Late one night, this house in Richmond suffered from a water leak in their boiler room. The temperature gauge attached to the heating loop burst, sending gallons of scalding hot water onto the floor and walls. Water soaked the laminate floor and drywall, and it continued to leak until a heating contractor came out and repaired the issue.
Luckily, no one was hurt, however the real problem began later…
The landlord was aware of the flood, however did not do anything about it. The water stayed in the floor material. Moisture became trapped below the flooring and saturated the slab and underlay. The baseboards deteriorated and rotted. And worst of all, mold began to grow.
When the tenants started to report health problems, we were called in to do a mold evaluation of the property. The occupants were experiencing issues, such as:
When we arrived on site, we probed the floor (or what was left of it) with a moisture meter. It was completely saturated, which was no surprise. However, the tenants told us that the leak had occurred five months before we arrived. It was still wet.
We performed an Indoor Air Quality Test in the property. An IAQ Test takes a sample of the indoor air, which we then process at a lab, and the client receives the lab report. This report describes quantity and type of mold spores in the air.
When we received the lab report, it noted extremely high levels of harmful mold – much higher than it should have been. This house was a safety hazard to the occupants, and the landlord agreed to perform a full mold remediation on the home.
An Indoor Air Quality test can help pinpoint mold and health-related problems in your home, and can be a powerful tool when dealing with landlords or other tough situations.
Author David Fairbairn is a certified, licensed home inspector serving Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. He has been featured in the media and has contributed to "24" Newspaper, and Global TV. He has spent years working with residential and commercial building projects, and holds a Power Engineering License in BC. Why not give him a call for your next Home Inspection? Call 604 395-2795 or email david@fairbairninspections.com today!