ShareThisQ: We are a retired couple and we spend the winters in Celebration, Fla.When we returned to Florida at Thanksgiving, we found our bathroom ceiling had watermarks from one end to the other. Since we have a condo, we informed the association, which sent a man to determine what happened. He informed us the neighbor above us had remodeled his bathroom, creating the leak. He said that it was not management's responsibility and that we must contact the owner of the upstairs condo.We did this, and the neighbor's friend came with two men who looked at the ceiling and said they would repair it. A day or two later, the two men who had been working upstairs came to us and said they wanted to look to make sure the work they had done upstairs had not made more water leaks.Then they said they would spray the ceiling with mold-resistant material before repainting it.We are very concerned, because we think enough drywall should be removed to ensure it is not moldy and soft over the tub.We have no idea whom to contact for a proper inspection, and we would like to know any criteria to follow or if there is anyone we could contact for information on our rights. -- C.M. Davis, Florida.A: I'm always ready to learn something new, but I have not as yet found a product that will remove mold from drywall by simply spraying on a magic chemical.Common drywall has a paper (cellulose) covering on all six sides of an inner gypsum core. It is the paper that is the main subject of a mold attack, even though the mold appears on the painted surfaces of the drywall.The backside of the ceilings is covered with an untreated paper, which is exposed to the dark and damp crevices of the neighbor's floors. If you see mold growing on the finished side of the ceiling, it's a good bet that additional mold spores are growing on the untreated side.If I were inspecting your home, I would recommend that you have the mold tested before you do any repairs. Next, the infected areas of the drywall should be removed so you can see if there is any structural damage to the floor system. This would mean cutting out not only what damage you can now see, but also cutting out the mold that has by now spread over the backside of the ceiling and maybe to the wood joists and your neighbor's flooring underlayment. The damage may be more than what now appears.The damaged drywall ceiling can then be replaced, taped, sanded and painted.Not all home inspectors are willing to make such recommendations, so look for one that has a building or remodeling background. Certified home inspectors can be found at the American Society of Home Inspectors' Web Site, www.ashi.org. Once you have opened the main Internet page, you can narrow the search to your area of the country by typing your ZIP code into the "Find a Home Inspector" locator.To research your rights in dealing with this or any other potential legal situation, you should contact a qualified attorney. Not all attorneys have experience in real estate matters or damage to personal property, so get references from the local bar association.I was able to search www.floridabar.org and found more than 80,000 members of the Florida Bar Association.(Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier & Press, P.O. Box 286, Evansville, Ind. 47702.)
Test damaged drywall for mold
Submitted by administrator on Sun, 12/23/2007 - 13:20
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