Mold infested cottage cleanup help

[Mousefield]

Would look good on a professional firefighter!

90k in all said and done would still be very good for a house and property of this size pretty much anywhere!

I know a lot of people are into insurance fraud but I am not one of them!

Even though I believe these big companies really rip us off

I did post "May be cheaper to insure it and have an accidental fire." with a bit of light (bad) humor. Just pointing out the cost vs price. Hopeful no harm no foul.

 

[Gary Fowler]

It could be that the mold is just a surface problem and might not be behind the wall board. I would for sure kill all the surface stuff before investigating further. Sodium Hypochlorite is cheap stuff and a little goes a long ways. You might need fresh air under all that chlorine though

 

[Stick895]

Builders loan not needed; cash

Reselling; plan on keeping in the family to hand down to kids and possibly rent out weekly

Builders permit; won't know it's being done!

Plans can change. Also if you rent it out you may need/want to be able to show proof it was remediated correctly in case you have any renter issues. In the same vein, there are probably a lot of things that can happen which draw the attention of the authorities, who might not take kindly to the work that was done. And unpermitted work could affect insurance payouts

 

[Combustix]

Wow 50K and ericher69 is looking at buying the house and 5 acres for $40,000. May be cheaper to insure it and have an accidental fire.

Yep Insurance, match, and new rebuild plans.

 

[ericher69]

I did post "May be cheaper to insure it and have an accidental fire." with a bit of light (bad) humor. Just pointing out the cost vs price. Hopeful no harm no foul.

None taken!

I do realize this type of project can and will be full of surprises and unexpected expenses.

 

[BeezFun]

Because when you do remove the material you expose the mold spores to other parts of the building that are not removed, thereby spreading the problem beyond where it is now. That is also the reason to tape off doors and windows and create negative air pressure to exhaust any remaining spores.

Been watching those Plan 9 from Outer Space reruns?

 

[Ranger Rick]

None taken!

I do realize this type of project can and will be full of surprises and unexpected expenses.

Any renovation project is full of hidden surprises, just be prepared and add 15 or 20 percent to the budget to cover contingencies. Also remember it always seems to take twice as long as you figured to get something done.
Rick

 

[ericher69]

Any renovation project is full of hidden surprises, just be prepared and add 15 or 20 percent to the budget to cover contingencies. Also remember it always seems to take twice as long as you figured to get something done.
Rick

I am in no hurry.

I have a 3 hour drive to get to camp and then start the work.

Have a relative nearby but will probably set up a camper and make that base camp

 

[EddieWalker]

Ok I have the opportunity to buy a cottage/camp on a 5 acre parcel with 1 small pond and a bigger pond/lake (don't know the size transition from pond to lake)

Anyway the structure was built around 1990;
2 story
Basement
2 washrooms
Kitchen
4 bed
Around 2000 sq/ft
I can purchase this for $40k Canadian dollars

Problem is it was rented out and used as a grow operation about 10 yrs ago (wires used for drying are still in the basement)

There is mold everywhere on surfaces and have not investigated to see if it goes deeper

It would probably be a full gut and redo

Now is this feasible to do myself?

My plan is the following;

1. See if I have more than surface mold
2. Use a respirator
3. Enter and spray everything with a sodium hypochlorite and water solution (1:3)
4. Let air dry
5. Ventilate building
6. Gut re-insulate
7. Vapor barrier
8. Drywall
9. Paint

Any advice/direction are always appreciated

Without knowing how bad it is, my experience has been that I can kill anything with swimming pool shock. A chemist explained to me that it's just a higher concentrate of bleach then laundry bleach. I can tell you from experience that it kills everything, including a few brain cells if you hang around too long. Open up everything, vent like crazy and start spraying!!!

As for the TV shows, I love to watch them, but tend to laugh at what they push as the way to do things. While I'm sure it's the best way to do it, clients don't want to pay the money those methods cost. Half of everything you see them do, or product that they use, is a paid advertisement. In some shows, like Holmes, EVERYTHING is paid advertising. From the DeWalt tools they use to the Ditra orange plastic/foam stuff they use on the walls for tile. It's not the best, but he gets paid to use it and people watching the shows buy it.

Eddie

Eddie

 

[ericher69]

Without knowing how bad it is, my experience has been that I can kill anything with swimming pool shock. A chemist explained to me that it's just a higher concentrate of bleach then laundry bleach. I can tell you from experience that it kills everything, including a few brain cells if you hang around too long. Open up everything, vent like crazy and start spraying!!!

As for the TV shows, I love to watch them, but tend to laugh at what they push as the way to do things. While I'm sure it's the best way to do it, clients don't want to pay the money those methods cost. Half of everything you see them do, or product that they use, is a paid advertisement. In some shows, like Holmes, EVERYTHING is paid advertising. From the DeWalt tools they use to the Ditra orange plastic/foam stuff they use on the walls for tile. It's not the best, but he gets paid to use it and people watching the shows buy it.

Eddie

Eddie

I agree Eddie,

If you or I would choose to go the Holmes route on most projects we would be poor!

I do not agree with his use of screws for almost everything since they do not have shear strength yet he sells them as the answer to all framing/construction practice.

Will research the shock.

It may be overkill...

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Will research the shock.

It may be overkill...

If it is overkill it's cheap overkill. With mold, overkill is not a bad thing as long as it fits in the budget.

No matter what you do, the mold will come back if you don't get the moisture issues fixed.

 

[dodge man]

I might at least consult an expert on how bad the problem is. You would hate to gut the house when maybe that isn't needed. I keep wondering if the mold problem is one of those problems thats existed for years and now an entire industry has been built around it, when maybe the problem isn't that bad. I don't know???

 

[riptides]

Overkill is a complete gut. Which is what we did. But, we had other issues. Electric, plumbing, multiple additions, bugs and mold.

 

[ThomasH]

I would not be so quick as to say that removing the sheetrock and dealing with the wall cavities is overkill. As a matter of fact, I don't think there will be a realistic choice, since all of the duct work and any wall that had any exposure to the room air, such as around an outlet or switch, fiberglass insulation, etc. Depending on the age and type of mechanical systems for air handling, there may be extensive ducting running up the walls. It may be easier to simply strip the sheetrock from the house, remove all duct work, deal with remaining mold with chemicals or surface abrasion, and then install new air handling, insulation, and sheetrock.

 

[ericher69]

I would not be so quick as to say that removing the sheetrock and dealing with the wall cavities is overkill. As a matter of fact, I don't think there will be a realistic choice, since all of the duct work and any wall that had any exposure to the room air, such as around an outlet or switch, fiberglass insulation, etc. Depending on the age and type of mechanical systems for air handling, there may be extensive ducting running up the walls. It may be easier to simply strip the sheetrock from the house, remove all duct work, deal with remaining mold with chemicals or surface abrasion, and then install new air handling, insulation, and sheetrock.

Would a furnace and duct cleaning not suffice?

 

[BeezFun]

I keep wondering if the mold problem is one of those problems thats existed for years and now an entire industry has been built around it, when maybe the problem isn't that bad. I don't know???

Amen. If you reduce the moisture level, the mold stops growing. So it's never really been clear to me why you have to remove it, other than people run screaming hysterically into the night when they see a little mold on the wall. There's mold spores everywhere, they blow back into the house if you open the window. But they won't grow if there isn't enough moisture. If the house smells bad then it has to be cleaned out, or if the wood is spongy it needs to be replaced or shored up. And I'm sure there's a few horror stories where the concentration of mold is so high it really is a health issue. But these companies have blown this all out of proportion.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Amen. If you reduce the moisture level, the mold stops growing. So it's never really been clear to me why you have to remove it, other than people run screaming hysterically into the night when they see a little mold on the wall. There's mold spores everywhere, they blow back into the house if you open the window. But they won't grow if there isn't enough moisture. If the house smells bad then it has to be cleaned out, or if the wood is spongy it needs to be replaced or shored up. And I'm sure there's a few horror stories where the concentration of mold is so high it really is a health issue. But these companies have blown this all out of proportion.

The real deal is the type of mold. Toxic mold does grow on walls in high moisture areas. This can be a real problem... especially to sensitive individuals.

People overreact and assume that any mold they see on a wall is a toxic mold. Most mold on walls in high moisture areas is just good old non-toxic mold; No more harmful than the storebought mushroom you had in your salad.

 

[edlegault]

I'd buy or rent a couple of big dehumidifiers to dry out the air and surfaces as much as possible (make sure to clean the equipment well to eliminate the mold). Home depot here in the states carries an anti-mold fumigator-like machine which you can buy ($300-400 USD) or rent. And then they have the liquid to act as the fumigant. (don't know what it is). Try checking online at home depot, then check around your area to see if available to rent.

 

[forgeblast]

After we had had some 100 year flooding in september I was helpling a family clean up and we tore all the sheetrock out and had 4 of the big dehumidifers. The problem was that the water went up 6'' into the second floor and wicked water up the drywall there, had to tear out a lot.