Hello, I live in Canada and we had mold in the basement. We had the exterior of the house graded away from the house, and had a spray foam insulation company come by and spray foamed our basement walls. I have since finished the basement to use as a rental property. Last year, due to the gutters not being properly attached, we had some water fill up a window well during a heavy rain fall and come in through the basement window to the finished basement. This occurred in August -- our tenants have stated that they smell mold in that room now (they didn't smell anything before). Upon inspection, there is no mold on the finished drywall and I personally don't smell anything. I'm just wondering if it is possible that there could be mold behind the walls that they're smelling -- and if so, wouldn't the mold make it's way to the interior walls by now? Any help would be helpful. I know that the tenants never open the windows/blinds and kept the door closed for that specific room for awhile - so there was limited circulation.

 

Its possible. It would likely be on the back side of the drywall. Could also be their imagination. I assume the carpet and pad was removed and/or replaced?

Only way to know for sure is to remove drywall below the window.

 

Was a plastic vapor barrier installed and where?
Even if the smell is in their imagination, probably not, you need to do something positive to make the problem go away. As X said, remove the drywall below the window and perhaps a foot or so to each side and inspect. Use a mold remediation spray before it goes back together and have them increase the ventilation to be sure any small from the spray you added and any lingering mold smell is gone.

If that doesn't work the alternative would be to bring in a mold remediation company to do whatever they determine necessary to give it a clean certification with a guarantee.

$$$ yes, but it may be necessary.
Bud