HOME: Can a house with moldy, flooded basement be a likely fixer upper?
I recently viewed a vacant house for sale that was nice except that the partially finished basement got flooded just enough to saturate the carpets and cover every piece of drywall, door, and trim with nasty black mold. It was even on the concrete on the unfinished side.
It's clear the sump backed up from the recent storm and no one knew the pump quit. I was considering what it would take to bring this house back into shape. If I bought it, I'd certainly have a mold abatement specialist look at it. If the report shows the mold didn't spread beyond the basement, would I expect to run into any issues by simply demolishing the finished area's carpet, drywall and framing and then bleaching all the remaining surfaces?
In other words, assuming no further flooding the house may become livable but will the basement always smell funny? What are the chances mold can come back in the bad way? Would there be any long term health risks after the cleanup?
On some TV show I was watching, they showed the cleanup of a house with a severe mold problem. The procedure was to strip everything back to the studs and subfloor and clean with a media-blaster. Instead of sand, they used small dry ice pellets. It basically took off the top layer of wood from the studs and rafters. Since it was dry ice, there was no cleanup except the sawdust. You are probably looking at doing something like this, and it won't be cheap.
I agree with Jeff's comment on this one. Once the mold smell is in there it's hard to get rid of. I've been in houses with moldy basements and they tried to use bleach to clear it up. The bleach cleaned out the mold but the smell still lingered.
One thing you COULD try (and I'm not saying this'll work) is to hire a company that specializes in flood or crime scene cleanup. They have chemicals that can probably get rid of the mold smell for you. I'm not sure about the expense involved (I doubt it will be cheap) but it just may work for you.
Flood Clean-up - 5 Steps Including Mold Control
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