Leaky pipe and mold

Paul Mitchell_2

Hey guys
My in-laws rent a apartment temporarily while they are building a new house in NC. The apt is here in NJ. They had a pipe burst while they were away. The pipe was in the crawl.
Prior to them leaving, for about a month, They said the doors were getting hard to open etc and they smelled a slight strange odor. Possibly a slow leak at that time? They went away for two weeks, the pipe let loose while they were gone, a hot water pipe. They dont know how long it leaked but their floor was buckled, inside doors and walls sweating. The side apt to theirs and the above one showed signs of over humidification. Sweating etc on the windows. Alot of the insulation got soaked in the crawl.
For their sake. What is the proper procedure for dealing with this? They are concerned about mold etc. My take was that the insulation needs to be removed, area dried out and repaired and re-insulated. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Get a number of dehumidfiers in there pronto and ventilate as much as possible given the outside temperature. Remove and discard saturated fiberglass insulation immediately--it will never be the same.

jerry scharf_2

tell them to move

Paul,

I am quite serious. Mold at the levels you are speaking of will erode most people's imune systems, and the older the person is the faster that happens. If they were my parents, I would have them out of there by the end of the month. Costs and hassles of moving would be dwarfed by the costs and hassles of one of them becoming immune compromised.

Dehumifiers are for drying possessions, the rental needs mold remediation. Landlords are notoriously bad at paying to have this done right (not all, but many.)

In the meantime, get them enough HEPA filtration that you get at least a couple ACH (air changes per hour) for the whole place. It will be noisy, but it will keep the mold spore counts in check. I can talk to you about various types of filters, there are a couple that are not "true HEPA" but can still do the job for them.

jerry

Paul Mitchell_2

Thanks

There is no mold there....at least visible at this time. The complex ripped up the floor, took out all insulation, and are drying. I will fill them in on what you said. Moving at this point is not an option...yet. There is an odor in the apartment. Like a musty smell I did not smell or see anything yet. This is per my in-laws.

jerry scharf_2

hmmm

Paul,

The fact it is not visible means nothing. If they have to stay for now, I would make sure that the work odne by the landlord is being done under the supervision on a trained and certified mold abatement specialist. They will do testing now and until the unit is certified safe for inhabitation.

Like I said, moving would be a cost and a pain. I seriously doubt it's impossible, My wife is immune compromized from mold allergies. Trust me, it's way more of a pain and a cost than moving.

jerry