What I've learned about homeownership....

[drdawn]

Everything cost $500. Even if it initially does not seem that way. The gutters were going to be $110 to clean and fix, but then they found a hole in the roof that the home inspector missed because it was raining and the roof is steep so he inspectoed from the ground. Which is fine, and I'm glad we found it because that explains why the tiles

Comments

[j_bluestocking]

I did indeed have this problem with The House. And even with the almost-House that I almost bought about a year ago, but that one's mold was widespread. In both cases it was that black toxic mold that's sometimes in the news (I'd have to consult the lab notes for the name of the strain) -- not really as scary as it sounds, if it's dealt with. A lot of people think that mold's just the new fashionable thing to get hysterical about, the way asbestos was in the 80s; but there's anecdotal evidence, and it certainly doesn't help the value of your house to leave it growing.

In any case, it's easy to settle the question. There are inspectors who specialize in mold and other environmental problems; my guy came, tested the moisture level of various walls, and asked if he could poke a hole (about the size of a pencil) in a particular wall down near the baseboard. (Obviously, the hole gets spackled over, later.) Then he took an air sample from inside that wall and sent it to a lab for analysis.

Houses built after the midcentury are more subject to toxic mold because that's when plaster construction was replaced with drywall -- and apparently drywall is toxic mold's favorite breeding ground. A flood that gets behind a baseboard can start mold growing that just keeps going and going, taking over more and more of the walls. I've become a bit paranoid about it, and now nip all moisture damage in the bud the moment I find it. I've heard enough stories here in LA about "and then the lawn sprinklers for the house upslope from her broke and started sending water down the hill, and she was away on a shoot, and by the time she came back, the walls had to be torn out of her entire kitchen..."

If you do find any, you should be aware that if you declare it on your insurance, they not only will not cover it, they may use it as an excuse to drop you.

Can you tell that I now know more about mold than I ever dreamed I would?