is this Mold? Please provide inputs

Rehabbing, Fix and Flip, Rental Properties
1

Hello,
I found the following white stuff in the attic of this
house i am considering for a rehab.
http://www.house-buyer.us/mold1.jpg
http://www.house-buyer.us/mold2.jpg
The stuff is similar to what one would feel with a leaked
battery. I touched it and it was brittle and could be
made as a powder :slight_smile:

The house appears to have had water damage.
The evidence is the A/C vents on the floor. It is all rusted.
http://www.house-buyer.us/carpet.jpg
The ceiling appears to be recently painted with possible
patches of water damage seeping thru the paint, which
has been insufficiently blocked without any sealers.

Please provide inputs on the mold.
This could mean, i can get the place for cheap :slight_smile:

Thanks
Krish

2

Having mold and Hvac experience along with being a former rehabber from what I can see it doesnt appear to be. It seems that it may be some sort of over spray from texture. If you would like for me to take a look at it all, e-mail me. Most mold in HVAC is black and for the most part harmless unless disturbed. One thing I can advise you is that if you note presense of mold on a property you buy you are opening a can of worms. Alot of finance companies won’t issue a note on a property without mediation. I am certified in mediation should you need that type of service. You can also get more info on mold from our parent company at
http://www.njmoldinspection.com/. We also do testing at our labratory if needed to identify what type of mold you have. If you have any questions or need a quote for your HVAC Unitlet me know…Michael

3

Thanks Michael,
I still havn’t popped open the A/C covers to take a
peek in the duct work. But, it is good to know that the
white stuff is not mold.
Moreover, i have no idea of the HVAC condition, since the
power is shutout to the home. Will contact you if i need
help.

Thanks again
-krish

4

I concur with Mike…that is overspray, probably where they sprayed a ceiling, etc.

The rust is relatively common here because the humidity is so high…just replace the register covers or sand them and paint.

Are the carpets wet/damp?

Where is the property?

Keith

5

If you can find out, it may be a good idea to check with the insurance company that covered this home in the past. Many mortgage companies now look into this to see if there have been any insurance claims for mold or water damage.

Just my two cents.

Enjoy your day,
Ray Rochefort
Managing Member
Purpose Investments
Indiana

6

I also agree, some sort of over spray as it only appears on the bottom edges of the 2x6 not the sides.

7

Keith,
The property is in the suburbs of Raleigh.
In the past, i have called Amex to check if they can pull
up the insurance claims from their system that all
underwriters use. They said they have access, but
cannot pull it out. I will have to try my state farm agent.

The carpets appear to have seen bad times. I could
just put some pressure on it and it just comes off like a
powder. This is around the white spot. Appears to be
some kind of bleach to me. May be the previous tenant
took it up against the landlord :slight_smile:

-Krish

8

The white on the carpets appears to be bleached out…I would guess it was retribution or in an attempt to get something out of the carpet and they didn’t test it first.

Here in Louisiana (even here in the ‘dry’ part), mold and mildew are constants because of the ground water and the high humidity. I don’t believe that anything you’ve shown here is out of the norm as far as mold, mildew, water problems are concerned.

Personally, if it were me, I wouldn’t concern myself with it (as far as mold goes)…

Keith