About a week ago I got a call from a buyer of a property in Oakland, CA, who told me that he's purchasing a bank-owned property and is in escrow but he found out that the water supply line connecter to the water heater suddenly failed and that there is water "everywhere" and that it happened almost two weeks ago!
The buyer's agent is telling him not to worry about it but he asked me to take a look. I went to the property and took moisture readings and wow, the drywall was saturated as well as under the kitchen cabinets and the place was beginning to smell that familiar smell of mold beginning to grow.
The buyer's agent was still telling me it's not really a big deal but I had to let her know that it really is a big deal. If the area had been professionally dried out right away, there would have been no chance for mold growth and there would be no need to remove any drywall. But as it stands now with drywall saturated for almost two weeks, I told the buyer's agent that the drywall now has to be removed, any mold growth cleaned from inside the walls, and the cabinets will now likely have to be removed because the drywall in back of back of the cabinets has been saturated for almost two weeks.
So now the property just sits with mold starting to grow while the buyer is thinking about backing out on the deal altogther! Well, the buyer's agent knew of the water damage and tried to convince the buyer not to worry about it...and if it were taken care of right away there would be nothing to worry about but now it's too late and she's probably lost the sale completely.
Depending on the conditions, mold can start to grow in just 48-72 hours so it's important to get the property dried out as soon as possible to avoid further damage. Bring in a professional right away to assess the situation and save a lot of headaches. In Oakland, CA, or anywhere in the SF East Bay, call me at 925-254-1109 or look me up on the web at www.envirocpr.com and I will send someone out usually for free to provide a professional opinion.
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