Case Study: Mold Found in Home
Posted by George Salter on Thu, Oct 08, 2009 @ 09:09 AM
Enviro-Clean recieved a call from a homeowner who had discovered black mold growing and spreading throughout her house. Upon inspecting the home, Eric Anderson found
extensive mold growth throughout the kitchen and dining area, bathroom,
and the stairwell leading to the second floor. Upon further examination
he found black mold growing behind vinyl wallpaper in the
finished basement, as well as in the children's toy closet. It was
apparent that the mold had migrated from the basement area to other
parts of the house following primary traffic patterns.
In conversations 
with the homeowner Eric learned that there had been a
flood in the basement approximately 1 ½ to 2 years earlier. The
homeowner submitted a claim to her insurance carrier, and received a
$2,000 settlement. However, she opted to dry the wet area herself with
a wet vac rather than hire a professional cleaning company.
Eric suggested that the homeowner call her insurance carrier
regarding the mold problem, which she did. The insurance carrier
brought in an environmental engineer who, after inspecting the
premises, confirmed Enviro-Clean's findings.
Enviro-Clean was hired to remove the mold from the house which was
done successfully for a total cost of $32,455. Additionally, the
insurance company paid the homeowner's contractor $107,000 for
follow-up repairs. (This was prior to the insurance company limiting mold coverage to $10,000.)
The moral of the story? Proper and thorough drying at the time of
the flood would have saved the homeowner a great deal of anxiety and
inconvenience, and would have saved the insurance carrier almost
$140,000.