How much mold is too much?

We just had a home inspection on a home we put an offer on. we went into the basement that had wood paneling. a portion of the the basement walls had staining on the wood paneling and white spots on the bottom of the paneling and the carpet close to the walls were wet. grant it, it was raining that past week. So the home inpector sugessted we do a mold inpection/test. which we will prbably do. Thing is shoudl this deter us from buying the house? how severe is to severe? can we negoitate with the seller somehow? etc?....

Re: How much mold is too much?

guess what i''m also asking, what can we have the seller do with the mold?

forgot to mention that we plan on redoing the basement taking out the paneling and updating it.

Re: How much mold is too much?

Are you at all concerned that there is evidence of water in the basement? To me that is maybe even more of a potential issue than possible mold. (In other words, not the mold itself, but what is causing it.)

I think that "mold" is sort of the trendy issue with inspectors now. A lot of them point out possible mold, even if it's a small contained area on a surface that can be wiped down. But it can also be pervasive issue and can make you really sick, so they have to cover themselves. Unfortunately, inspectors are not really in a position to definitely identify mold, so you would need a separate mold inspection for that.

As far as what you can ask the seller to do, you can ASK them to do anything. Everything is negotiable. But they won't necessarily agree! And then it's up to you what you decide to do.

It sounds like the first step is to get the inspection done. Perhaps the sellers are willing to take care of that, or at least share in the cost of it. If not, you have to consider whether you want to (i) walk, (ii) invest in the cost of doing it yourself, or (iii) let it go for now. If your decision to buy the house hinges on it being mold-free or the sellers agreeing to take remedial measures re: any mold problem, then by all means you should do it. But if you intend to buy the house anyway regardless of the mold, then it may not make sense to do it.

Keep in mind that mold can be a health hazard, and it sounds like you intend to use the basement as living space. Even if you plan to rip down the paneling, if the paneling has gotten really wet and moldy, you don't know what's behind it (for example, is there sheetrock behind it that's been affected by mold?).

But I would have your agent speak to the seller's agent about exactly what's in the inspector's report re: mold and see what can be worked out. If you don't ask, you don't know what the sellers may have been willing to do.

Also, because you are paying above asking for this house (if it's the same one), I would think you'd have more negotiating leverage on inspection items. Sometimes if a buyer is getting a great deal, the seller will agree to the price but caution the home is "as is." But any potential health hazards ought to be investigated, regardless of the situation, imo.

Re: How much mold is too much?

If the carpets were wet you have a water issue and the mold is a result. Water scares the heck out of me since sometimes it can be impossible to find the source and super expensive to fix. If you don't plan on using the basement as living space it isn't a huge deal but if you are you could wind up spending slot to replace flooring when you have floods.

I bet that is why the other people backed out. We walked away from any house we thought had water issues.

As for whatvu can ask the sellers to do.....you could ask for them to pay to have it removed. But unless you resolve the water coming in it will come back.

Re: How much mold is too much?

I would not buy a house if I knew water came in the basement. Even if you replace the panels and carpet, they are going to get wet every heavy rain storm. Can the inspector tell you why the water is coming in and if you can fix it?

Re: How much mold is too much?

Mold is pretty bad. I probably wouldn't buy a house with mold in the basement. If you still plan on it get that mold inspection for sure.

They should really pay for it, or at least split it with you. **JMHO

My basement floods. I would talk to them about lowering the price, or putting in a drain, pump, something to get rid of the water.

Re: How much mold is too much?

We passed on a house I LOVED because of water issues. Either owners know about it and did nothing or they know about it and cannot fix the issue 1/ too hard to fix 2/too expensive to fix. Then they try to cove up which is worst because you know that they know. And if they hide this, what else are they hiding.

We walked out of a number of houses last year because of molded basements.

Re: How much mold is too much?

If you asking this question, I would say walk from the house. Even if you negotiate with the sellers, how do you know they would do the job the correct way?
Do you have the money to fix the place where the water is coming in AND to redo the basement? Mold is not something you want to worry about for your safety and your family.

Re: How much mold is too much?

I would get a mold inspection and also have an engineer check the foundation for problems and depending on the results, I would still probably buy the house but have the basement waterproofed. I disagee with some of the pp's because I could be an easy fix. I had water in my basement a couple years ago and it winds up it was because the gutters were clogged. It never happened again after that. I think 90% of basements on LI have probably had water in them at one time unless it's a new build, but there are things you can do. Unless there was some serious damage to the foundation from the water leaking or a really terrible mold issue I would still consider buying the place...

Re: How much mold is too much?

There could be a number of reasons why water is getting into the basement - clogged gutters, the pitching of the landscaping, foundation, etc. If you do negotiate this where they have to fix it, you can negotiate keeping money in eskrow to make sure it was fixed properly.

Re: How much mold is too much?

so we got the mold report back and there was mold, not just one side of the basement but both sides. keep in mind that when they did the test it was 3 days after the fact that we first saw the mold and since then they put in a dehumifier and tried to remove some mold. the levels were NOT HIGH per se, they were elevated, the inspector said on a range of 1- 10, 10 being the worst it was at a 5. but he doesnt know what specically if causing the water damage. I honestly dont know what to do next?....HELP!!!!


Edited to say NOT HIGH.... Also the seller is willing to fix whatever is needed....I really can't decide

Message edited 6/21/2012 9:14:25 PM.

How much mold is too much?

You need to run the other way. Mold can cause all sorts of health issues and can be insanely expensive to deal with.

Re: How much mold is too much?

How much mold is too much?

If you buy the place, you will need to gut the basement so you can clean all the mold out, then have I professionally waterproofed before you could refinish it. It would be a very costly ordeal. In less you are so in love with it that you think it's worth all that, I would keep looking

Re: How much mold is too much?

I would walk away - even if they agree to fix it, there's no guarantee it will fully get rid of it.

How much mold is too much?

My DH and I walked from a house that had elevated mold levels in the basement - the mold inspector said its only a matter of time before it was on the first floor. It moves fast and can be very hazardous to your health and that of your kids. Our lawyer actually advised us to walk.