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What is happening to my house? Mold?

3K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  Telfair 
#1 ·
1've seen this out front & thought it was the sprinklers maybe, Yet I adjusted the sprinklers & they don't spray the wall..



& now I've noticed that its also happening inside my entry to my basement. :eek:


 

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#4 ·
Just a guess because I'm not there to see it.
But I'd bet if you dug down toward the footing your going to find the block was never sealed below grade so the waters wicking up the wall.
Notice it's all along the lower areas.
 
#8 ·
Ok so I'm finally gonna fix this, gonna try the muriatic acid 1st as the link suggest & then use this high quality stuff my new home handy man recommends over the bargin stuff I have in my shed & he says it should last at least 5 years but after this starts, the walls are basically infected & its hard to make it completely stop, but I suppose as he says the house will not fall down or anything with this...?

I forgot to show him the basement, but will have him fix that as well while he's working on the front.
& yes he plans to repair the side under the house as well.
 
#9 ·
if i were you & had no idea what was going on, i'd think about asking either a pro restoration specialist OR pe to comment,,, a ' new home handy man ' & a bunch of guys on the i-net would hardly be my final resource but its YOUR home,,, we don't even know IF you've accurately described the issue,,, but this is just my opinion,,, there's a cure for ignorance but stupid's often fatal :yes:

IF your cmu's are under acid attack, the house WILL fall down,,, doesn't it make sense if you remove anything supporting a load ( your house ), the load obeys the laws of gravity ? :huh: all houses fall down eventually,,, the questions should be ' when ? ' & ' how do i maintain what i have ? '

I suppose as he says the house will not fall down or anything with this...?

' I forgot to show him the basement, but will have him fix that as well while he's working on the front...& yes he plans to repair the side under the house as well. ' i'm not convinced that's the right course of action but, after all, it IS your home :whistling2:
 
#11 ·
anyone else want to take this 1 ? i'd suggest you invest some time reading previous threads on similar subjects - water in basement, leaking basements, sump pumps, etc.

' PE ' = professional engineer,,, as for the other question ( ' where do I find a pro-restoration specialist ? ' ), try googling waterproofing or waterproofing contractors - even in la i'm sure you'll fine at least a couple.

as for finding 1 who ' wont try to sell me his farm ', let's remember no one works for free - even you,,, ' free inspections ' are the trade's nickname for a sales pitch based on the inspector's ( salesman ) knowledge, training, & experience,,, IF you knew the problem & its solution, you could invite qualified contractors to bid on your work according to your specifications,,, you don't so why not take this opportunity to learn from those you call,,, you'll also find contacts on craig's & angie's list along w/qualified pro's listed on the national association of waterproofing & structural repair contractors website

the intent of this forum ( imo ) is to teach others HOW to fish, NOT feed them,,, good luck !
 
#13 ·
To be honest after calling 3 places I'm starting to think these are all just handy men?
One guy seems to only be wanting to do a free estimate via text pictures & now just replied saying to come look it over is $150 & then says $1,500.00 & he has not even come out to see it yet! WTF?!?!
 
#14 · (Edited)
some charge for "inspections" and extra for recommendations of what needs to be done. After all they are in business to make money and time is money. I give free "estimates" in my profession (written proposal for service) but I'm not going to tell you everything until you hire me.

call your doctor and ask him to fax over a prescription to your pharmacy because you have a sore throat. you'll typically have to pay ($$) his office a visit before you get the script

most contractors I know prefer to see first hand the site before providing any estimates or proposals. besides, how can you know what needs to be done until you figure out what's the problem.

patience, patience, patience, goes a long way ....... good luck!
 
#16 ·
Long term water intrusion. The units are probably at 1/2 to one quarter of their design strength, which means they are getting close to failure. Don't mess around with a PE, they are not qualified, for the most part, to work on restoration.

If the house is worth it, plan on spending a lot of money to both fix the problem and repair the damage.

This is not a DIY project, unless you are competent in house jacking, demolition and masonry, as well as waterproofing.


No scare, I am not saying the house will fall about your ears tomorrow, but it needs to be rectified.
 
#18 ·
Ok I had a water Damage guy come out today & he said this is not really what we do & looks like it may of been a bad repair job a while back where they did not allow the prep to fully dry while doing the finish up on it?

He used his moister meter & it did not seem have levels of moister in the damaged area any more than in a undamaged part of the walls & so I'm gonna climb under the house in the morning & look around & as this water damage guy said I'll probably be better off just repairing it properly as planned & see what happens...
Will probably be ok?

We'll see what happens after I climb under there & look for any moister.
 
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