So You Think You've Seen Mold?

So You Think You’ve Seen Mold?

In all my years as a home builder, and more importantly as a renovation specialist, I thought I had seen bad cases of mold.  Note to self - "think again."  This past Saturday I was doing an inspection for a young couple who were ready to move forward on the offer they had made, pending my completed inspection.

The couple had been to the home several times with their friends, their family, his parents, her parents, etc, etc, etc and thought they had covered and seen everything the house had to offer.  Boy were they surprised within a minute or so into the attic portion of my inspection (which they, their friends, their family, etc had inspected on several occasions).

I pulled down the staircase and up I went, followed by the husband (a great guy by the way).  The wife and realtor (also great people) stayed at the bottom of the stairs talking about color patterns and knocking down walls (the husband and I were chuckling and discretely smiling at each other knowing he would be the one stuck doing the heavy work when it came time to do the reno).

As I approached the top of the stairs to the attic I immediately noticed a hanging Glade air freshener directly in front of me.  I turned on the light, got out my high-powered flashlight and climbed into the attic.  As I looked around with flashlight in hand I noticed several other air fresheners spaced every 10 feet or so encompassing the perimeter of the attic.  "Are the home-owners neat freaks" or "Houston we have a problem" were the two thoughts in my head.

So if you go to our website (www.myhomeinspector.biz) and view the pictures toward the end of the photo gallery don't think you're seeing things – because you’re not!

NO, that's not some new designer colored plywood you’re looking at, and NO, roofing nails are not suppose to have water droplets forming on their tips.  "Houston we have a problem"

As usual, there is a happy ending to the story when the problem was handled correctly.  The buyers are ecstatic the problem was discovered (the best $445 they ever spent I think was the quote) and they are going to receive a sizeable credit to replace the roof system.  A true Win-Win-Win.