances, and smoke detector(s) included in this Contract shall be in working condition.”

 

Oooo, that covers the broken washing machine, the master bedroom shower handle that doesn’t turn and the sump pump, which happens to be a “plumbing” issue.

 

Also, #18 “Wood Destroying Insect Inspection”:

 

“If there is evidence of present infestation as described above, or if damage caused by present or prior infestation is discovered, Seller, at Seller’s expense, shall repair any damage caused by present or prior infestation and have the present infestation treated by a licensed pest control company.”

 

Ok, we’ll have that “prior infestation” fixed too. Thank you very much.

 

I know you think I’m being a bit of a sore loser here and kinda mean toward the old people. I’m sorry your old. I’m sorry I’m 40, I’m sorry it’s my turn to get a better break. You see, early on we agreed to play nice and pay for the heating oil that was left in the tank and according to the contract… we didn’t have to. Wouldn’t you think they would be kind in return and fix the health issues of the house, that’s all we ever really wanted. I do have cute children who would be inhaling poisonous gas and I would like them to grow as old as you are.

 

So, if I have to fork out more money for remediation, well — I’m going to get my just desserts.

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Mold… What Mold?


2010
03.11

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Posted in Mold | 2 Comments »

Day 73 - 18 to go. – Offer has been submitted on our house with the view. No word yet.

 

Ok, so we had the mold retested and the results are in… Whoa! Drastic! The numbers were so much lower than the initial reading, I’m talking by thousands! Even the NOW-baseline (remember, there wasn’t one before) said the Penicillium/Aspergillus spore count was larger outside! WTF? We had to do a double take… What’s going on here? Did the lab guy stick the decimal point in the wrong place or something?

 

The mold inspector guy, who I will now refer to as MIG, had no great explanation for why the numbers were so different except to ask if we had run a house fan, opened windows, or sprayed Lysol. Oh, really… is that all it takes? Spraying Lysol? I could have saved myself $1,500.00 with a $2.00 can of Lysol? Really? Come on… I don’t think so.

 

The MIG then advised us that someone would have to pay for the redone test and his clearance test (yet to come) and wanted to know if he should bill us directly. Hold on, wait… What?!? This was the first mention by anyone that we may be responsible for the cost of further testing. We did not hire this guy and we feel that he should take the matter up with those who had. Why would we hire and pay someone so clearly incompetent? Get someone else to do the clearance test, that’s what I say. Thankfully, our Brit remediation specialist offered to take care of it for us… (for FREE!) In your face inspector dude! However, we don’t know if this is kosher in the Mold World. You know, we have to maintain all those extremely specific regulations and guidelines (being facetious here.)

 

Well, we still needed to have the mold remediated. The count in the basement was still high enough to indicate a “problem”, and my friends… I can see the damn mold! It’s plain as day (now that I know where to look.) And the buyers can see it too! So, the mold was finally taken care of the other day. An entire day of fogging, spraying and then a day of clean-up… OK, done. We now have to get the “after/clearance” test to see if it actually worked, (well… cross those fingers).

 

MIG was trying to accuse us of cleaning the mold ourselves or already having it remediated prior to the second test. Now, why on earth would we do that? Obviously, we would be far better served to show a drastic change after professional remediation than meager results from opened windows and Lysol, don’t you think? We just wanted MIG to do his job correctly the first time and show an outdoor baseline.

 

So, this is what I think happened with the first test. The samples were possibly contaminated by MIG because the air samples were taken after he did physical swabs. Now, I’m not a micro-biologists or anything, but it seems logical that if you swab for mold, scraping it off the surface, some of those spores might end up on your arm, clothes, etc. And then you go and turn on a powerful vacuum to suck in the house air to test that? Don’t you think it might just collect what has gathered on you also? Hell, I do! I think a standard should be set where the air test should always be done before any swabbing. Just using the common sense my parents gave me here folks.

 

What a pain in the ass this whole mold thing has become. I’m sooo sick of it! I’m sick of strange spore names I can’t pronounce! Sick of people traipsing through my home. I so sick of mold, I don’t even want to go near cheese anymore. “Would you like some roquefort on that burger, ma’am?” HELL, NO!

 

But don’t you know… When we buy our new house… I’m having a mold inspection done… A competent one!

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Less Stress


2010
03.10

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Posted in Buying a Home, Foreclosure, Mold | No Comments »

Day 72 - 19 to go.

 

So we did another whirlwind day of house hunting. Seven homes all in under 4 hrs. It all started with a trip into the boonies to take a gander at a foreclosure in Glen Arm. We had to park on the side of the road, because, even though it was 60 degrees and sunny, the driveway hadn’t been plowed and there was still much to melt. Climbing the driveway tundra was a challenge. Especially since Roxie was wearing clogs. We took a peak inside the window and could not believe what we saw. “Oh, no. We can’t go in there” Roxie exclaimed. “That’s just not sanitary.” The place was caked in mold! It was visible on every surface you could see through that window. Oh, disgusting! So we turned to leave. As we were falling on our asses down the snowy driveway, Roxie through a jab in my direction…”That one was your wifes idea, not mine.” She directed at my husband with a giggle in her voice. Yes, that one was mine. I take full ownership. I’m now done with foreclosures!

 

We saw a couple of great places too, one that was a zen-like tree house, and one that was over 4,000 sq. ft. They were both on the high end of our scale and I think we have decided to keep things on the down low. Saving money in the long run with a smaller mortgage will result in… let’s face it, less stress. And my friends, isn’t that what we all really need in life… LESS STRESS. I think I might be able to slow the population of gray hairs, improve my complection and maybe even loose a few pounds… all with less stress. I could actually RELAX with a martini in the evening instead of escaping my reality with a martini in the evening. Less stress could make for a happier marriage, happier family, all-in-all… a happier life.

 

With that said, we have turned our attention to the house with “the view that saved it”. That we saw earlier, see Here We Go Again. It’s a perfect size, optimal for great sunrises, it has garage and basement storage, a fireplace and the future makings of a possible mudroom. It needs my creative touch and a little… ok A LOT of love (as my mortgage broker put it… “It’s just peachy”.) Yes, lots of painting and ripping out of apricot colored wallpaper and carpet awaits. But, I think we could make it a wonderful place for my kids to grow up. The neighborhood is quiet with a lot of not-so-busy-streets to ride bikes on. That is a drastic change from the high speed road where we currently live. There is a nice yard for a vegetable garden and a place for the play set. Sorry kids… no pool, but the in-laws are 15 min up the road and they have one!

 

So, at the end of our second flurry of homes, we took a second look at the house with the view. I have been asked if a second showing means an offer is on its way. Well, I have to say, in this case… Yes. Roxie is on her way over tonight to finalize the details on our offer. Initially, we were thinking we would try to close on the 31st, this being the 10th. That way, moving would be more actual moving and less storing, but logistically… it’s not going to happen. It’s too much to accomplish in such a short amount of time… Didn’t I just determine my life would be better with less stress? So, less stress it is! Of course, now we have to see if they accept our offer. Oh no, not out of the stress woods yet… but I’m getting closer.

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Mold, Mold… Mold Mold Mold!


2010
02.18

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Posted in Home Inspection, Mold | No Comments »

Day 52 - 39 to go.

 

This seems to be our largest issue. Oh, could you guess? Our mold test came back… and it’s not pretty. The laudry list of molds in the house is a bona fide smorgasbord of spores and not the psychedelic kind: Cladosporium, Penicillium (this is a bad one!), Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Arthrinium, Curvularia, Stachybotrys (black mold), Chaetomium, Pithomyces, Epicoccum, smuts, Periconia, Trichocladium. I can’t even pronounce these things let alone believe they’re in my HOUSE! I asked myself, if I was buying this place and I knew this mold exists would I bring my two kids into this situation? No. So really there is no question… We have to take care of it ASAP! Repeat after me… REMEDIATION! Time to bring on the mold guys!

 

Our real estate agent recommended a few companies and we got on the horn. Our guy is here now with my husband in the basement going over our “options”. I really like this guy! He’s big on personality, seems to be quite knowledgeable, likes what he does and is originally from London (love the accent!) Who better to exterminate mold than a Brit?

 

Curious myself, I went down to check up on them. Wow, hire the professionals to do what the professionals do. This guy found even more areas than the home inspector did. This is what he recommends… The Fog! (yep, bring on John Carpenter and Adrienne Barbeau!) Team of guys in scary white outfits and a fog machine. Well, it sounds easier than it is. They spray the fog into and onto the affected area(s), the fog will then travel through our air system and annihilate those mean ol’ spores! Hey, I think I’ll leave my sons hockey equipment in front of the air duct and perhaps kill the mildew that I’m sure is growing in there. Maybe it will also get rid of the “hockey” smell too! ooo… this is getting interesting, what else do I want to bomb?

 

The process he says will take two days and they will also dispose of the extra junk that has accumulated over the years in the crawl spaces (extra insulation, wood, paneling, old wiring, etc.) some of it with visible mold. Now that’s worth paying for! I’m not crawling in there touching that crap and dragging it out. It’s spooky, disgusting and way too claustrophobic for me. So then after the fogging they put on their dehumidifier and hepa filter and that’s pretty much it. We asked if our computers and electronic equipment needed to be covered and the answer was no. The fog is so fine it does not affect these things. Wonderful! We also don’t need to fret with ourselves. He recommends us leave during the actual fogging, which we will do, but the fog is not even harmful to our pets! Great! After all that… we test again, and hopefully we win the war!

 

So, how much is this all going to cost me?… I was estimating upwards of $3,000 but it seems more like $1,200 – $1,500. Which, don’t get me wrong, is still a lot. Wonder where that money is coming from.

 

My friends, in the end, I highly recommend getting a mold test done. Whether you are buying a house or not. It can’t hurt, it can only help. Better to be safe than sorry sharing airspace with a pestilent fungalfarm.