I heard every decade has its own housing bugaboo–the evil scary thing homebuyers are obsessed with when looking at home inspection reports. The 1980s had asbestos and radon gas, the 1990s had lead-based paint, and it seems the inspection scare du jour is mold.
Sure, mold (and asbestos and lead and radon gas and some exotic Madagascar millipedes) can be toxic and dangerous to your health, especially if you have allergies. But these days, it can also be used to get a free kitchen remodel.
My lovely townhome in Southern California is about one mile from the Pacific Ocean, and its front windows all get a lovely ocean breeze (we were lucky enough to get a unit that faces south-west). Does it have mold? Is the Pope catholic? Of course it has mold. The only place in the US that doesn’t have water- and airborne mold is probably Death Valley, and even there I’m sure you can find sneaky little spores making home sellers miserable.
What does this have to do with kitchen remodels? Well, if there’s mold in the house you’re trying to buy, you can get an estimate from your mold inspector that conveniently includes ripping up the kitchen walls, cabinets and countertops, and even appliance removal and replacement. And of course you make that estimate known to me, pointing out my house is uninhabitable in its current condition, but that you still want to close ASAP, so could I please send over $7K immediately so we can proceed with our KILLER MOLD ERADICATION, thank you kindly?
Some say mold can cause fatigue and asthma. I say it enhances creativity and may even have mild hallucinogenic effects. I’ll have a pound of that, over easy, please.
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March 8th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
penicillin is made form mold. There is mold everywhere on the planet where there is life. It is in the air we breath. There are only a couple of types of mold that can make people sick. Some people are alergic to most any kind of mold. Some kinds of cheese have mold on them. The problem is that people hear the word mold and panic. then there are the mold inspectors. Did you know that most mold tests are useless? Wanna make some money? Charge people big bucks to tell them they have mold in their homes. You could never be prooven wrong because mold is everywhere on the planet where there is life.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Mold. Perhaps a legitimate concern. Perhaps the biggest politcal boondoggle since asbestos abatement.
It’s created an entirely new niche for civil and personal injury attorneys. I’ve heard of cases against one large (the operative word here) company that saw a $50,000.00 disclosure lawsuite balloon into a $500,000.00 personal injury claim.
Absurd.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Spelling error: lawsuit (not a large office or residential pad)
March 9th, 2007 at 9:19 am
The public is overreacting to mold because media coverage of mold makes it look like it ruins whole houses on a regular basis. A little mold in an old house or not properly ventilated house is common and usually easily fixable. If the mold is a very serious problem I would stay away from the house. If it is just a little mold in the attic then it would not deter me from buying the house.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Thanks, all, for your comments (and commiseration!) I was wondering if anyone would like to start a pool on home inspection scare futures. What would you bet the next big scary thing will be in the 2010s? I’m voting for heavy metals from construction nails.
March 9th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
You don’t have to worry until you see mushrooms growing from the carpet…which I have seen BTW.
March 9th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
If they were portobello mushrooms, you could presumably deduct kitchen utensils from your taxes by claiming your house as a commercial nursery and restaurant.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:01 am
Mold…Asbestos…Radon…Lead…CO…I think the next thing will be the glues used in carpets, paneling, osb, and the like.