Mold Mitigation & Remediation is a potentially dangerous deal for both the buyer's and seller's agents in our lititigious world today. But, when Servpros and most certified mitigation / remediation pros are on the case, the lawyers usually walk away!

Excessive amounts of mold and certain types of mold may present health concerns. In some cases, we have seen plaintiffs go after sellers of properties, TWO or THREE sales back, and name their agents based on "discovery." They have accused the sellers and/or their brokers of not doing due deligence for mold or related health problems, prior to a home or business sale.

Well, hey, we bury the attorneys in paperwork about drying measurements, relative humidity readings, maps and measurements room-by-room, filling boxes of paperwork -- although we try to be paperless in our Servpro. In cases that we've heard in training for mold and water remediation, Servpro's water pros tell us that the plaintiffs' attorneys are walking away when they see our company name on mold mitigation paperwork. That's after a home or business owner, or their realtor, calls in one of the 1,600 independent ownerships like ours near Bronxville, NY.

Water damages of even one or two years ago can cause mold growth in a home or business, so it's important to have water damages cleaned promptly and professionally. Or, in the case of an empty home, one that a "snowbird" couple have decided to sell at last -- but, it was closed and locked up-- or, a bank owned home that's been empty and sealed up for a year or two, and there may be evidence of mold. Many empty or abandoned homes had ice dam related leaks last winter, or flooded during our amazing rainstorms this spring and summer. An ambassador's residence that we're helping with had floor to ceiling rainbow colored mold of different types throughout the 12,000 square foot Scarsdale property, including a priceless Steinway piano that we're trying to save.

Signs of the presence of excessive mold include:

• The presence of visible mold that could be black, green or a rainbow of colors.
  
• Strong, musty odors.
  
• Any evidence of past moisture problems that might have caused undetected mold growth.
  
• Excessive humidity.

NOTE: No one is a mold expert, except the folks in white jackets, in a lab, with those testing petri dishes that prove it's mold. So, don't identify or point out mold because it could "make you liable" and even we don't know or tell clients it IS mold, unless a Home Environmentalist has printed lab reports they hand us / their client. We never say it's mold unless we have that lab report and neither should you...it's not necessary.

You may want to suggest that your seller call a qualified remediation company and just get the mold removed before a sale. Make sure the company they call is certified. For example, Forrest and I are trained and certified with the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). It's a non-profit that began in New York state and is now international, setting standards and ethics for structural drying -- including addressing humidity and other water concerns that contribute to mold growth. Your sellers may be wise to deal with the problem directly and not open themselves to problems and legal concerns later on. Offering an "credit at closing" to a buyer who just wrote a big check for a property and may not remdiate the mold, but doesn't, could come back to haunt the seller and their agent later, according to remediation companies like ours that have been brought in to court a year or so after such sales. That's because the buyer's child developed asthma, or the buyer may have been immune suppressed or a cancer survivor and had health problems that theymay be able to blame on a moldy basement, after living in their newly bought home for even months or years. For agents bringing in clients to purchase a home, it's "buyers beware."

If you think you or a client might have a mold problem, call a company like ours to do a complimentary walk through with our humidity and other investigative equipment. In most water damage situations, mold growth is not a problem in a home or business, if it's dried and taken care of quickly. For visible problems that are in a small area (approximately) 4 feet or less, we recommend total removal. Of course our guys are well-trained, background checked and uniformed with gear like Tivek suits, gloves and masks to remove unhealthy mold. Don't rub or touch it, as you could release mold spores into the air and inhale them.

If months or years have passed since a water damage, like the flooding storms in March 2010, or this June, and there is "the visible appearance of mold," as we say, then we may suggest you call in a Home Environmentalist, like Jim Rood at Lighthouse in Westchester County. The need to address the presence of mold can only be determined by an on-site, indoor environmental inspection. We do not subcontract these specialists because Forrest and I believe it is a conflict of interest. Jim and others can test, send samples to professional labs and come back to your client (the home or biz owner) and give them (and us) a "menu" to remediate the mold. We may have to rip out a wall, sandblast the mold, use dry ice and other measures to remove the mold and then spray a fungacide -- that's because mold is a "fungus among us" and a sporicidin kills it.

As I've mentioned in other blogs, bleach will not work, sorry. A recent rainmaker blog had great pictures of basement walls that looked like they'd been washed with bleach. Guess what? There was still the "appearance of mold growth" but the walls looked lighter; it may have smelled better in the seller's basement...for a week or so. Our mamas and grandmas had okay luck with bleach in cleaning bathrooms because they are usually always a bit humid, but are cleaned regularly and mold spores don't have time to really get going and grow.

Anyway, don't try to remove or clean mold in a basement or attic...and even a whole home...yourself. It's unhealthy, dangerous and can make humans ill, plus you can send spores into your duct and home system. It's not worth compromising a building's indoor air quality, especially if your client is trying to sell an otherwise lovely home. Companies like ours can restore the initial water damage to preloss condition, safely and quickly and we limit the demolition so your clients and insurance companies love it.

Get someone in to check on a situation if you detect that "mildew smell" and see dark or colored stains on lower level or attic walls. We've seen growth take over 2nd and even 3rd levels of homes and one 12,000 square foot ambassador's residence that was closed for two or more years. Remediation and mold mitigators like us are experienced at carrying out an assigned plan and working with home environmentalists, to make it "Like it Never Even Happened."

Get your seller or buyer to take care of ANY mold concerns, with us or a qualified and certified mold mitigation company BEFORE you go to closing, so the buyers don't end up with a "sick house," and name you and everyone in paperwork that "suggests" you come to court. That's our word to the wise among our great ActiveRain community! Any lawyer Rainmakers who want to weigh in on this one?

Have a great "cooler" summer everyone...we can only hope, as the humidity is keeping us busy with moldy properties.

Map Bronxville

We're trying to buy a house -- yeaaaaeeeaa, or boooo booo in NY State, where we've just relocated and launched a startup. NEED your help, savvy Rain folks!

In this world of short sales and banks running the show -- yeah, the one's who took our taxpayers TARP money in 2007, and are giving out stated income mortgages again -- we are at the mercy of budget and bank held properties we can afford. Although Forrest and I both have stellar credit in the high 700s, we have a debt load from our house in Virginia (it's gorgeous, on a lake, send your buyers in D.C. area!), opening a new biz in a bad economy and a new/used car loan because my SUV died a horrible death. It's okay, it had a BIG carbon footprint. So, we only qualified for about $300k for a primary, pre-approved loan at 4.75%.

Since then, we've bid on two other houses, but other bids "beat ours" and we lost the chance on homes that would help the extended family. Why the desperation: I've got to move my 81 year-old father and my step-mom in with us...he wants to return and spend his remaining years with me / us and be "home" in NY state. So, we need a lot of house for not much money on the loan front. Now the selling agent is not returning our call on the home we have an "accepted offer" on...for one week! He's the invisible man...we'll call him the "IM"

Flash to exterior, evening, Fleetwood, NY with our fabulous agent who's done so much driving and searching for us, but is as frustrated as we are with selling agents. In short sales here, it's like an auction at Christie's or something. We avoided them, but weren't able to find more than a shack with 1 bedroom, for four adults (2 couples), our 2 German Shepherds and Lord Byron (the cat), who owns our homes in his mind, we just pay the rent/mortgage...all not important in his feline mind. And now, the perfect house.

Without jinxing it, we found this amazing fixer upper in a decent family neighborhood, where Dad can walk his mile or so each day in good weather. We gave more than the asking and "had the highest bid" according to the Sales Broker. He was picking up our agent's calls and in good tough until last Monday. He promised to: Lock the house that was open to the world and the scum who strip homes, go to City Hall to pull documents, submit our offer and a Memorandum of Sale (a NY thing?) to the bank, have the seller turn on the utilities for our required inspection and give us a list of "inclusions / exclusions" -- like amazing fixtures and sconces that are antique. Now, no word since last Monday and he's not returning our calls. Our agent and I both called the lead Broker (unnamed) and were told that the IM is not on vacation, in the hospital or has a crisis out of area...and that a message would be passed to him.

So, here's the needed advice, now that you have the "deets" above...who do we call?? Or, do we call? We've tried to reach the IM every day for a week, and through this last Saturday, and left messages. This brokerage is actually a client, or would-be client if they'd let my company disinfect, deoderize and sanitize any "stinky homes" for sale on their list. That's what we do and "clean homes sell faster" is a program at Servpros like ours in the lower Hudson Valley. But, no calls back, the house is not locked yet (2 weeks later, and we drove by Sunday), we don't know if there's an oil tank buried there, and I canceled my home inspection for tomorrow because we havn't heard if the utilities will be back on...good luck with Con Edision booking time in under two weeks for a gas/utlities rehook, right? So, we don't want to so pester this guy that he takes another, even lower or higher incoming offer over ours.

Do we keep calling because the selling agent should respond to calls about a new, pending sale of a long held client property AND he's working with/for the bank too?? Do we sit back and hope he calls? Had the brokerage already taken another offer on my dream house with room for the 'rents," our critters, a garden for my Maylasian stepmom and yard for doggies -- and he just isn't telling us?

We welcome all theories because we so love and will save this abandoned home (since 2007), and the price and all are perfect for me and my contractor Dad, the "hairy children with tails" and all! Thoughts, my super savvy friends...with thanks and love from the bizarre NY real estate market?!

When we think about safety in our homes, our initial thoughts turn to smoke detectors or child-proof measures, such as safety locks on kitchen cabinets. Rarely, do we think about a disinfected, sanitized and mold free home as well as our indoor air quality.

In recognition of Home Safety Month this June, Forrest and Hillary Sheperd want to explain why home and business owners should make healthy air quality homes" (and businesses) with good air quality, a top priority.  For example, mold is one potential air quality problem, according to these local owners of Servpro of Scarsdale / Mount Vernon.

"Mold spores are everywhere in our environment and can easily enter homes," said Forrest Sheperd.  "Every year about 40 pounds of dust is generated per 1,500 square feet in a home. Most types of mold grow quickly if they have a water source, an organic food source and temperatures between 60 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit."

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has noted that moisture and mold problems in buildings may result in health issues. Families living in those buildings may experience odors and various health problems, such as headaches and allergic reactions. The EPA suggests these health problems could potentially be associated with people being exposed to mold.

Forrest and our IICRC certified crews recommend that homeowners take the following Healthy Checklist regarding indoor air:

• Do you smoke in your home?
• Does your kitchen, bathroom and laundry room have ventilation and exhaust fans?
• Do you change your air filters once a month?
• When cleaning or doing laundry, do you use bleach ammonia or aerosol spray cans?
• Is your gas fireplace and/or gas stove checked yearly for emissions?
• Was your home built before 1978? If so, has it been checked for lead-based paint?
• Do your bathrooms have carpet where moisture and dust can build up?

 If you have answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may want to consider making changes in these areas of your home. According to the EPA, it is impossible to eliminate all molds, but mold growth can be controlled indoors by controlling moisture. The Sheperds suggest taking the following steps:

• Correct any water leaks or standing water and call a plumber, if necessary.
• Remove standing water under cooling coils, or air handling units.
• Replace washing machine hoses with steel mesh lines.
• Move large objects away from the walls to provide good air circulation.
• Use exhaust fans in bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms.
• Properly maintain dehumidifiers, if any, and consider placing one on your lower level, or basement.
• Replace wet or visibly moldy insulation, dry wall and carpet, or flooring, materials.
• Have dirty ducts cleaned by a professional.

"Since your ventilation system is often the biggest culprit in poor indoor air quality, inspecting the ductwork should be a high priority," Forrest Sheperd said. "Dirty ducts can circulate odors, contaminants such as mold and irritating dust throughout your home. So, it's important to have someone examine the HVAC system and make a clean sweep of the duct work."

Many Servpro owners have trained professionals who inspect HVAC systems and duct work. When conducting the service, they make recommendations about the best way to address any indoor air quality concerns. This can often save homeowners money and provides a peace of mind about future health concerns, Sheperd said.

In some circumstances, such as after fire, smoke or suspected mold growth, duct cleaning becomes an essential part of the cleanup process. In these cases Servpro of Scarsdale / Mount Vernon can restore your home, HVAC system and duct work to pre-damage condition.  For more information about SERVPRO or about addressing mold and moisture problems in your home, call us for an appointment or 24 hour emergency services at (914) 699-5181, or please visit www.servproofscarsdalemountvernon.com.

Thanks,

Forrest & Hillary

I thought you might enjoy this video which shows the extensive training our company provides.  When customers have floods or fires in their homes, it's critical to make your home is well taken care of.  Our job is to fix your home ("like it never even happened") and prevent future damage, such as mold which can impact your family's health.

I hope you enjoy this.

Video of Servpro training