How much does it cost to fix if there's black mold in a house im thinking about buying?

Question

Im getting this house drastically reduced in price and will be putting a lot of money into it to fix it. Problem is the other day we went over there and I noticed water on the unfinished basement floor. There's are evident flooding issues the owner is an old woman who definitly doesn't keep the house up. Also there's a small porch-like room on the side of the house which smells musty. I heard inspectors won't be able to see this stuff if it's in the walls and I could end up getting a moldy house. How much would it cost to remove worse case scenario?

Answer 1

Worst case is gutting the entire inside, spraying what's left with special mold killer, putting in all new paper-free sheet rock and insulation, paint, and treating the slab and new flooring. Sounds like what it'd cost to do really NICE renos on a much better house. You can have a mold inspection company do an inspection but some damage will be caused to walls.

Answer 2

A whole lot,,,Justbein hit the nail on the head,,you're looking at a total renovation otherwise whoever lives in the house could become sick and if you just quick fix and resale having knowlege of this health hazard you could be held civily liable by the buyer.....

Answer 3

Call up some local contractors that specialize in mold removal and ask them.  

Answer 4

I suffered brain damage from toxic mold. there is no cost that i wouldnt of paid before i moved into a toxic mold home to get it totally remediated. Toxic mold will kill you or make you wish you were dead. DO NOT MOVE OR LET ANYONE MOVE INTO THIS HOME WITHOUT TOTAL RENOVATION OF THE LEAKING PIPES AND ALL SURROUNDING AREAS!!!

It could end up costing you millions later in court and lawyer fees if you dont take care of it now.

Answer 5

have it inspected first, then get an estimate. figure anything moldy will need to be ripped out and replaced. mold is a serious health hazard as well so do make sure its completelt removed.

Answer 6

Call in a professional inspector before you buy.

Answer 7

There is not an arbitrary price to rid it unfortunately.

It depends on the extent of infestation.

Good luck.You might want to look elsewhere if it's real bad.

It might not be worth it even with the price reduction.

Answer 8

It depends on how extensive the mold is.  I bought a house for $90,000 under the appraised value because it had alleged toxic mold.  It was gutted down to the slab and rebuilt from the ground up (inside only).  New sheetrock, new insulation, new A/C with ductwork, you name it.  

The buyer's disclosure I got with the home was over 400 pages thick and listed how much they paid.  The engineer alone was over $1,000.  The engineer was the specialist in mold remediation.  Then there was the remediation itself.  It cost something like $70,000 for an entire 2800 square foot house to be basically rebuilt on the inside.

I've been in it for 5 years and have not found any mold and have not been sick at all.  We got a helluva deal because we'll be selling in a few years and will probably make over $100,000 because of how little we paid for the house.  

I'd not try to do it yourself.  If you're SURE there's toxic mold, you'll have to do a basic tear down of the area and probably changed ductwork in the entire house.

DISCLAIMER:  You must disclose the mold you find UNLESS you live it in 2-3 years and find no mold.  Then you no longer have to disclose it.  So don't buy this as a fixer-upper with plans to resell.  It will be hard to sell with a toxic mold buyer's statement.