Is my house ruined?

I am a newbie, so yes, I know nothing!
I have a house that is a ridiculous disaster! I wont get into why, but its basically been unattended (ie. no heat or a/c) with no drywall, insulation or vapour barrier for years... Like, 6. Yes, you can all shake your heads now!
I live in Canada so the temperatures can get a bit extreme, mostly from +30C to -30C. Someone told me that the studs have accumulated water over the years and i'm essentially screwed and ill never be able to fix my mess ever.. Is this true?
If the studs have accumulated water via condensation and what not is there any way to fix this?

 

Welcome to the forums! I won't even get into why the house has no sheetrock, heat, nor cooling, much less insulation. Without seeing your problem, the moisture in the air probably hasn't done a lot to destroy your studs. I would be more worried about getting my plumbing replaced, as it surely has burst. Is it possible for you to post a few pictures of this house so we can see what you are seeing. Surely it is an oddity that we can possibly help with. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html

 

First of all, Thank you for the welcome And yes, it's best not to get into the "why" right now lol! The plumbing had already burst BEFORE I bought the house, which I had no clue of since I bought it as is. Right now I know the pipe under the house is broken, as for the rest I have no clue since I can't even get my water turned on.
However since I dont have a jackhammer, I'm focusing on the walls
I think i'm attaching 2 photos here, 1 of these might have snow in it since it was right after I had the roof re-done. The other is newer, it is an older house.

 

Welcome to the forum.
What part of Canada are you from?
Depending on where in Canada you are located, there could be a slim chance some saving.
Was the outside elements (snow, rain, animals) able to get into the home during this six years?

I am by no means a pro selvager, but I have spent my share of time exploring abandon buildings and have done some salvage work.

Not looking for all the background info, but is this a purchased salvage home?
Be prepared to spend a fair bit of money and tons of time.

 

Go figure, you posted the pictures and reply a couple minutes before I hit submit on mine.
That looks like an older house, but the interior walls look newer.

I see snow in the first pic, so that answers my previous question about outside weather getting in.

Any mold, moss or signs of animals in the house? The exterior walls indicates to me it is an older place. Hard to place a date without knowing the location as building methods very from area to area.

 

Thanks for the Welcome I'm from Alberta in a small town near Calgary. Some rain did get into the half loft upstairs when the window broke but i patched it up right away, there was also water damage in the one bedroom originally because the roof was caving in, however that was the first thing I got fixed. No animals have been in (unless you consider drunken teenagers animals! lol) some snow got in during the roof replacement but not much.
This wasn't a purchased salvage home but it did need some work, had the previous owner taken better care of it (i.e. not stayed there with no water, heat or power and let the pipes burst and camped in the yard till his property was taken away) it would likely have been easier to fix up..
But I didn't know any of that till later...

 

There was some mold in the one bedroom with water damage however it went with the roof. There is one very small spot in the kitchen but no moss.

 

I see no way anyone here can tell just how bad or good it is over the net, really need someone on site to look it over.
As long as the house dryed in there's no reason to think the whole thing is bad just because there was no HVAC. Just fix any damage you see from where the leaks where.
If an unheated building went "bad" just how many garages and sheds do you think need tearing down.

 

On the up side, you're not on the east coast. The salt humid air would have been brutal.
I would have the place looked over really carefully. Replace any rot you find and maybe even spray for the mold.
I've seen sealing paint being used with fire damage (to seal in the smells and what not), that might be a good idea.

From the two pictures you posted, it looks like it was decent construction.
You're going to be in for a lot of work. On the up side, the demo is mostly done already.
Are you planning to do most of the work yourself? If so, the pros on here are a huge help and can provide you with guidance as you move from project to project. Be sure to consult with the local building office on local rules and preferences.

When you have a chance, post up more pictures. I would like to see more of this house and offer what I can where I can.

Mike

 

If that were my house, I would shoot a bleach/water combo on the interior & use some air movers or fans, to dry it. Then I would run the pipes & electric, install windows, doors, insulation & sheet rock.

 

I've heard/read somewhere that using bleach for mold is useless and really more harmful to the user then anything.
Wish I could remember the source in order to back my statement.

Edit:
Did a quick google search for "DIY Mold removal" and found a 50/50 split on bleach. Of the 4 links I clicked, half said it was a waste of time and won't resolve, and the other half suggested using it as part of the mixture to clean.
The one link I like the best (didn't copy the URL, sorry) sided on bleach being a waste, and removal being the best option. Not exactly applicable in this situation I think.

I think removing the bad spots (stud, etc) where possible, clean and spray down the rest and properly vent and dry out the house.
There are products (paints) you can use to seal wood and other porous materials from re-growing mold. If it was me, I'd consider giving the exterior walls a coat of that.

 

He can pick whatever product he wants & then seal it with Killz but that's the general procedure that I would follow.

Bleach works in bathrooms, why not on wood?

 

Bleach works great for removing/killing mildew and is sometimes effect on mold. The big thing is - bleach can destroy the wood fibers if it isn't rinsed off. IMO it's a great product for exterior cleaning but has limited use for the interior. Kilz [along with a host of other coatings] will prevent or slow down the return of mildew but contrary to popular belief [at least in my neck of the woods] it will not kill or prevent mildew from returning. The mildew/mold should be dealt with prior to applying any coating.

 

Thanks for all the advice!
The remaining mold isn't very bad, maybe a couple inches tops. So I'll treat that and look into a sealer. Should I be sealing the entire house or just the problem areas? Its pretty big!
I plan to do as much as I can myself, however I don't feel confident doing things that I don't understand
I do have more pictures however they're not on this computer.. I'll try and look for them or take newer ones soon.
Just getting back to my original question a bit regarding the studs, if there is any moisture in them will this cause future problems if I try to insulate and put a vapour barrier over it now? Or is that what the spraying and sealing is for?

 

I would only treat & seal the problem areas. The studs don't look that bad, to me. Run the fans the way I said. The moisture is not going to be a problem. Then continue to rebuild the hose. You can always sell it if you are nervous.

 

Except for the door frame in the first picture? If I was planning to hang a door there, reframing that opening would be high on my to-do list.

 

I welcome you to the forum too! While I am not an expert on molds I too have had a mold problem in two bedrooms of our house and a couple of closets. So knowing that I did some studying on the subject of house mold and how it is safely removed.

The first thing to know is that uninsulated homes can be great places for molds to grow especially black mold. Basically moisture can condense behind drywall in an uninsulated wall and get the paper backing wet which allows mold spores to grow. The same can be true for an improperly insulated house as moisture can build in pockets and allow mold to grow.

I think so far you have done everything I would have done by having the roofing and sheathing removed and replaced. You also don't have any drywall up yet and that is important as you need to make sure you get rid of any mold. If there still was drywall up then I would really be concerned because of the paper backing I mentioned earlier.

With the walls being open for so long though it has caused some of the mold to die as mold likes enclosed areas and dark areas. During the summer months with hotter temperatures it should kill off even more mold. However once it gets cold then the mold could begin to grow more, the same though can also be said about extremely hot and humid areas too as the humidity just brings moisture and mold.

Looking at your pictures the only area of concern I see is at the very top near where the ceiling would be you need to treat that with a detergent with borate in it to get rid of the mold. Once the mold is cleaned off either get a professional solution to treat for termites with borate in it and spray it yourself or get a termite specialist to spray all of the wood on the walls. The borate will prevent the mold from returning. Don't forget the roof rafters too but for that you might want a professional to spray with dry ice as that will kill all of the mold spores very quickly. Then have it treated with borate too.

As to prevention house wrap I think on an old house like yours is critical. After that make sure your house is properly sided with whatever material you choose. Once you have the rest of the outside finished assuming you haven't done so already make sure you properly insulate.

I suggest closed cell foam insulation in your area as that will not allow moisture to penetrate your house. Also good quality vinyl windows as vinyl will not allow for mold to grow. Lastly I have a link from the Healthy House Institute that talks about borates in more detail that I found while doing a Google search here is the link Mold Remediation: Dealing with Mold in Damaged Homes - HealthyHouseInstitute.com.

If you do super insulate though don't forget about indoor air quality. You might get rid of the mold and keep it away by super insulating but allow for indoor air pollution too from household chemicals. So be sure to get an air to air heat exchanger installed.

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I'm going to start purchasing some products soon and get started.
I already know that the framing on that wall is terrible, but i didn't have a photo without it in it.
As I live in Canada theres no need to treat for termites as the cold weather means they don't come anywhere near the house already.
hedgeclippers- Thanks for the welcome. I'm not sure what you mean by "the top" as the entire roof/ceiling has been removed and is brand new. there is no mold there. Why would the newest part of the house be the problem area?

 

What I mean saying the top is the top plate of your studs it looked a little dark there might be some black mold there kind of hard to tell with just pictures though. True Canada doesn't have as big a termite problem as we do in the States but that same professional borate spray will kill and keep away more mold. I saw a termite inspector on a Show you may or may not be able to see called This Old House and the spray was for termites and mold.

There may be some kind of borate spray without a termite killer in it or you might be able to make a spray solution with just a good borate soap. Be careful though and wear a respirator mask you don't want that in your lungs.

After you spray the wood let it dry real good and it will be safe. When spraying keep kids and pets away and wash your hands after use or better yet wear gloves and it probably is a good idea to wear eye protection while applying that. After doing further research I saw that caution and thought I should warn you. We had contractors fix our house and they used some kind of spray which I assume was borate. Not near as strong smelling as bleach but some cautions still need to be observed.

 

I guess I should have looked closer at the workmanship, didn't catch that. Was looking more at the wood grain and coloring.

Beat me too it. That is one benefit to our weather. The little monsters those in the south have to worry about, we don't.

I'm assuming it's reasonably dry there during the summer (not Saskatawan dry, but....). This should help (and or have helped) with keeping most of the mold at bay.

 

hedgeclippers- no thats what it looked like straight from the lumber yard.
northernmike- I live in a valley and yes it gets pretty dry here.