Decorating & Renovating
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Talk to me about crawl space mold.
Aaaand, go!
(mostly... I'm curious if anyone has ever re-landscaped, including changing the way that the land grades to redirect water.)
Re: Talk to me about crawl space mold.
There are a few options for reducing seepage and dampness and a home inspector might be able to suggest what would work for you. The area we're looking to buy in has a lot of water issues in general and these are the things we've seen done:
- Re-grading: this is what you mentioned above. A co-worked actually did this herself and it completely got rid of the issue. They had a few tons of soil brought in and it wasn't too expensive.
- Installing drains on a higher-elevation area to bring water down to the lower elevation level. The house was on an inclined lot with the back yard being the high end. Water was coming in all the time, so they installed drains that carried water through underground tubes down to the street level so that it would bypass the house. This is easier if you have no giant trees that the tubes would need to go near.
- Cleaning the gutters: sometimes it's as simple as keeping the gutters clear of leaves.
- Extending the drainage tubes that come off of the roof to be further from the house.
- Install a french drain and if there already is one, make sure that it is clear of debris.
Not sure if you're thinking about buying a property with this issue or if you already own it. Either way, get a professional in to get rid of the mold. If you own it and you plan to sell one day, you'll have to disclose the mold and you'll want to be able to present receipts showing that you had the issue taken care of.
Does this vary by state? Because in Michigan that's wrong. You have to disclose *if it's still there*, and mold remediation companies are ridiculous pirates, looting all of your money for practically no work. I don't get how a receipt could be better proof than seeing visibly that there's no mold left....?
Unless you're allergic or KTFU, scrub the mold with bleach water. Wood could be sanded, stone just scrubbed, then paint with an oil based primer (on the wood) and a water-proofing paint like DryLok on any stone/concrete.
ETA- PP's thoughts on mold/ mold removal are very common after the insurance company bust over mold of the late 90s to early 00s. Insurance companies cracked down and refuse to pay mold claims most of the time now, and mold is now a dirty word in real estate. Except it's completely inevitable and generally harmless. In any town with occasional wet weather you'll find more houses with mold than without. It's NOT a big deal unless there's wood rot or if your air vents go through an affected area (basement/attic/whatever) The SOURCE of the wetness (leak, not enough vents, whatever) needs to be addressed and the mold will never grow.
Planned Executed
My parents home recently had problems with dampness moisture in lower level.
The following solved their problem:
Replaced the gutters on the one side of the house, the downspout size and locations were modified.
Prof. grading and landscaping. Some planting were removed others added.
No more water problems in any season.
It might - we live in NJ and are buying in PA and PA has a standard seller's disclosure form where you have to disclose any issues that the property has had or does have and any steps taken to remedy them. We got a shiny little "mold free" certification for the house we're buying (though I don't think that's standard). We rent in NJ, but mold is a pretty dirty word here too. Even if I didn't have health concerns (a little sister with asthma who visits often), I'd be concerned about resale issues. There is a great house in the best school district in the area that just went from a list price of $590 to $350 because they found a "moderate" amount of mold.