House Flipping Issues: Mold and Water Damage

House flipping is an alluring business venture for almost anyone interested in making a lot of money in a short period of time, but it is not typically as easy as the home decorating shows make it out to be. While they do tend to show most of the problems that can arise while you are renovating a home for sale, what they do not do is put you and your money in the situation. It takes a lot of patience and resourcefulness and if you do not have at least both of these things, you will not succeed in this endeavor.

One of the biggest problems that can surface when you are renovating a home for resale is the presence of mold. Mold growing inside a home can be a huge problem to deal with financially and can completely ruin your budget and possibly the entire project. Before you purchase a property for any reason, you should have it tested for mold growth. As long as you do this and the house comes up clean, you should have no problem with mold growth.

Even if you have already purchased the home and find mold in it, all is not lost. Most of the time removing the affected building materials that have mold on them will fix the problem, but you need to make sure that the mold is dead to be certain. If the mold is dead and there is not a moisture problem in the home, you should be fine. You will run into more problems, however, if you discover that there is a water leakage problem in the home. Any water leaks in the house can lead to mold growth and water damaged materials need to be removed as soon as possible. Look for signs of water damage wherever the mold growth appeared to see if anything needs to be replaced. This is especially true in bathrooms, even if no mold was found there. Floors that have cracked tile in them need to be checked for signs of rotting, so you are certain that you are not installing a new tile floor only to have it collapse later on. The structural integrity of the floors is extremely important for a good flip, because if the brand new toilet, tub, sink, and vanity all fall through the floor later on, you will definitely have some explaining to do to your buyer.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.