Owner of new home battling 200 thousand dollar mold problem

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Owner of new home battling 200 thousand dollar mold problem

calgary.ctv.ca

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POSTED AT 4:14 PM Monday, October 23

A Calgary man who has a serious mold problem in his three-year-old

house is taking matters into his own hands.

Hnatiuk says talks with his builder went nowhere so he hired

another company to tear down and rebuild much of his new home.

Now that he's removed the stucco, contractor Murray says he's

pulling a lot of moldy wood off Hnatiuk home.

Murray says the moisture content is at 32 per cent in some spots.

Industry standards dictate a 6 to 8 per cent maximum.

Assured Custom Homes built the home for just three years ago.

Hnatiuk says he first discovered mold growing inside his walls when

he started developing his basement last year.

An air quality test by the Calgary Health Region found hazardous

levels of several toxic molds.

Hnatiuk was already going to arbitration with his builder through

the Alberta New Home Warranty Program over a faulty retaining wall,

and he tried to address his mold problem there as well.

But Hnatiuk says that proved difficult since he didn't list mold as

a defect on his " one year home deficiency report. "

If you don't happen to find it in your first year and it's not on

your one year report then Hnatiuk says, " too bad, you're up to

asking your builder to come back and do it or else you go through

the legal system. "

Hnatiuk says negotiations with the builder on his mold problem

stalled so he decided to fix it himself.

He hired a mold remediation company called The Mold Squad.

Then he filed a lawsuit against Assured to recover what will be at

least a 200-thousand dollar bill for cleaning up the mold and fixing

the house.

" Our safety is in jeopardy, our health, you can't keep going on and

on and on, you have to say enough is enough, get it done, fight

about it later, " said Hnatiuk.

Contractor Murray says construction mistakes he's found that

allowed mold to grow in Hnatiuk house include; stucco applied too

thin to keep water out, Holes in several nailing fins, missing and

poorly applied tar paper, gaps left between the foundation and the

frame, poorly installed interior vapour barriers, and no window

flashing around several windows.

CTV's Lea -Doherty asked Assured's general manager about the

problems with Hnatiuk's home and was told that the company hasn't

been given the chance to assess them.

Jim Kuz Assured Custom Homes G.M. and V.P. said, " Some of the

conditions that the home owner placed on our attendance to do the

examination to find out exactly what the issues were, were

unreasonable. "

Kuz says eventually they were allowed into the house, but shortly

after Hnatiuk asked them to leave.

" …we haven't been given the opportunity to do a full investigation

with respect to the issues that you've listed, " said Jim Kuz.

Now it appears this may be a fight that only a judge can settle.

On Tuesday Lea rides to more job sites with The Mold Squad to see

why it says there's a mold epidemic in new Calgary homes.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/24/2006 4:33:53 PM Central Standard Time,

tigerpaw2c@... writes:

Contractor Murray says construction mistakes he's found that

allowed mold to grow in Hnatiuk house include; stucco applied too

thin to keep water out, Holes in several nailing fins, missing and

poorly applied tar paper, gaps left between the foundation and the

frame, poorly installed interior vapour barriers, and no window

flashing around several windows.

What are interior vapour barriers? Also has anyone heard of openings left

in new buildings " to let the toxins out " ?