Mold Inspection of Austin
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What Does A Mold Inspection Report Look Like
Deteriorated shingles or other roof coverings are one of the first things home buyers and home inspectors notice. If the elements underneath the shingles are moist or rotted, repairs will likely be requested. Some states require a separate roof inspection. Make sure flashing around the base of the chimney is watertight, and that mortar and bricks are in good condition. Inspect the fireplace to make sure it is functioning properly .
Many mold investigators also provide non-diagnostic mold screening surveys for real estate transactions and post-mold remediation (cleanup) project onsite inspection and clearance test reports. Other professional services include odor source detection, gas testing, and building condition of property and pre purchase inspections.
What inspection methods and testing techniques form the basis of your indoor air/mold investigation report? Mold cultures are unreliable for overall characterization of fungal contamination of indoor air. Home test kits, settlement plates, samplers which collect spores onto petri dishes, and sterile swabs all have a place in the arsenal of tools but not for overall building characterization.
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In one class I attended a mold test lab supervisor showed me the cheat sheet she provides to her afternoon high-school aged employees who are trained to look through the microscope for one of the eight common mold species whose photograph appears on a colored card. An under-trained lab technician may be tempted to stop examining a sample as soon as s/he finds one of the important eight on the card.
Sometimes even the presence of a few spores can be significant if they are highly toxic, as they might indicate that a problem material is present or growing somewhere in the building. But a distinction should be made between what is obviously significant by visual inspection (or if necessary by actual quantitative measurement if it was an air sample), and what was found as present but not necessarily significant.
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Attic mold often appears as a thin grey or black layer on the very top of the insulation. Â The dimensionality of the growth is difficult to determine, as the underlying insulation presents a rough and uneven surface. Â If the mold growth is due to high humidity and condensation, as is usually the case, the mold growth will only occur on top of the insulation. Â In the image below, notice how the mold growth uniformly covers the insulation, but is not found on the lower layers, which were disturbed during the inspection.
A mold test lab expert alone, knowing nothing about the building conditions, test conditions, or occupant sensitivities, has only a limited ability to interpret the lab findings. Waving your notebook at a surface or choosing not to wave it during mold sampling can make a thousand-fold difference in the mold score at the exact same location.
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Mildew odors signal that a basement is too moist. Buyers and home inspectors will look closely at the walls and floors for patches of mildew and signs of dampness. The inspector might use a meter to determine how much moisture is present in these spaces because moisture deteriorates building materials and attracts insects. Cover exposed earth in basements and crawl spaces with plastic to help keep moisture levels down. Most foundation leaks are a result of poor drainage that funnels water towards the foundation. To address this issue, consider the following steps:
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Software often gives inspectors the choice of including photographs in the main body of the report, near the narrative that describes them, or photographs may be grouped together toward the beginning or end of the report.
Primary Document - Read The Editorial Below
https://www.naplesnews.com/story/money/real-estate/2019/07/27/who-is-responsible-for-interior-damage-from-leaky-water-heater-heater/1807681001/
Attorneys at Goede, Adamczyk, DeBoest & Cross respond to questions about Florida community association law. With offices in Naples, Fort Myers, Coral Gables and Boca Raton, the firm represents community associations throughout Florida and focuses on condominium and homeowner association law, real estate law, litigation, estate planning and business law.
Q: The unit owner above me recently replaced his water heater. The water heater leaked and flooded his unit while he was out of town and the water flowed down into my unit. I understand that my insurance covers my personal property, but the association is refusing to fix the interior drywall and my insurance company is also refusing. Who is responsible? H.H., Marco Island
A: The likely answer is the condominium association, but that answer is only half complete depending on some other factors.
The very general rule under the Florida Condominium Act is that the condominium association repairs and replaces property insured by the association when the property is damaged by an insurable event. For purposes of this answer, we will assume the hot water heater leak was a sudden and insurable event. The association insures all drywall as originally constructed by the developer and like kind replacements. If the analysis stopped here, the condominium association would be responsible to repair the drywall and you would be responsible for the paint or wall coverings and the parties often reach an agreement on how to share in any remediation services which benefit both the drywall and the interior of the unit.
There are a few exceptions to this rule. First, the association only insures drywall as originally installed or like kind replacement. If you moved walls or performed interior alterations to the unit’s configuration, it is possible the association is not required to insure the drywall.
Second, the statute does authorize the condominium association to opt out of the above general rule. If the association did opt out of the statutory requirements, then liability for interior drywall is controlled by the express language of your Declaration of Condominium. Many declarations specifically provide that the condominium association replaces boundary drywall, but the owner replaces interior drywall and sometimes the obligation further depends on whether the drywall is part of a load bearing wall.
Finally, it is possible the above owner was negligent. If your condominium requires owners to shut the water off during an extended leave from the unit, it is possible the owner broke that rule by leaving town without shutting off the water and this breach may have augmented your damages.
Many owners and board members assume that the responsibility to repair the condominium property following water damage is straightforward, but there are many factors contributing to the analysis. For example, if the water leak is caused by a non-insurable event, the analysis follows the opt-out analysis above, but it can be very cumbersome to determine whether an event is actually an insurable event. Because of this, the recommendation is to consult with your attorney to determine the extent of liability, if any.
Q: I live in a condominium association and our community website is terrible. There are no minutes, contracts or financial records to view and the board doesn’t email any updates to the community. During the summer months, I have no way of knowing what is going on and was told the board must have a website. Is the board violating Florida law? T.R., Naples
A: Possibly, but I would need more information to answer the question. Florida law now requires condominiums with 150 or more units to maintain a website. Thus, condominiums with fewer than 150 units are not required under today’s law to maintain a website at all let alone a website with updated information. So, if your condominium includes less than 150 units, the board is not violating the statute.
If the condominium has 150 or more units, the statute then prescribes a number of requirements. First, the website must be independent and wholly owned and operated by the board or a website operated by a third party but in the association’s control. Second, the website must include an owner’s only section that is protected and inaccessible by the general public. The association must also post current copies of various documents in digital format on the website and protected in the owners only section of the website. Some of these documents include the condominium documents, a list of contracts and summary of recent bids, the annual budget, notices, financial reports, and contracts involving a director who is financially interested in the contract.
Q: Our homeowners association (HOA) includes a beautiful clubhouse with a great recreation room and fitness center. I work until 8:00 and used to work out in the fitness center after work. I went to the fitness center yesterday and it was closed citing a new rule adopted by the board. I had no idea this was happening, and the board is refusing to reinstate the old hours. What can be done? J.G., Bonita Springs
A: Probably not much. Florida law concerning rules in HOAs are generally broken down into two categories: 1) rules concerning what can be done on the owners’ lots; and 2) everything else authorized by the governing documents. If the board was considering a rule concerning what you can do on your lot such as rules concerning paint colors or fence heights, then the board must provide at least 14 days’ mailed and posted notice of the board meeting where that rule would be considered. In this situation, you would have known the board was considering such a rule.
That being said, rules governing the common areas such as clubhouse hours, are only required to be adopted by the board after 48 hours’ posted notice. Thus, unless you checked the bulletin board or unless the board emailed you a notice of the meeting, you may not have known this rule was being considered. Clubhouse hours generally fall within the board’s discretionary authority, so to change the hours you are going to need to convince the board to change the hours.
There are other factors that are relevant to the above analysis, so I would recommend you consult a licensed Florida attorney to review the governing documents to determine the extent of the board’s rule-making authority and whether your community covenants require notice and due process above and beyond the statutory requirements.
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Austin (Texas) district scales back school closing proposal
The latest facilities plans calls for closing 4 schools instead of 12.
Administrators in the Austin (Texas) district have pared down the number of schools they want to close soon from 12 to four.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that the four campuses still targeted for closing are Pease, Brooke, Metz and Sims elementary schools.
Related: Proposal calls for 12 schools to close in Austin (Texas) district
The latest version of the district's facilities plan, which includes 12 scenarios, essentially puts off until further notice closure of the eight other schools that had been on the list. They are Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy; Pecan Springs, Ridgetop, Maplewood, Palm, Dawson and Joslin elementary schools; and Webb Middle School.
The Austin school board would still have to approve closing the four schools, a decision expected Nov. 18.
Related: Austin (Texas) district considers closing as many as 12 schools to ease deficit
“You will see a phased timeline ... that creates space for even deeper community conversations and planning,†Austin district Superintendent Paul Cruz said in a letter to the community. “At the same time, my team and I believe deeply that no change at all is not an option.â€
District administrators say that to usher in better academic programs and improve equity in the school system, the district must close low-enrolled and aging facilities and consolidate students at modernized campuses. The district is also recommending equity training for teachers to better understand cultural differences among their students.
Many families and school employees of the 12 campuses on the initial closure list have said they were blindsided by the district’s proposal when it was released in September. The district has held numerous meetings with affected school communities over the past several weeks as they developed their latest revisions.
The plan is to move Brooke, Metz and Sims students into modernized schools that are under construction — Govalle, Sanchez and Norman elementaries.
Pease children, all of whom are transfer students, will have to find other school options. Parents of that Central Austin school’s students are particularly upset by the latest revision. The September version had Pease closing toward the end of 2021. Now Pease students’ last day would be in May, parents say.
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