Moldy Manor

Motorcycle RN

Motorcycle RN

Pretty Vacant
Hi Barfers!
I live in a townhouse in Modesto. So one fine morning last fall I was awakened by the sound of running water where it oughtn't be. I ran to the garage where the water heater resides and found one of the flex pipes leading to the water heater had burst. I shut off the water and replaced both flex pipes. Mission accomplished! Not!
The sheet rock around the water heater and HVAC was covered with mold. Apparently the pipe had a slow leak for an undetermined period.
I put in an insurance claim on my homeowner's policy which was denied on the grounds that the high humidity conditions had existed for more that two weeks. Letters contesting the decision were denied. I contacted public adjusters in the area and they seemed uninterested. The local bar assn doesn't return my calls. :wtf
A rep from a mold remediation company determined that the sheet rock around the water heater/ HVAC unit as well as my kitchen needs to come out. This includes most of the kitchen cabinets. Ah, the joy of homeownership!
People have told me to tear into it myself but I think it's way outside my scope of practice. I've bleached the visible moldy areas several times which seems to have stopped any further spread.
Anyone ever been in a similar situation? How did you solve it?
Thanks!
Scott
 
L

LongGoneJohn

Gone
Leave your faucet on and flood the floor of the kitchen, then call insurance and advise them they get to fix the whole damn thing now.

Hahah, im kidding obviously you could go to prison over that -- but this is exactly why people hate insurance companies.

Removing your cabinets won't be all that hard, but you may want a second opinion on what it takes to actually kill the mold. YOu may not need to do all that extensive of work.

I had a similar issue near a window and I was able to sufficiently clean it wihtout having to rip out a whole wall.
 
gixxerjeff

gixxerjeff

Dogs best friend
If the rock boards got wet you need to cut them out of there. Not sure about your DIY abilities but it's really one of the more forgiving projects your house is gonna throw at you.
 
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S

Schnellbandit

I see 4 lights!
Sounds like what happened to me. Water leaked for some time very slowly behind the heater so it wasn't noticeable. What didn't help was the lack of a drip pan. Insurance-same thing because it was a slow leak and not catastrophic. There is a reason some people who don't smoke keep matches in their homes.:laughing

Beware of adding stuff in, you know, the while you're in there doing this, might as well do that too.

I ended up being able to clean up as the mold grew in the T&G subfloor only and it was cleanable.

Then I built a water heater room outside and put the new water heater in there. It can leak all it wants but at least it won't go into the walls. I also put a water alarm under the heater so that even a small leak will be noticed. Peace of mind. I build the heater cabinet myself but had a plumber install the heater because of older galvanized pipes and replaced them with copper. I'll never have another water heater where it can leak and damage the house. If you have the room, have a cabinet built outside and put the new in that. You can insulate it just fine. The cost shouldn't be that much for a plumber to do the pipes.

That slow leak disclaimer stuff is pure crap, mold can start very quickly and some people do take vacations of more than a few days. How are you supposed to know about a leak if you take off for a month? I was told, shut off all the water to your home. BS, if you have someone house sit they are supposed to run around checking the water heater for leaks?
 
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littlebeast

littlebeast

get it while it's easy
late last year i went to north carolina to volunteer for hurricane florence clean-up. we did a shit-ton of black mold remediation. we only removed structural elements (sheetrock, floorboards, etc) that were structurally unsound. the rest we treated with moldicide. it involved scrubbing the surface with a brush to raise the porosity, and then spraying with the moldicide (wearing protective gear, especially including respiratory protection as inhaling mold spores is very dangerous to human health). based on my experience with it, it is something easily DIY.
 
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Motorcycle RN

Motorcycle RN

Pretty Vacant
Thanks for the tips! I'd like to move the water heater outside but being my home's a townhouse there're space and HOA issues. Water alarm seems like a good ides.
 
auntiebling

auntiebling

megalomaniacal troglodyte
Staff member
Motorcycle RN said:
Thanks for the tips! I'd like to move the water heater outside but being my home's a townhouse there're space and HOA issues. Water alarm seems like a good ides.
Click to expand...

It's a reasonable guess that the heater itself might be due for replacement if the flex pipes have been there long enough to fail.

Start doing some legwork with the HOA about tankless replacements. There is some additional up front cost, and it's likely you don't have the gas or electrical required to feed it, but eliminating a rusting water tank is in yours AND the HOAs interest.

I had a small condo in a similar situation and would have had jussssssssst barely NOT enough amperage to install the smallest tankless so had to put a traditional electric one back in. The HOA was very receptive to the idea because the building were arranged such that my water heater was over someone else's garage,and there was another water heater above my place belonging to a neighbor.

Maintenance requirements are different, there are downsides etc but Google can help with that

A drip.pan is mandatory for traditional heaters, and be sure it has a hose hookup that you can get to. The aforementioned condo had a pan but it was on the floor of a carpeted closet. No access to the hole. So I put the replacement on a stand (home depot etc) with the drain fitting easily accessible. I hope the sucker that bought the place appreciates it!
 
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S

Sharxfan

Well-known member
I had a rental house here flood and because it was some crappy wood paneling instead of sheetrock I had to do a complete tear out but you can do what I did on a smaller scale.

tear out the sheet rock. Like previously said this is easy to do.

Once the sheetrock is out, spray the area liberally with a mold killer and let it dry. I didn't use bleach but found some stuff on Amazon. I will try to find the name of it. I did this multiple times.

Because I am anal I then bought mold killer primer and painted all my studs with it. This should kill any mold you missed from above and it should also help stop new mold from forming.

Once this was done I put up new sheetrock taped and puttied then painted. Good as new.
 
S

Schnellbandit

I see 4 lights!
Motorcycle RN said:
Thanks for the tips! I'd like to move the water heater outside but being my home's a townhouse there're space and HOA issues. Water alarm seems like a good ides.
Click to expand...

The alarms are pretty inexpensive and can save you from a lot of future grief. I put them in all areas where exposed plumbing exists like under sinks, where dish water connections are etc. They are coin battery operated mostly and you just check them once a year for function. Schedule it with your check of smoke/CO detectors and you're good to go.

By inexpensive I mean about $15 a pop. I wish I had them before the slow heater leak of death. $15 vs $1500.
 
M

motomania2007

TC/MSF/CMSP/ Instructor
HOA did you say?

If you live in a condo, you don't own the structure, the HOA owns the structure.

Send me a PM and we can talk.

BTW I am also VP of the Merced County Bar.

:)
 
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