Hello! How common is extensive mold in relatively newly built houses? This concerns a 1.5-story house, slab on grade, built in 2010 - a so-called "energy house". Does anyone have experience with mold remediation on a large scale?
Does it have anything to do with the "environment/energy" classification - like thick walls - that impairs the ability for moisture to escape? And if so, is this a known issue?
Does it have anything to do with the "environment/energy" classification - like thick walls - that impairs the ability for moisture to escape? And if so, is this a known issue?
Moisture should exit via exhaust ducts, exhaust fans, or similar means. Properly adjusted ventilation is very important in airtight houses.
I would say it's uncommon. At least to the extent that remediation would be necessary.H Husdrömmerska said:
If the ventilation is faulty, for example, mold can occur in any house, but it takes quite a bit to get to that point because a modern house is heated and ventilated. More issues in older houses with more condensation problems, meaning there are air leaks and thermal bridges and other issues that contribute to moisture problems so that mold thrives in areas that are not visible or accessible.
Then there are houses where they've allowed it to rain in or they've sealed walls with moisture during construction... You're giving too little information for me to get any idea of what problem you really have. 🫣
That it's an energy house doesn't really impact this, I would say. If you manage it according to the property owner's responsibilities under the Planning and Building Act (PBL), you won't end up in a mold-damaged house.
Hello everyone and thanks for the input!
We are in the early stages of a potential house purchase – a house from 2010 in an area where properties rarely come on the market, and we have been searching for almost two years.
We have not yet received the inspection report or moisture study, so we don't know the extent. What we've been told is that it may be related to the ventilation, which in turn has led to some form of mold problem that needs to be addressed and remediated. The house will be sold at a price lower than market value because of this. We have friends in construction who "backed away" from what little we described 🤔🤣
I became curious about how such a modern and "environmentally certified" house can have this type of problem – if it's something that can indeed happen in tighter houses if the ventilation does not function optimally, or if it more often points to some other underlying issue. Tearing down the entire house and rebuilding would, of course, be incredibly expensive 😅
We are in the early stages of a potential house purchase – a house from 2010 in an area where properties rarely come on the market, and we have been searching for almost two years.
We have not yet received the inspection report or moisture study, so we don't know the extent. What we've been told is that it may be related to the ventilation, which in turn has led to some form of mold problem that needs to be addressed and remediated. The house will be sold at a price lower than market value because of this. We have friends in construction who "backed away" from what little we described 🤔🤣
I became curious about how such a modern and "environmentally certified" house can have this type of problem – if it's something that can indeed happen in tighter houses if the ventilation does not function optimally, or if it more often points to some other underlying issue. Tearing down the entire house and rebuilding would, of course, be incredibly expensive 😅
Yes, new tightly sealed houses can encounter these issues if the moisture doesn't have anywhere to go and the ventilation is inadequate. Whether the house is worth buying depends entirely on what is damaged and the extent. The important thing for you, if you choose to proceed, is to conduct your own thorough inspection that also determines the cause of the problem. Mold isn't always necessarily severe depending on where it is located and how extensive the damage is.
Thanks for the previous response! The investigation is done (haven't gotten access to the protocol yet - not our house as mentioned) and it seems to have been a construction error from the start where moisture was trapped! All the walls on the lower floor need to be torn down and rebuilt. So the quote for remediation and restoration is between 1-1.3 million according to the construction company. Does anyone have experience with similar jobs? Could it take up to 6 months to get it done? Wishful thinking is, of course, quicker 😅
Dream house otherwise but it's a bit daunting. However, it's well-priced so it could be a good investment. Nightmare if the moisture has spread to other areas despite the investigation and inspection!
Dream house otherwise but it's a bit daunting. However, it's well-priced so it could be a good investment. Nightmare if the moisture has spread to other areas despite the investigation and inspection!
I would probably be very skeptical about such a house. Even if they now fix what they believe is the problem, you can expect it to be done as simply and cheaply as possible. If you buy the house and it's now known that there is a moisture problem, you won't be able to hold the seller accountable for hidden defects if the mold returns in a year or so.
The age 2010 makes me think of single-stage sealed facades? There might be similar variants of construction shortcuts that are due to other but similar reasons. An enormous number of houses with single-stage sealed facades were built before the bubble burst. Myresjöhus won against house buyers in the court of appeal with the argument that "all the houses we built during that period have this feature, so it's not a defect, all our houses mold, it's a feature, not a flaw." But then they lost in the Supreme Court. For me, it's incomprehensible how anyone can want to buy a house from a company that says mold is a normal feature in everything they build.
And that the house is sold cheaper is no comfort if it turns out to continue to mold.
Fixing mold problems can often work with moderate to mid-high costs, maybe 0.5 to 1 million. But it can also become much more expensive.
The age 2010 makes me think of single-stage sealed facades? There might be similar variants of construction shortcuts that are due to other but similar reasons. An enormous number of houses with single-stage sealed facades were built before the bubble burst. Myresjöhus won against house buyers in the court of appeal with the argument that "all the houses we built during that period have this feature, so it's not a defect, all our houses mold, it's a feature, not a flaw." But then they lost in the Supreme Court. For me, it's incomprehensible how anyone can want to buy a house from a company that says mold is a normal feature in everything they build.
And that the house is sold cheaper is no comfort if it turns out to continue to mold.
Fixing mold problems can often work with moderate to mid-high costs, maybe 0.5 to 1 million. But it can also become much more expensive.
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H hempularen said:
Thank you, I really appreciate the input. This is exactly the kind of things I'm trying to understand before we make any decisions.H hempularen said:
We won't buy anything without proper investigation and independent inspection regarding the cause of the moisture/mold. The positive thing is that the problem is at least known now and not discovered after the purchase. But I agree that it also involves a risk going forward, especially if the root cause is not completely resolved (naive to think that the company/craftsmen you pay to fix the problem will actually do it? 🤣). Looking for similar stories that one can take part in, for example in this forum, but haven't found anything.
According to the realtor, it doesn't seem to be a single-stage sealed facade, but that is definitely something we should double-check with the inspector! The house is "custom-designed", very fine details - so really sad that the house was not built properly. And Myresjöhus sounds like tricksters if mold is something you have to expect in their houses 🤪
If it is a "construction error" that one has been too quick to close up, then it is bad in the sense that one may have taken more shortcuts. The biggest source of moisture in newer houses is the concrete slab, which always takes time to dry out. If the drying time has been skimped on, then all floors may also be bad.