Attic Mold and Real Estate Deals: How to Save the Closing

When attic mold threatens a real estate closing, the deal is usually saved by three things done quickly: a firm written quote, an agreement on who pays, and a remediation with a clearance report finished before the closing date. Attic mold is one of the most common inspection findings in Ontario homes and one of the most fixable.

Why attic mold shows up at inspection so often

Homeowners rarely go into their attics. Inspectors always look. What they find is typically dark staining or fuzzy growth on the underside of the roof sheathing, often heaviest on the north slope and near the eaves. The cause is almost always warm, moist house air reaching a cold roof deck. Our winters are cold enough that this moisture condenses or freezes on the sheathing as frost, then melts and wets the wood. The usual sources are these:

• A bathroom or kitchen fan that vents into the attic instead of outside.
• Soffit vents blocked by insulation, so no air moves along the roof deck.
• Gaps around the attic hatch, pot lights, plumbing stacks and wiring that let house air leak up.
• Too little roof ventilation for the size of the attic.
• Less often, a roof leak around a vent, valley or chimney.

Why attic mold rarely needs to kill a deal

The attic sits outside the living space, separated from it by insulation and the ceiling. The sheathing and trusses are usually still sound, because surface growth is a long way from rot. The job is well understood: contain the work area, run negative air through HEPA filtration, remove the growth from the sheathing and framing, clean up, and correct the ventilation or air leakage that caused it. Most attic jobs here run $2,300 to $6,500. That is a number two parties can negotiate around.

Buyers often worry the mold has spread into the house below. In most cases the growth is confined to the attic side, although the same air leaks that feed it are worth sealing. If the inspector found soft or delaminated sheathing, bring in a roofer as well, because replacing roof deck is roofing work.

Steps to save the real estate closing after an attic mold finding

1. Get photos from the inspector the same day, including wide shots that show how much of the roof deck is affected.
2. Send them for a quote. We provide a firm written quote within 2 hours between 7 am and 9 pm.
3. Have the agents agree in writing on who is paying and who is hiring. Either side can book the work.
4. Arrange access. Someone needs to open the house, clear the closet or hallway under the hatch and leave room to park near the door.
5. Book the work with the closing date stated up front. Payment is 50% to book and 50% on completion.
6. Send the clearance report to both agents and both lawyers as soon as it is issued. For real estate deals ours goes out within 48 hours of work starting.
7. Let the buyer or their inspector look at the finished attic if they want to.

Who should arrange the work, buyer or seller?

The seller owns the house until closing, so the work needs the seller's permission no matter who pays. When the seller arranges it, the buyer gets a clean attic and a report, and should ask that the cause be corrected too, with the scope written into the amendment. When the buyer takes a credit and does the work after closing, the buyer controls the contractor and the quality but carries the risk if the job turns out bigger. Your realtors and lawyers will write whichever arrangement you choose into the agreement. Whichever way it goes, base the figure on a written quote.

What the buyer's side should receive

• Before and after photos of the same sections of roof deck.
• A description of the cause and what was done about it, such as a fan duct run to a roof hood or baffles installed at the soffits.
• Moisture readings for the sheathing and framing.
• An itemized, dated invoice.

A buyer who receives these four things has what the next inspector will ask about when the house is sold again years from now. Old staining can remain faintly visible on cleaned sheathing, and the paperwork is what explains it.

If you are the agent or the party holding the inspection report right now, the fastest useful move is to forward the attic photos and the closing date in one email. Everything else in the deal waits on that quote.

Common questions