The day my inspection found mold in a wall I was sure was fine

I was buying this cute little bungalow in Denver and thought the inspection would be a breeze. Walked in with the inspector last Wednesday and he pointed to a water stain near the baseboard that I totally missed. He pulled out a moisture meter and it read 28% right there, then we found black mold behind the drywall. Ended up costing me an extra $1,200 in repairs before closing but at least I caught it before moving in. Has anyone else had an inspection uncover something that seemed small but turned into a huge deal?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_green1310d ago

Did you look into whether the water stain was coming from outside or inside? I watched a video from a home inspector in Seattle who said mold in Denver is almost always from a roof leak or bad window seals since the climate is so dry. $1,200 sounds cheap actually, my buddy in Portland paid over $3k for the same problem and they found the drywall was soaked from a pipe that had been slowly dripping for months. That moisture meter reading of 28% is scary high, anything over 15% usually means active growth behind the wall.

rowanr8810d ago

That part about it costing you an extra $1,200 before closing - was that just for the mold removal itself, or did that cover the new drywall and painting too? I've seen people get hit with a bill like that and find out a week later the real problem was a slow leak in the plumbing behind the wall that's gonna need another grand or two.

mason.drew5d ago

Honestly the thing that stands out to me is that moisture reading of 28%. That's not a simple "hey let's spray some bleach" situation. Even if the mold itself is dealt with, that kind of trapped moisture means the wood studs or sheathing behind that wall could be getting wrecked slowly. Might be worth asking if they tested the framing after the drywall came off.