Mold, Mold and Milldew

[gatorsteve]

Well I bought a MH about two or three years ago. Its a 1987 double-wide. It had somethings wrong when I bought it, so I knew it wasn't gonna be perfect. Located in North Florida. I have recently had a baby and wanted to make things right on the house. I started in the master bedroom bathroom. I took the sink out and there it was MOLD. Rotting floor, nasty mold. So I wanted to see where else I had the mold. Went to the other bathroom in the hallway. Took the sink out and there was more. I then went to the kitchen. After messing with the kitchen this is why I am asking y'all. I ripped out all the cabinets in the kitchen. They all where rotting and had mold on it. The wall that the cabinets were on are all rotting and are black with mold. Both of the bathroom floors have to be replaced. The floor around the cabinets have to be replaced. The whole house smells like mold and mildew. When it rains since my house has been sitting in the same spot so long the water just sits under my house. Therefor when the sun comes out and it gets hot it pretty much evaporates into my house. You cant leave anything of value in the house or it will get mold on it. I have a couch and a chair that is on the opposite side of the house that I will probably have to throw away because of mold. I guess what I am asking. Should I keep trying to fix the mold or can I call the county or the people I financed my home through and try to get the house condemned. Would the insurance pay for that? I am not living in the house at this time. Thank You for any input.

[JD]

Congratulations on the the new baby! Sorry you are having these problems though. Most insurance companies have a 'Mold Clause' totally releasing them of mold issues.

JD

[Greg]

Steve, that's a tough call. I think I would start by getting the area UNDER your home dried out. You may need to do some drainage work first. Get a couple sections of skirting open to get some airflow under there also. If you are in a park, try working with the owner/manager on the drainage problem in a "Nice, non threating way" and see if they will help with the problem. Our daughter has the same problem the owner finally saw it this spring after a thaw and admitted that something need to be done.

Possibly after you get the bottom dried out the repairs may last and end the mold problem. Greg

[Yanita]

Hi,

As Greg asked, is this home on your own land?

One of the very first things I would do is get everything opened up and some air circulating. This means the skirting as Greg mentioned, removing all insulation from underneath and finish opening up the interior walls and removing anything that may be wet there also.

If you need to address some drainage issues underneath get tat taken care of, might be as easy as a few catch basins installed to redirect the water, or some grading of the land away from the home.

Once that is taken care of I would install a ground moisture barrier. This is as easy as a roll of 6 mil minimum plastic laid on the ground the under the entire home. This will keep all evaporation of ground water under the plastic and not wicking up into your home from underneath.

Once all that is done I would have the home checked for level and make sure all your piers are sound. Then I would proceed with your renovations...

As for any legal options you might have it would be shear speculation on our behalf to guess what can and cannot happen. might want to call an attorney for options/opinions. I believe you mentioned you bought the home knowing it had issues...did you have the home inspected prior to purchase?

JMO,

Yanita

[gatorsteve]

Thank you guys for the input. The home is on my own land, not a park. I have been looking up, how to do some drains. I do believe that is a big part of my problem. Yes I did get it inspected before I bought it. That is kinda why I was wondering about the legal part of it. That is a good idea about the lawyer. We will see. I am going to start on the drain no matter what happens that has to be done. Thanks again.

[flcruising]

Hello, fellow North Floridian,

What you describe doesn't seem entirely difficult to resolve. The sinks sound like neglect from the previous owners. I can definitely relate to the cabinet issue (though not to the same degree).

When my wife and I were getting ready to move into a townhouse about 5 years ago, at the beginning of August, before starting to move in, the a/c went out. Well since it would take some time to replace the condenser, we decided to wait until the next month to move our things. That was fine until we went back to start. Yes, the a/c was fixed, but of course the manager didn't bother turning it on the whole month to save on electricity. Well, we spent 2 weekends cleaning the place (after they did), including the mold all over the cabinets that apparently grew because the humid Florida air just sat stagnant in there for at least 30 days. Now, multiply that out to however long you've got, and I can see where this could become a huge problem.

The initial neglect definitely added to the problem, but depending upon how long your place hase gone unoccuppied, this mold problem just grows from the humid air we naturally have here.

For the drainage issue...depending on the slope of the land and whether you can drain the water effectively, you maybe could add some dirt underneath your home and mound it from the middle out. If you have standing water, it's likely because you have low spots under there that the water naturally flows to. If you fill in the low areas, then add the vapor barrier like Yanita said, you would eliminate that particular source of moisture.

The walls though, may need to be opened up to completely address the problem.

[Greg S]

You should also consider placing 1 or 2 dehumidifiers inside the home on full to slow down the mold growth while you are working on the grading issue.