I cannot say enough good things about Building Cleaning Services.
I have used them three times over the past 7 years. Obviously, I have exterior [house] leaks from time to time.
Recently, after the last hard driving rain, I noticed a bit of staining on the drywall over my front door. I know from past experience that this is a big red flag, even though there was no musty odor. Staining means that moisture is in the wall. Mold grows in 24 hours.
It doesn’t take a big opening to allow a lot of water to come inside—a bit of decayed caulking by the window trim can cause a whole lotta grief.
[BCS] was out the next day with a moisture meter. He did a thorough examination of the walls, he climbed out on a balcony to identify sources of possible water intrusion, and scheduled an intrusive (small opening of the walls in a few places to get a closer look) the same day.
I had a couple of sources of possible water entry, one of which was from a roof area. Jeff from BCS came out immediately; turns out he’s a general contractor with roofing experience (what luck). He did a thorough, patient evaluation of the situation & we determined that two stories of interior drywall in one area would have to be removed. When it rains, it pours….dang.
Next day the crew contained the area & began slowly taking off drywall. Some of the drywall was damp, as was the insulation, as was the wood behind it. The guys, under Jeff’s supervision, moved carefully as they analyzed each piece of wall that was removed.
Of course this was scary for me, but I knew I was in good hands. The crew was careful to not let any dust spread around & they cleaned up all the mess in the containment area. Somebody even vacuumed the outside of my front door, haha…..its cleaner now than it’s ever been.
Next step is to sand and clean all the wood in the walls (we’re doing this today). Then everything will be dried out. When the exterior problem areas are repaired, new drywall goes up…..and it’s like nothing ever happened.
Yes, this costs a chunk of change but not a fortune. The good news is that the issues are being addressed before there was significant mold growth. Whew, I lucked out.
Did I mention that the BCS guys are great fun to be around? In the midst of the demolition, we were joking & laughing. Hey…if ya take life’s bumps in the road too seriously, you’ll be a bundle of misery.
Kathy in the BCS listens to me gripe endlessly about the joys of home ownership; for years she has been sympathetic.
Ahhhh…..beach living. Everything rots. But if I were to leave I’d miss the sound of foghorns & crashing surf & barking sea lions at night. I ain’t stupid – I got carpet the same color as all the sand I track in.
I’m staying.
Someday I will build my dream beach house constructed of vinyl.