A lot of people dream of purchasing a home that is a “fixer-upper”, but many are wary about purchasing homes that are contaminated with mold in different areas. Depending on how old the home is, what condition it is in structurally, and where it is located, it may be feasible to attempt to remediate the home yourself on top of the normal remodeling that you are going to have to do. When you have to remodel a home due to cosmetic issues, a lot of the time you have to remove building materials, anyway, so why not go the extra mile and remove the mold from the home?
Professional remediation can be expensive, but if you know what you are doing and know what equipment you will need to take up the job and complete it successfully, you could have a gem of a house in not a large amount of time.
If you do choose to remediate the home yourself instead of hiring a professional, you might want to know what you will need to do it. Hiring someone to at least assess the remediation needs of the home is advised. Some heavy duty chemicals that will kill the mold will be necessary if it is growing on non-porous surfaces like tile. Almost anything else that is contaminated by mold, such as drywall, will have to be removed and replaced. Remove any and everything from the home with mold on it; do not let it come into contact with new building materials that you have purchased.
Heavy duty trash bags and a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter system on it are recommended. The vacuum will remove any mold spores from the floor after the remediation job is done with.
Respirators are a must when taking on a mold remediation job. Even if the infection is not that severe, breathing mold spores is still a hazard to your health and many problems can arise. You may be allergic and not even know it. Purchase a good quality respirator if you plan on taking out any drywall or old wood. Protective clothing so the spores do not get on your skin is also a good idea. Purchase a roll of duct tape to seal the gaps between your protective suit and your shoes. Disposable protective clothing for mold remediation is available and it not very expensive. The most expensive piece of equipment you will need is the respirator and there is no reason to skimp on that part.
Showing posts with label moisture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moisture. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Mold Remediation Equipment You Need
Depending on how much mold needs to be removed from your home, the equipment that you will need in order to finish the job will vary greatly. If you cannot afford to hire a professional and plan on doing the entire job yourself, you probably want to know the best and safest way to complete the job. If you do not take care, you should realize that kind of biological hazard that you are exposing yourself to if you do not purchase the right level of protection equipment. This can include aggravation of your asthma, emphysema, the occurrence of skin rashes, respiratory infections, and eye infections can result, among other health complications. If you are sure you want to take on this job by yourself, consider yourself warned.
Washing mold off of drywall or other porous surfaces with chemicals will work only on a superficial level. It will not kill the mold that has worked its way into the depth of the drywall and contaminated the other side in the wall. Most drywall that becomes contaminated with mold will need to be completely replaced. If the mold growth appears to be light and you catch it new, you might be able to avoid this. Purchase heavy duty trash bags that will hold all the contaminated materials that you remove from the home, but make sure to not touch contaminated items to non-contaminated items, because of the possibility of cross-contamination.
Respirators should be used when doing any kind of mold remediation job. An N-95 respirator is recommended at the very least for light jobs and for more extensive jobs, a full face respirator with a HEPA filter should be purchased. These larger jobs are usually done on older houses that are being renovated and almost completely gutted to remove contamination, but any job that requires removing drywall and throwing it away requires a respirator of some level. A full face mask will cost you around $130. Protective clothing can also be purchased, such as rubber gloves and shoes that will not allow the mold spores to come into contact with your skin.
A vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter will also help you tremendously when you are cleaning your home after the remediation is done. This will collect all the mold spores and particles from your floor and carpet and deposit them into a receptacle that you can empty when you are done. Be careful emptying this container, though, and do not touch the contents with your bare hands. Do not stir up the contents any more than you have to in order to get them into the trash bag.
Washing mold off of drywall or other porous surfaces with chemicals will work only on a superficial level. It will not kill the mold that has worked its way into the depth of the drywall and contaminated the other side in the wall. Most drywall that becomes contaminated with mold will need to be completely replaced. If the mold growth appears to be light and you catch it new, you might be able to avoid this. Purchase heavy duty trash bags that will hold all the contaminated materials that you remove from the home, but make sure to not touch contaminated items to non-contaminated items, because of the possibility of cross-contamination.
Respirators should be used when doing any kind of mold remediation job. An N-95 respirator is recommended at the very least for light jobs and for more extensive jobs, a full face respirator with a HEPA filter should be purchased. These larger jobs are usually done on older houses that are being renovated and almost completely gutted to remove contamination, but any job that requires removing drywall and throwing it away requires a respirator of some level. A full face mask will cost you around $130. Protective clothing can also be purchased, such as rubber gloves and shoes that will not allow the mold spores to come into contact with your skin.
A vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter will also help you tremendously when you are cleaning your home after the remediation is done. This will collect all the mold spores and particles from your floor and carpet and deposit them into a receptacle that you can empty when you are done. Be careful emptying this container, though, and do not touch the contents with your bare hands. Do not stir up the contents any more than you have to in order to get them into the trash bag.
Selling Moldy Real Estate
If you are trying to sell a house that is contaminated with mold, you probably have a pretty short list of possible buyers. You also probably do not want to lose any of those possible buyers and you want the transaction to go as smoothly as possible. There are a few tips that you can use when selling a home like this to make sure that you get the most you can possibly get.
You need to allow the buyer to inspect the house for themselves and find out what kind of mold exists on the property. An environmental inspection clause should be included into the sales contract. If you can have the mold removed from the home at your own expense without taking a huge profit loss, you should do so. A buyer will be much more quick to actually purchase the home from you if you are completely honest about the home’s condition. You will also be able to sell the home quicker if the mold inside it is not toxic. If you can prove that it is not via mold testing kits, then the sale will go by quicker.
Again, make no attempts to cover up the mold problem in the house. Do not be nervous about it. If it is beyond your ability to remove the mold, then tell the buyer so. Explain your situation. If they are sympathetic, they may or may not be more willing to purchase from you. If they suspect you are hiding something, however, they will likely walk right out the door.
In the final sales contract, you need to have a clause that releases you and anyone involved in your end of the deal from any legal liability due to the mold. This states that the buyer already knew that the mold existed on the property and that you are no longer responsible for its presence. Include that the home was sold to the buyer in an “as-is” state and that you are not responsible for the property nor is there any warranty on it, implied or otherwise.
List all past major damage that the home has suffered due to water damage or mold so that your buyer has a complete history. Giving this information to your buyer will show them that they can trust you and that you are hiding nothing from them. This should leave you on solid ground once the final contract is signed.
You need to allow the buyer to inspect the house for themselves and find out what kind of mold exists on the property. An environmental inspection clause should be included into the sales contract. If you can have the mold removed from the home at your own expense without taking a huge profit loss, you should do so. A buyer will be much more quick to actually purchase the home from you if you are completely honest about the home’s condition. You will also be able to sell the home quicker if the mold inside it is not toxic. If you can prove that it is not via mold testing kits, then the sale will go by quicker.
Again, make no attempts to cover up the mold problem in the house. Do not be nervous about it. If it is beyond your ability to remove the mold, then tell the buyer so. Explain your situation. If they are sympathetic, they may or may not be more willing to purchase from you. If they suspect you are hiding something, however, they will likely walk right out the door.
In the final sales contract, you need to have a clause that releases you and anyone involved in your end of the deal from any legal liability due to the mold. This states that the buyer already knew that the mold existed on the property and that you are no longer responsible for its presence. Include that the home was sold to the buyer in an “as-is” state and that you are not responsible for the property nor is there any warranty on it, implied or otherwise.
List all past major damage that the home has suffered due to water damage or mold so that your buyer has a complete history. Giving this information to your buyer will show them that they can trust you and that you are hiding nothing from them. This should leave you on solid ground once the final contract is signed.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
How to Keep Your Basement Dry
Most homeowners do not consider the basement a very important part of the house, but since the rest of your home’s structure is on top of this, you might want to rethink just how valuable of a room this is. Whether you use it for storage, a guest bedroom, laundry room, or anything else you can think of, it is important to make sure that this room of the house remains structurally sound.
While it is a common problem, wet basements are something that most homeowners do not have to deal with if they take some precautions and the time to make some adjustments on their own. Many wet basement issues can be fixed by the homeowner without having to hire any outside help.
You can fix any cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in by using a simple injection of concrete. Doing this used to require expensive and heavy equipment, but the size and expense of this has gone down so significantly that you can now do it with a normal caulking gun. Do not try do this with the silicone caulking that you would use in a bathroom or kitchen or attempt to fix it with cement, either. These two items will only become loose and fall out, no longer forming the water barrier that you need to have in place.
If water is forming in puddles around the foundation of your house, then you probably need to pile some more soil around the house so the water runs away from the house instead of leaking down into the basement. Installing a drainage system can also help with this. Making sure your rain gutters stay cleaned out is also another thing that you can do to try and keep water out of your basement. While they seem unrelated, gutters that are clogged let water merely fall off the roof and down to the base of the house.
You can also choose to install a dehumidifier and some energy efficient windows. You will know that you have a humidity problem in the room if condensation builds up on the window panes. Putting in an exhaust vent down there can also help reduce the humidity, especially if you use the area as a laundry room or an extra bathroom. This helps prevent the steam from being absorbed by the rafters or the drywall ceiling.
While it is a common problem, wet basements are something that most homeowners do not have to deal with if they take some precautions and the time to make some adjustments on their own. Many wet basement issues can be fixed by the homeowner without having to hire any outside help.
You can fix any cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in by using a simple injection of concrete. Doing this used to require expensive and heavy equipment, but the size and expense of this has gone down so significantly that you can now do it with a normal caulking gun. Do not try do this with the silicone caulking that you would use in a bathroom or kitchen or attempt to fix it with cement, either. These two items will only become loose and fall out, no longer forming the water barrier that you need to have in place.
If water is forming in puddles around the foundation of your house, then you probably need to pile some more soil around the house so the water runs away from the house instead of leaking down into the basement. Installing a drainage system can also help with this. Making sure your rain gutters stay cleaned out is also another thing that you can do to try and keep water out of your basement. While they seem unrelated, gutters that are clogged let water merely fall off the roof and down to the base of the house.
You can also choose to install a dehumidifier and some energy efficient windows. You will know that you have a humidity problem in the room if condensation builds up on the window panes. Putting in an exhaust vent down there can also help reduce the humidity, especially if you use the area as a laundry room or an extra bathroom. This helps prevent the steam from being absorbed by the rafters or the drywall ceiling.
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