Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 2Aug 21, 2018 1:55 pm Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 5Aug 22, 2018 9:17 am Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 9Aug 23, 2018 7:05 am Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 12Aug 23, 2018 10:39 am I can verify that Frewvk's post is 100% true and accurate as I have been dealing with her for over 2 years during this disaster, demolition and rebuild. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 13Aug 23, 2018 5:48 pm Frewvk Hi Theresadang This looks like it's time for BIG investigations. Thousands of dollars worth and insurance enquiries to make sure your home is insurable down the track. PLEASE ensure you also take SERIOUS legal steps at this point too. (Yes I know I just internet shouted. I really don't want you stuck paying off a house that is only fit for demolition) Faulty waterproofing nearly bankrupted us and left me with permanent lung damage. Water damage in a big storm in January 2016 led to prolonged dampness and mould damage to an interior wall of our previous home. The mould ate the insulation and the gyprock so that all that was left was the layers of paint. It had started in on the frame and it also had started eating my lungs. I became dangerously ill. My lung specialist taught the kids aged 6 and 3 and a half how to "call an ambulance when mummy is not breathing". Pretty traumatic for us all. It was a tremendous effort to get insurance cooperation or any payout beyond the carpet cleaner and dehumidifier. Sorry its already such a long story but several building inspectors and 2 mould experts and my new lung specialist and 5 types of medication meant we demolished the house. Our total insurance payout was $8500 - five hundred bucks less than the $9000 the demolition guys charged. This left us in a position of an existing mortgage and no house. Please understand we DID NOT MAKE THIS BANK-BREAKING CHOICE EASILY. We were fortunate to be able to access more finance to rebuild anything at all but we HAD to make significant compromises. The extension was 20 years old and the slight flaw in balcony waterproofing detected by the specialist Leak Assessors meant insurance law said all the company had to compensate was the cost of plaster and wall. The STRUCTURAL damage repairs including removing the back wall and balcony and 3 supporting walls for upstairs was on us. Even though the leak assessor report said the balcony leak could only have contributed 20% of the water that entered in the storm - the balcony wasn't to code and wasn't 100% water tight so going forward the house was not insurable for any further water damage. omg that's terrible! I hope all is well now and you have your health back. Very sorry to hear this happened to you and thank you for the advice. Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 14Aug 23, 2018 6:06 pm building-expert Thank you Small Minds, in my posts I try to be informative and or instructive and the message is always the same: be careful, ask questions, do your homework do the due diligence, forget blind trust, look beyond reputation and public image to satisfy yourself as far as possible as to the qualifications and experience, then make informed decision. I don't know Dr. Cameron Jones and have only come across one of his reports(which was excellent about mould) but gave no hint of his building expertise hence instruction to OP to ask the questions. It is for OP to satisfy himself, not me. Interestingly you have revealed yourself to be a qualified building expert with VCAT experience, this forum can only be much richer for your presence but your gravity could be greater if you were not to stand behind avatar. As for running for the hills? It's probably a good advice although premature perhaps. There is a whole lot of reasons why people acquire property and I would not throw them away without waiting for the diagnosis. The mould fix could yet turn out to be an easy one. Building Expert, I sit behind an Avatar as you so rightly call it to ensure my non bias opinion. I do not wish to tout for work as we are currently servicing at our limit. Just occasionally I see something on this forum that interest me. Mould is one of them. I have had considerable success with Dr Cameron Jones on several matters. We have collectively held Insurance companies and builders to account for poor building or rectification practises. At the end of the day all experts need to assist those that do not operate in our selected field. By the way if you have worked out who it is, give me a call. We have butted heads! Small Minds Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 15Aug 23, 2018 6:10 pm Hi Guys, Thank you all for the advice. Just a quick update. We had an expert look at the house today. So verdict was that the house was structurally sound minus a few compliance issues that can be fixed and some cosmetic flaws and lazy workmanship by some tradies, and some general fix ups here and there. Regarding the mould damage, which is the biggest issue, we found out that there is a leak within the walls - as there has not been any rain recently, water couldn't have been coming from outside - it is assumed that it is coming from a leaking pipe or plumbing issue since there is a bathroom directly above the area that is damaged. A water/moisture detector was used along the walls downstairs and upstairs. I definitely have to get one of those, very useful! It looks like the water damage has come up to about 80cm -1m up the wall from the floor and after careful inspecting the area that is affected, you can see the skirting starting to separate because of the wood expanding, some minor bubbling of paint and a few other small patches of mould. The area seems to be limited to a whole section of wall that looks like its directly under the upstairs bathroom. So the Builder/Inspector has advised that to fix the problem, they obviously need to find the leak and fix it. Hopefully if it's from a pipe/plumbing from upstairs bathroom then thats an easy fix. He also advised to get a certificate from the plumber to say that they found the leak and it was fixed. I'm assuming they will need to take apart the walls and room directly under the bathroom to reach the piping etc. Not a bad thing because I want the walls and skirtings that are damaged all replaced, however, if this is not the case then I am worried that even though they fix the leak they might just do a cosmetic repair to the damaged walls and leave it as is. I am of 2 minds regarding this property. Our cooling off period ends tomorrow but I have asked the agent to extend it so that I have time to decide what I want to do. We have been looking for a place to live in for over 7 months now and this looked like it was perfect for us. Unfortunately we have become emotionally attached to the house. Despite what the inspector says I just want some more advice on this issue. Is this a deal breaker or can this be fixed? We have gone through 2 builders/ inspectors now and I just don't want to waste any more money on another inspection if it is going to be the same analysis. Thanks again all for the great advice. Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 16Aug 23, 2018 7:04 pm This is what I meant by "a whole lot of reasons" why you don't just yet run for the hills. If you have paid for 2 inspections and are still asking questions then obviously you got wrong guys because they have not given you the comfort and confidence of their findings and recommendations.You are still assuming and are unsure of their recommendations. Did they use thermal imaging camera to try and track the origin of the leak? If not why not? Just to spell it out for you. You don't need anyone to tell you you have mould and that the cause is the leak, you can see that yourself. The art of inspection is to find where it is coming from and why and for that you need knowledge+tools+ experience Then there is the art of knowing the consequences and what to do about it, for that you need extensive experience BTW what are the qualifications of the inspectors you used? Did you ask? Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 17Aug 23, 2018 8:00 pm building-expert This is what I meant by "a whole lot of reasons" why you don't just yet run for the hills. If you have paid for 2 inspections and are still asking questions then obviously you got wrong guys because they have not given you the comfort and confidence of their findings and recommendations.You are still assuming and are unsure of their recommendations. Did they use thermal imaging camera to try and track the origin of the leak? If not why not? Just to spell it out for you. You don't need anyone to tell you you have mould and that the cause is the leak, you can see that yourself. The art of inspection is to find where it is coming from and why and for that you need knowledge+tools+ experience Then there is the art of knowing the consequences and what to do about it, for that you need extensive experience BTW what are the qualifications of the inspectors you used? Did you ask? Hi Building Expert, Thanks for the reply. The first inspection was actually my friend who is a builder. So he went through the property with me and noted down all the defects. That's when we noticed the mould. He was not experienced enough to comment further regarding the mould, hence I went looking for more advice. The second inspection was done by a company called Sydney Pre-purchase. They are accredited building consultants and experienced licensed builders. To be honest, he was good. He went through everything with us and explained extensively regarding the mould and leak. Unfortunately I did not pay specifically for a thermal imaging service (did not realise I would actually need one - I thought they used them only for pest reports). From what the inspector told me, he seemed to think the defects were not as bad as I originally thought. My friend who did the first walk over with me seemed to think the build quality was not the best, however, he has high standards and is a perfectionist with his work, so might have been a little harsh. I did ask the inspector what he thought of the workmanship for the build and his reply was that some of the tradesmen were a little rough, however, he said that for builds such as this house, it was quiet normal and the quality and standard of build is pretty much what to expect. I haven't actually gone to the stage of inspecting any other duplexes to buy so would not know what to expect really so just took his word for it. That being said, I was advised that as long as the leak is located and fixed then it should be ok. In regards to having the walls removed and replaced, apparently that's up to me and negotiations with the vendor. Since this is the very first home I will be buying to live in, I'm just a little extra cautious, and just trying to get my head around the whole mould damage thing. Especially in a brand new property. I have heard terrible stories from friends etc about buying bad builds and going through extensive time and money to fix their house and dealing with insurance and builders. There are a lot of reason why I want to buy this house vs the mould issue. I'm not sure which outweighs which at the moment Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 18Aug 23, 2018 9:06 pm Be careful about the emotional attachment! It is important to think with your head. Houses can be costly if there is a problem that is yet to be fixed. I think the vendor or builder should pay for the inspections that have helped identify a cause/location they were not aware of or you should ask them to get thermal imaging or other plumbing tests as mentioned by other posters above to prove that it is now all OK. A piece of paper saying it’s fixed..... hmmmm Not sure what value it has except for them so they can sell you the property. I hope you got the extension. Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 19Aug 23, 2018 9:11 pm Gaudi Be careful about the emotional attachment! It is important to think with your head. Houses can be costly if there is a problem that is yet to be fixed. I think the vendor or builder should pay for the inspections that have helped identify a cause/location they were not aware of or you should ask them to get thermal imaging or other plumbing tests as mentioned by other posters above to prove that it is now all OK. A piece of paper saying it’s fixed..... hmmmm Not sure what value it has except for them so they can sell you the property. I hope you got the extension. Thanks Guadi, that's a good idea regarding getting them to pay for a thermal imaging test. Re: Mould Defects in New duplex I'm buying 20Aug 23, 2018 9:15 pm CBAS [ Theresadang can I suggest that whilst the plumber does a pressure test to check for a leaking pipe please have him also conduct a flood test to the wet area above (all of them isn’t a bad idea). It may be a failure to the water proof membrane within the shower enclosure. When flood testing he just has to make sure the water is from a tap outside of the wet area (shower). Good luck and I hope you find it’s an easy fix as I understand the emotional investment with property Thanks CBAS, will definitely request this if we end up buying the house and the vendor agrees to fix it...well he's gong to have to fix it regardless if he wants to sell to me or anyone else. This certainly doesn't look good. I would be engaging with an independent inspector to have a look at this. 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