One of the worst cases for mold I’ve ever seen was a foreclosure that a customer wanted to buy and renovate. I was called by the potential buyer who told me she was interested in buying a condo in the Sarasota area. She was a business woman from England was looking to buy and either sell or rent properties here in Southwest Florida. She had a specific one in mind because the price was low, really low compared to other units in the complex. The bank hadn’t really said why the price was so low other than that it needed a lot of work. I believe the term “fixer upper” had been used, but don’t quote me on that.
She and her business partner met me at the property not really knowing what we were going to see. The outside looked fine, none of the wood was swelling around the windows or doors. The doors and windows themselves also looked to be good condition. After a few phone calls to the bank’s representative we had the code to the box on the front door. Upon entering the condo it became apparent that there had been a plumbing leak somewhere, for a long time. The walls were literally crawling with plant matter of all kinds. I think I even remember seeing a few wild mushrooms growing out of the carpet. There was furry stuff growing as far as 2 inches out of the drywall. I didn’t want to take another breath without protection; luckily I carry a box of N-95 masks in the truck at all times.
After fitting my counterparts with masks we went back in. It became apparent that there had been a flood upstairs and because nobody lived downstairs nothing was ever done. It was mold, enough mold types that it probably should have been studied by a scientist. It was like stepping into a giant culture dish, it was beautiful and nasty at the same time. Reds, Greens, Blues, Yellows, all mixed in with brown and black to form what looked like an art project gone wrong.
Can we get rid of this she asked? We can, but there isn’t going to be much left afterword’s I told her. All of the walls, carpeting, counters, vanities, doors, and trim would have to be thrown away and replaced. You are basically buying a shell I told her, what you do with it is up to how much you want to spend. She seemed happy with the prospect of starting with a fresh canvas. She was going to submit a bid and see what happened. “After everything is said and done I can still make 10 or 20 thousand on the resale”. I guess she wasn’t the only one with the same plan. She called me 2 weeks later to say someone had submitted a bid that was 15 thousand more than hers. While I was disappointed that we wouldn’t be doing the job, I was happy that the problem was going to be fixed. I was more worried about the neighbors who may have had adverse health issues due to being in close proximity of that much mold.