Advice Needed: House Maintenance Issue (Mold)

[dubb93]

I need some advice from people that will be more knowledgeable on this subject than I am. My mother is having an issue with her house. A guy from Serv-Pro just left her house today and is going to be preparing an estimate and she asked if I would be there while he was under the house.

This might be a bit of a long story to get it all in.

She has lived in the same place since 1986 and has the house paid off in full. Back in July she noticed that the floor was soft in her living room so she called over a contractor. He jacked the house up and fixed the floor. While he was under the house in the crawl space he said that it was a little damp and advised that he thought that the condensation line for the furnace had gone bad since when he investigated the source nothing was coming out of the end of the line(or something like this, this part is coming from her, it was a cheap fix which made her happy).

He ran a new line and said it should fix the issue. About a week ago she noticed that the furnace room was wet and the contractor came back out and said that he isn't sure that the new line he ran was working. He said that he would need to run a new line out at a different place since he thinks the original angle could actually be a problem and he put in a condensation pump. He did the second job free of charge and it has fixed the issue completely of the furnace dumping water under the house.

While he was down there for the second job he said that it is now not just damp it is a complete muddy/swampy mess and that there is now white mold that looks like "snowdrifts."

She called her home owners insurance and they actually agreed to pay to fix the mold issue since it came from the furnace malfunction. They said they would need to have a mold removal company to come out and give them an estimate and verify that it was caused by the furnace.

Today the company they suggested arrived. The guy went down, said it was one of the worst mold infestations he has seen (to be fair he looked about 25), and said there is no way that much moisture was caused by the furnace. He also slapped her with a $20,000 estimate. The house was appraised this year for $82,000.

She hasn't heard back from the insurance company. The mold removal company is supposed to call the insurance company later tonight, but this fix is completely beyond her means to pay for if and when the insurance company balks. The mold is confined to the crawl space below the house.

My question becomes is this a legit price to pay to fix this mold issue? What are the alternatives to having a professional company fix it? What do we do about the guy from the mold company seeing this one time for 10 minutes and completely writing off the furnace as the cause?

[cartman]

I would get at least two more estimates from other sources. If the mold is just in the crawlspace, $20k does sound a bit excessive. I've heard of it costing that much if the mold gets up into the walls.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by cartman

I would get at least two more estimates from other sources. If the mold is just in the crawlspace, $20k does sound a bit excessive. I've heard of it costing that much if the mold gets up into the walls.

He said today that is confined to the crawl space. I have to take his word for it. I tried to get down there but I'm 6'3 280 and this is an extremely narrow, built in the 1800's crawl space. She says that everyone that has ever gone down there has complained about how tight the crawl space is and the guy today didn't disappoint. He was about 5'5 and he complained about it.

[timmae]

Originally Posted by dubb93

He said today that is confined to the crawl space. I have to take his word for it. I tried to get down there but I'm 6'3 280 and this is an extremely narrow, built in the 1800's crawl space. She says that everyone that has ever gone down there has complained about how tight the crawl space is and the guy today didn't disappoint. He was about 5'5 and he complained about it.

I agree with getting additional estimates from other remediation companies. An infestation of the entire basement/first floor/whatever could become very costly but $20,000 for just the crawl space seems outrageous. I have seen asbestos remediation estimates come in much lower than that and they need to have similar procedures for dealing with the ACM. They may have to hit all of the joists/sill plates, vertical framing so it is an involved process but a decent mold remediation company should be able to do it for less.

[JPhillips]

I'd add that I wouldn't tell them about the insurance prior to the estimate. Answer any questions they have, but you want to get a neutral estimate.

This guy may be on the up and up, but he may also be finding the data the insurance company is looking for. If he came recommended by the insurance company there's the clear potential for a conflict of interest.

[stevew]

This is like maybe a $6000 or so job according to the TV shows I've seen over the years. They do mold remediation and then cut out all the bad shit, fix the problems and call it a day. 20K is just outrageous.

I mean one of the Flip or Flop(hay Christina) episodes they had to remove lead paint, outdoors, in friggin California with a haz mat team and friggin biohazard trucks and it was like 12K.

[dzilla77]

It also depends on what else is done. It could be an estimate for remediation and treatment of the crawl space to prevent moisture in the future.

I would be surprised if the insurance company didn't pay for it as they stated is was a covered claim and recommended the company. My guess is that the amount of money that actually changes hands will be much less than that estimate.

[CU Tiger]

Where is the house located?
(what state)

I can chime in with more thoughts based on that answer

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Where is the house located?
(what state)

I can chime in with more thoughts based on that answer

It is located in rural Indiana roughly an hour southeast of Indianapolis and a little over an hour west of Cincinnati. It's in a small town but the location is rural enough that no interstate runs in the entire county.

[CU Tiger]

That changes my intended advice actually. In more warm and humid climates you actually need a different crawl space treatment but the frost line makes my suggestion impossible.

[dubb93]

Great news on this front. The insurance adjuster decided "there is enough evidence to suggest that the mold was caused by the defective furnace." He also rejected the 20k estimate. I'm not entirely sure what all the 20k included. Apparently it's an 8k job and it starts tomorrow.

[PilotMan]

That's great news!