Some Water Damage in House

[In The Doghouse]

Well now I have problems with the house. My wife noticed a lump swelling under the carpet in the master bedroom. It is kinda mushy and about 1ft by 2ft and has grown pretty quickly. This is a single level wood frame house over a crawlspace.

I went into the crawlspace and found the copper pipe supplying water to the hall toilet is dripping with the leak originating above the floor level. I turned off the water, cut the pipe, went to Lowes and bought a gator bite fitting and capped it off. So now we again have water in the house with the exception of the hall toilet.

I pulled some of the underfloor insulation down and need to pull down more. I found mold on the underside of the floor boards and joists in the path of the leak.

It seems this has been leaking for a while and the water has run down the subfloor to spread to the bedroom and we probably have a fungus growing under the carpet. I figure I need to pull down all the affected insulation and spray some bleach solution, or something, to kill the mold. Let it dry thoroughly and then reapply fresh insulation. The carpet will need to come up, hopefully just in that corner of the room, allowed to dry and the mold treated. I don't think the wood is rotted or warped. We might have to replace the carpet too.

That's what I think. What do you guys think? Is my plan of action appropriate? Should I file a claim with my insurance and bring in the professionals? I know mold can be a really bad thing in one's dwelling.

 

[b-boy]

Call your insurance company. They'll take care of it. I had a long term leak under my dishwasher. It cost ~$3500 to repair the damage. Water damage is expensive, and you don't want to mess with mold.

 

[James-W]

I agree, when it comes to water damage and mold it would be wise to contact your insurance agent and let them handle it.

 

[Showkey]

Simple small job.......it’s already half done.

$1000 deductible and water/mold claim will almost guarantee a BIG premium increase.

 

[firebirdparts]

inasmuch as you can, you would just replace moldy subfloor; it's cheap. The water damage won't really hurt the framing. You can kill mold or have it professionally remediated, but bleach may not really kill it. If the area dries out it'll die of natural causes anyway.

 

[WIKDRacing]

Bleach does not “kill” mold. Speaking from experience from performing mold remediation on my MIL’s house.

Use a product similar to Contec Sporicidin Disinfectant if you will be doing it yourself.

 

[CJ7VFR]

...$1000 deductible and water/mold claim will almost guarantee a BIG premium increase.

This is almost a 100 percent guarantee if you put a claim in for mold! That, and once you put that type of claim in, they will most probably want to do an inspection of all the surrounding areas, which, if not very accessible, means they will want to tear apart other areas to gain that access.

Also, there are some municipalities that will require you to notify them if there is any mold remediation done to your home, and this in turn will show up on any paperwork you have when you go to sell the house. It can stay attached to your records for YEARS.

How do I know this? Because the house that I live in had water get into the basement back in the 1970's when the original owners still had the house. They got about two inches of water in there, as can be seen by very faint marks around the bottom of the four feet of the oil tank, and around the bottom of the two metal posts that hold up the main beam of the house. That, and the fact that the original owners put in a French drain system all around the entire perimeter of the basement right after they had that water get into the basement.

This info showed up on the paperwork when my wife and I were buying the house back in 2010. Every inspector, every real estate agent, every mortgage company, every township zoning person, and every insurance agent wanted to know about "the mold" that was in the house!

There was no mold in the house anymore. A small amount was spotted, over 40 years ago, and was dealt with in a proper manner, way back then.

But son-of-a-***** that one single piece of information had to be related to everyone involved in the sale of the house, even though it happened over 40 years ago, and the amount of delays it caused drove us crazy.

So be diligent about reporting anything that has to do with mold! If it is a huge amount, that is not easy to remedy yourself, then yes, report it and get it fixed.

If it is just a small amount, and you can fix everything yourself, then do that. You will save time. You will save money. You will save aggravation now. You will save aggravation later.

Jim

 

[In The Doghouse]

Thanks for the input guys. This morning I talked with a friend who has experience with building and remodeling. He stated similarly that an insurance claim will earmark the house as molded, ensure mold eradication to the extreme and raise my rates going forward.

So... this morning I removed the crawlspace insulation to expose the extent of concern. It extends about 3ft in one direction and about 7ft in the other. The widest is less than 2ft.

Some of the boards are pretty wet but none seem soft. I scraped off any sticking insulation paper and sprayed down with Concrobuium Mold Control. A fan is keeping air moving and after it all dries I will give it another coating of the mold control and allow to dry again before reapplying fresh insulation. We are expecting rain here for the next few days and my target for reapplying insulation can be a couple months due to our mild climate. I can give it ample time to dry.

The house was built in 1986 and has copper piping. I found another spot that is seeping water thankfully below the joists. It seems it is time to replace all plumbing with PEX tubing and fittings. The easily seen pipes are relatively easy but the routing to the sinks, tubs and toilets will be more difficult. Anybody have tips how to extend from crawlspace to the appliances?

Tomorrow I plan to remove a piece of sheet rock to reconnect the one toilet and pull up the carpet to learn what is underneath there. The subfloor is 1x8 laid diagonally. I don't remember what is between subfloor and the carpet. If I get luck (I think) I will find some swollen particle board without mold. That can be replaced relatively easily.

 

[In The Doghouse]

I've pulled the vinyl flooring from the bathroom, fortunately with treated plywood below it. How do I remove the paper backing that remains glued to the plywood?