[rfehr613]

My wife and I live in a renovated rowhome in Baltimore, and we began having water leaks shortly after buying the house. They started small on the ceiling of the 3rd (top) floor, and I fixed those with some roofing tape. But then after a really really rainy... year...a couple years back, we started getting some really bad drywall damage. It became apparent that it wasn't just the roof. The entire brick facade was leaking on the front of the house. It has caused extensive sheetrock damage throughout the house, primarily in the front. It's affected all floors, but the 3rd floor master bedroom is the worst. The entire wall is blistered and tape has delaminated.

We had the facade sealed maybe 2 years ago, and it seems to be working for now, but we're planning to sell the house and move out of state this year. I know there's basically no chance anyone will buy this house in it's current condition. But i really do not even know how to go about repairing this. This is not something I think i should tackle, given the risk of respiratory illness and my lack of experience with mold remediation. Who would i even contact for something like this? Any clue what kind of fee is charged for this type of work? I also need to have a building envelope or some kind of leak expert evaluate the entire house for potential leaks.

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[Old Thomas]

Did you see mold or do you suspect mold?

 

[rfehr613]

Did you see mold or do you suspect mold?

I've always heard that if drywall has sustained water damage, it will have mold. I haven't actually confirmed it though, no. It's quite a lot of damage.

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[Nealtw]

I've always heard that if drywall has sustained water damage, it will have mold. I haven't actually confirmed it though, no. It's quite a lot of damage.

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Brick will absorb water and it will leave out the back of the brick but there should be a drain plane there to transport it down to drain holes in the bottom row of bricks.

Wood walls and insulation can absorb water for a long time before it shows up so your problem is most likely a lot more than just wet drywall. How old is this house?

 

[rfehr613]

Brick will absorb water and it will leave out the back of the brick but there should be a drain plane there to transport it down to drain holes in the bottom row of bricks.

Wood walls and insulation can absorb water for a long time before it shows up so your problem is most likely a lot more than just wet drywall. How old is this house?

I strongly suspect someone botched the facade and/or roof job. House was built in 1920; however, it had a full gut rehab in 2006. The house was rehabbed by a local contractor for himself. I found out a few years ago that this contractor is actually my buddy's wife's uncle. He sold it after a few years, then the next homeowner sold it to my wife 5 years ago this August.

Every other aspect of the house is very well done - sound, level, true. Bathrooms are solid marble and floors heated. Fixtures are all Grohe. He didn't cheap out on anything. There really weren't any corners cut that i can see... except the facade. The brick facade appears to be from the 2006 rehab as well as it looks fairly new and it's not typical construction in this area. I assume the contractor subbed this work out and it just wasn't done right. A 10 year old facade shouldn't be leaking through to the inside, but as soon as we had it sealed the walls dried up and stayed dry. The sills also don't slope to drain, so there's black mold all around the outside of the windows, and they're perpetually wet/damp.

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[Nealtw]

I strongly suspect someone botched the facade and/or roof job. House was built in 1920; however, it had a full gut rehab in 2006. The house was rehabbed by a local contractor for himself. I found out a few years ago that this contractor is actually my buddy's wife's uncle. He sold it after a few years, then the next homeowner sold it to my wife 5 years ago this August.

Every other aspect of the house is very well done - sound, level, true. Bathrooms are solid marble and floors heated. Fixtures are all Grohe. He didn't cheap out on anything. There really weren't any corners cut that i can see... except the facade. The brick facade appears to be from the 2006 rehab as well as it looks fairly new and it's not typical construction in this area. I assume the contractor subbed this work out and it just wasn't done right. A 10 year old facade shouldn't be leaking through to the inside, but as soon as we had it sealed the walls dried up and stayed dry. The sills also don't slope to drain, so there's black mold all around the outside of the windows, and they're perpetually wet/damp.

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There should be companies that do mold removal but you could also have structure problems. If they botched the veneer job and it sound like they did, It may have to go.

 

[rfehr613]

There should be companies that do mold removal but you could also have structure problems. If they botched the veneer job and it sound like they did, It may have to go.

Jesus. There's no way we can afford a new facade on top of all the drywall work. What structure problems could i have?

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[Nealtw]

Jesus. There's no way we can afford a new facade on top of all the drywall work. What structure problems could i have?

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The wood in the wall has been wet for a lot longer than you have been seeing wet. If you are seeing mold, what you can't see will or can be a lot worse.

It might have been absorbing water for 14 years.

 

[rfehr613]

The wood in the wall has been wet for a lot longer than you have been seeing wet. If you are seeing mold, what you can't see will or can be a lot worse.

It might have been absorbing water for 14 years.

The entire house is spray insulated, so if that's the case i may just burn it down and chalk it up as a loss.

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[Nealtw]

The entire house is spray insulated, so if that's the case i may just burn it down and chalk it up as a loss.

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Sure but wet lumber is hard to light. :vs_cool:

 

[Katrin2020]

WATER for drywall is always bad, if mold inside, then only a replacement.