Q: We are a roofing company in Dayton, Ohio in need of more information on mold. We did a complex roof and gutter job on a home in early September. Some minor leaks were discovered after a couple of weeks so we sealed everything up immediately. Now the customer says our leaks caused her to have mold. The house was built in 1950 and had three layers of roofing, which we tore off. We informed the customer that we would take care of any damage done during tear-off, but it sounds like she wants our adjuster to take care of ALL of her repairs. We know mold can't develop in just a couple weeks. Do you have any information that would help us?

A: The main thing to find out at this time is to identify the locations of mold that the customer is concerned about and see if they are in locations where the leaks were present. If the leaks repairs were addressed quickly, then the areas of damage and possible mold growth would be minimized. Mold damage expands when there is a constant moisture source. Also, has the customer had any evaluation by a qualified mold consultant performed to determine if, in fact, there are any mold issues? Assuming there is mold just because there was a water leak is not reasonable. Typically, any areas of water damage that may have mold associated with it can be remediated without having to address the entire house, unless there were numerous leaks all over the house which by your description, doesn't seem to be the case. To answer your comment "We know mold can't develop in a couple of weeks,….", that is an incorrect assumption. Mold can grown within 24-48 hours under the right conditions.

Rick Anderson, P.E., Manager, EFI Global, Inc. Houston Office.

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