HawthorneVillager.com

Well, if our date did not get pushed back, today would have been closing day. Instead, I visited the house this morning to find out that some tap had broken and my main floor is coverd with water. They had a propane heater on so it had all melted and some one was on their way over to squeegee the majority of it out of the house.

However, it looks like the water had time to soak into the bottom inch or two of drywall. I took a couple of pictures and spoke to my builder. He was aware of it and said he would check everything out and make sure things dried fine. Is this something I should be overly concerned about? Can the dry wall be properly dried out without the worry of mold starting? Or should I be raising hell and making them cut the wet drywall off and replace it?

When I told my husband what had happened he seemed to think it should be replaced. He remembered an episode of Holmes on Homes that said once it is wet it should be replaced. I assured him that the builder stated that he would make sure it was all dried properly etc.

I would appreciate all you "do-it-yourselfers" and home reno peoples' opinion on this...

woodclan
sorry to hear about that, i would lean towards having them cut it out and replacing it...water and drywall do not mesh well....if it has been absorbed , the damage has been done, its like particle board( the stuff some kitchen cabinets and shelves are made of)
it will swell and is basically ruined...same thing with drywall....i strongly recommend replacing
and yes ther could be mould problems,, this time of yr, no amount of propane heat will dry it sufficiantly to prevent mould....jmho

william

I have spoken to the builder twice now. He says I have nothing to worry about and he gaurantees no mold because the drywall did not sit wet and therefore did not have time to breakdown. He said that when they do a curved wall in a house, the entire piece of drywall is submerged in water to allow it to bend and then it is dried to harden.

I have spoken to various experts including a home inspector, a contractor and someone at the town building department. All have said that as long as it does not sit in water and is dried out right away, mold is not a problem. (Mold actually begins after 3 - 4 days of wetness) I was told by one that nail pops may be a bit more frequent with expanding and shrinking and another mentioned that the dried water line may show through the paint. (Although base boards will actually cover this up). Another thing mentioned was that there should be more fans for cross circulation with the heater.

The bottom inch or two that got wet seems to have dried from the heaters they had on for a couple of nights. I don't want to be a b!tch and keep harping on it if things are going to be fine. On the other hand, I don't want to have to come back a year or two later to fix things up. I really feel like I am between a rock and a hard spot.

I work for the consulting company that appeared on the Holmes on Homes show and you definately should get them to replace the drywall. Mould loves drywall! It is better that they do it now so that you don't have a huge problem later. Spores can still travel from behind the walls into your family's house and it's not good for infants, the elderly or immunocompromised people. Our first house was a Mattamy too and our fibreglass got wet from the rain during construction. They tried to tell us the same thing, that it would dry out and they "guarantee" mould wouldn't grow, but I insisted on them replacing it and they did. There is no way they can guarantee mould not growing, and if it does, do you think they will do anything about it when it shows up in a couple of years? Just keep insisting and if you need to, email me and I'll give you the number to my company and you can get another opinion.

Nancy