Question on black mold from people who have experienced it personally or a mold inspector advice?

Thinking of renting to own a house with a roof leak, my friend lives there now and is moving out, there was a small leak in the roof that they let go all winter long and here we are and its summer! I can now see the mold running down the wall, its in an outside wall on their porch/laundry room. I know its expensive to clean up like over 5,000 but how far do you think the mold has traveled since it started? I would buy the house if it was just that wall that needed ripped out and that section of the roof but i need advice, not even 100% sure its black mold but it is black and it is common for roof leaks. I am in love with this house and its in the perfect location....i just need some advice.Question on black mold from people who have experienced it personally or a mold inspector advice?
Without being in the house or doing sampling there is no way to determine how far the mold has grown, this is because the rate of growth is dependent on a number of factors such as amount of water, mold species, amount of food (drywall, studs, etc.), temperature, Relative Humidity. It could be as extensive as the whole house or as little as just a line down the wall where the leak is.





You could actually probably remove the mold for less than $5000 depending on the extent of the mold damage. However I would definitely have an environmental consultant that deals with or specializes in mold sampling come out and take some samples to determine the extent of the mold in the house. This should be done with air samples, core samples and tape lift if any is visible. This will give you a much better idea of how extensive the mold is in the house and of what type it is. This can run you between $500-2000 for the sampling, but it is money well spent if you love the house and want to buy it.





If you are a handy man and know how to fix the roof leak, and can deal with the drywall yourself then I would say that You could probably do the cleanup for less than $2000 depending on sampling costs and the extent of the mold infestation. If it's just the one room and wall possibly $500 for remediation and then sampling costs.





As far as selling the house with mold in it, it is absolutely legal to do that, however most people never buy a house with a known mold issue so the price is usually very very low and even then they rarely sell because the people feel that they have to level the house and start from scratch so they are just buying land.Question on black mold from people who have experienced it personally or a mold inspector advice?
I suggest hiring a mold inspector. I know of a couple of inspection companies out there. I used Partner Engineering and Science out of LA, CA, but they're nationwide, so they might be able to help you out. I think the guy who did the sampling for me was Brad, er... Bradley... something like that.
Call an inspector and have it inspected. Black mold is nothing to fool with. It's dangerous. Let an expert advise you.