Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Moldy Basement

Just bought a house, I think we have a huge problem here, it has been raining here for about a week. I go down stairs tonight and the whole north wall in the basement is damp and the carpet is wet. I pulled back the carpet and see this blackish green mold, I pull off some drywall and I see tons more an also white stringy stuff. Some questions, do I have a legal right to sue the seller/realtor? Will my insurance compant pay for any of this? And how do I get rid of it and fix the foundation problem.
Thanks alot to anyone that has input.

Chances are almost 100% the insurance company won't do anything, unless Canada has a law requiring them to.

Did you have a home inspection prior to purchase?

The liability of the prior owner is directly related to the disclosure laws in your province. In the U.S., some states require the owner to disclose defects, others do not. Usually, if disclosure is required, you have to prove they knew about it. If not, you have to prove they misrepresented the house by saying it didn't leak AND they knew it did.

As far as fixing it, get a structural engineer in there to see what the problem is, and (s)he would tell you what is needed from there.

No insurance will cover it, you're screwed on that front.

Look in the yellow pages for local contractors, get (lots of) quotes and then ask for recommendations.

Call Mike Holmes

im pretty sure every state requires full disclosure on every piece of property. They beat it into our heads in the class i took here in NY. Considering potential problems that could be hidden, i don't see how anyone wouldn't require disclosure of problems like this.


However, in terms of you going after the realtors...it's probably not worth your time/money. Get a de-humidifier and some of that concrete sealant stuff and paint the walls with it. There's probably a crack somewhere letting the water in. The blackness on the rug is probably just mildew...not a big deal. Just take care of the problem now before it leads to worse things.

I don't know about Ontario, but in Quebec we have a law that allows the buyer to sue the previous owner for "vice cach�©" (latent defect?). But you have to prove that it was really an unknown condition of the house, undetectable by a normal inspection of the house prior to the conclusion of the sale. In short, if the previous owner told you there was a "little water infiltration" in the basement, or hinted that there may be something fishy in that area, you're on your own. You insurance company will not be of help, but I could be wrong, check with your broker.

That's why I called in a professional building inspector (member of AIBQ) before we bought our current home, and did the same with the previous one - the contracts we had with the previous owners were conditional to the results of the inspections.

If the inspector didn't see it, then you may have a case, but if you bought the house without having a certified inspector go through it before, it will be harder to prove your point in court.

To get rid of it... mold is a serious issue, a very serious issue. Depending on the extent of it, you may want to call in the pros. In any case, if you stay in your home with the mold spreading, you will get sick - trust me, I see this regularly. If you want to tackle it yourself, make sure you have proper protection, and disinfect everything thouroughly (sp?)). Get rid of everything that's moldy or damaged by the water, and get that basement leak fixed! You may be able to do it yourself with epoxy injection from inside, but in most cases you have to dig out the exterior basement wall, and have it fixed from outside.

Good luck!

Yeah, don't play around with mold. Certain kinds can make you VERY sick. I think the best way to fix a leak like this is from the outside, but some inside sealant might get you through the winter.

Definitely have some contractors look at it, especially if you can't find the leak your self.

I don't know anything about the insurance/ legal side of it. Sorry.

Good luck ! ! !

For prevention, there are a few things you can try. Paint the basement wall and floor with a sealant. Then most important of all, make sure you have positive drainage away from your exterior walls. Probably a landscaper can landscape your grounds such that the rain water always flows away from the house exterior walls. In addition, make sure gutters are cleaned maybe three or four times a year. Also go to a hardware store and buy an extension for the downpspout so that the out flow is further away from the wall. These few things will probably run you about $500 or so. (I did all except the sealant for my basement leak. My former neighbor did the sealant thing for his basement because he noticed a crack in his unfinished basement).

If you call a contractor, they will probably suggest putting in a sump pump and interior drain (probably cost $5000 or so and will not be as effective as the above suggestions).

Good luck.

Pesonally, I think the whole hysteria about mold is a bunch of BS. While it is annoying and can be destructive, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

What you should do is get rid of the carpet and drywall. These are almost ALWAYS a bad idea in a belwo gound level basement. Landscaping and grading outside and adding gutters should help a lot. Having operable basement windows and using fans on low humidity days is also helpful.

Personally, I think sealing the inside walls and floors of your basement is not a good idea, because you will end of trapping moisture inside the walls and floors. I think it would be better if they could breathe.

As far as your legal recourse, talk to the lawyer who handled your closing. You might have recourse against the person or company who performed your inspection. He should have alerted you to this problem.