The Elfin Blog

We have mold in our basement. It’s not like a swamp or anything, but it’s pretty much taken over our floor joists and subfloor. This discovery was confirmed by Chris from J&D Basement Systems, who then wanted to charge us $3,700 to “remediate” the mold, $1,500 for a dehumidifier, and $1000 to seal in the crawl space connected to the rest of our basement. Total cost: about $6200.

Now aside from the fact that I think sealing in the crawl space (which has a dirt floor) is a good idea, I don’t have that kind of money. Instead, I bought a $4 bottle of Clorox, and $2 pair of latex gloves, a $6 respirator, and a $5 scrub brush. After scrubbing the mold off half of the basement’s problem areas so far, I admit I would gladly spend three grand to have someone else do it, although I won’t since, as you know, I don’t have it. I did buy a good large capacity dehumidifier for about $250 and the air in the basement is much better and drier. When I’m done scrubbing I’ll vacuum and mop the basement floor with a bleach solution to get any mold that has fallen from the joists. Total cost: about $267, not counting the increased electricity bills and my time.

Here in Columbus, J&D Basement Systems is the supposed to be the best. They are a reputable company, they guarantee their work, and I have no doubt they would do at least a slightly better job of getting all the mold. Having said that, I think the price is a little stiff. All of this began when my wife started suffering from some fairly serious asthma about two weeks ago. Both her asthma specialist and the city of Columbus recommend the same thing: clean up the mold with a bleach solution and get a dehumidifier. An aquaintence of my wife had the same problem when she bought a one hundred year old Victorian house and did the same thing with reasonable success. So J&D and I might do business in the future on the crawl space, but for now I’ll stick to Clorox and elbow grease.