Tag Archives: Moisture

With unpredictable weather comes unpredictable water damage. Homebuyers should be vigilant about finding moisture hotbeds.

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Weather is unpredictable, regardless of the nightly forecasts. We checked the 2012 issue of Farmers’ Almanac as backup and, for the Midwest, predictions are average temperatures (whatever that is) and wetter than normal. Looks like our friends in the Northeast are going to take a pounding again this year.

For potential homebuyers, weather can play a big part in the home’s saleability. We’re talking about leaks, drips, mold and structural damage that happen because of weather. Smart home sellers have done a pre-sale inspection with a qualified inspector to address any of these issues. Still, buyers should watch for any signs of moisture.

As you tour the home, look for these moisture alerts:

  • Look up and in front of you. Windows and skylights are prime places for water and air leaks. Houselogic.com suggests shaking the windows a bit. If they rattle, the frames aren’t secure and you’ve got a leak there. As for skylights, if you can see through the frame and brown spots are present, this is a sure sign of a leak. Most likely, water has collected on the drywall, which can lead to rot and mold.
  • Doors are another area prone to leaks. Is the weather stripping around the door adequate to keep out drafts and moisture? Are the hinges secure, balancing the door correctly? Can you see daylight through cracks around the door? If so, more work needs to be done here.
  • Check corners in the rooms. Are there stains, do the floorboards creak, has the woodwork pulled away from the wall? If so, there may be problems behind the walls, most likely caused by water leaks.
  • Your inspector will go up on the roof while you stay put on the ground. He’ll let you know about missing shingles, chimney leaks, loose flashing and droopy gutters.
  • In the basement, check the walls, especially in older homes, for moist stone and water pooled in the corners. Also, look at the floor for staining, cracks and protrusions, indicating a water issue is somewhere under the home.

As a buyer, pay careful attention to areas that may be hotbeds for water damage. It doesn’t have to be a deal breaker, but you do want to be vigilant to head off any unwanted surprises.

A journey to the past reveals more than we want to see–mold!

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An urge to connect with the past led us to the back of the closet and stacks of boxes with family pictures. Anticipation mounted as we opened the boxes to see how we looked growing up. But, what we saw was…mold!

Yes, mold deserves an exclamation point, especially if your home is on the market and buyers are looking in every nook and cranny. Not only does mold complicate your home sale, it also affects your health and can be very costly to remove.

The first line of defense is to prevent mold before it takes hold. Mold needs several conditions to flourish–food, moisture, the right temperature, stagnant air and time. During this spring’s storms, some moisture must have dripped into the closet and settled on the family pictures. Add stagnant air, then high temperatures, and we grew mold.

Here are some preventative measures to ensure your home is mold free.

• Be aware of your home’s humidity. The more humid it is, the more opportunity for mold to grow. Because Missouri is very humid during the summer, it’s important to keep the air conditioning at about 78 degrees. Much higher than that temperature and the humidity goes up. Setting the thermostat very low makes for colder surfaces and condensation.
• Clutter contributes to mold. All that stuff blocks airflow, reducing your AC’s ability to dehumidify and creating a stagnant atmosphere. One of our goals in the closet project was to de-clutter, review all sorts of stuff way in the back and get rid of what we didn’t want. Now, we have not only de-cluttered, but are also facing mold removal.
• Check areas that are moisture magnets. Wipe up water in the bathroom and routinely re-caulk around the bathtub. Keep an eye out for moisture in the laundry area and other parts of the basement. Look up at the basement ceiling as well as down at the floor.
If you do find mold, should you go for a do-it-yourself removal project or call the experts? For very small areas, you could remove the mold using a solution of dishwashing soap and water, but because disturbed mold spores become airborne very quickly, you’ll still have to suit up, wear goggles and long gloves.

Our best advice is to leave mold removal to the pros. Not only do they have special equipment to deal with the situation and discard the materials so that spores do not escape, they can also determine what may be behind the walls that you can’t see.