Here are 2 traps to definitely avoid when closing on your new home in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Asheville. The following situations are making the rounds in the real estate market these days so be aware and be prepared.
Trap #1 Look at Your Contract Carefully
Recently there have been contracts written on home that contain the language to the effect that “if fungal activity of the home being purchased is “normal” to the area the seller will not address any fungal concerns with the home.” The problem here is the term “normal” is not defined and it is quite normal to have mold infestation in crawl spaces in the southeast!! Result is the purchaser is often passed on a house with mold infestation that can result in health problems for their families.
The clever language is a way to skirt the issue and unless the home inspector is specifically requesting for the fungal activity be addressed the underwriter will miss this important part of the real estate close. Recently a customer of ours ended up with such a situation and the resulting bill to clean up the house was around $2500.00. This was money the sellers should have spent to turn over a clean home to the buyer. BEWARE of the fine print in your contract.
Trap #2 Wood Moisture is Only One Source of Moisture
Often pest control companies that do a routine pest inspection for a sale will spot fungal growth in the crawl space. They will routinely check wood moisture content as part of their inspection. If the wood moisture content is less than 20% they will put on their report the fungal growth/mold is dormant. Bad mistake. This is based on the faulty assumption that mold gets its moisture directly from the wood alone. It demonstrates the pest companies lack of understand on mold, its characteristics, and how it grows. Some molds in fact have hypae that extend in the air and get moisture from high humidity.
Most open crawl spaces in the south will have high humidity in the warm months of the year. Relative humidity is the water content of the air. A high content provides plenty of moisture for mold and especially when it condensates on the wood surface during these months. Recently I took a sample test from a floor joist with fungal growth. The moisture content of this wood was less than 16%. The labs looks to specifically identify if it was active and the result came back in the highest designation “probable active.” Wood moisture is only one source of moisture. Mold doesn’t discriminate where it gets it moisture.
Truly the buyer should beware when running in to these two scenarios in the market.
Emory Young
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