Things we do for apartments

[Jimmy Hitt]

So a fellow O/O is on vacation so I'm covering his apartment floods for him. Well around 4pm we get a call for one at a newly acquired property of his that he hasn't even done one unit at yet. Was told it was real small and easy.

Boy were they wrong on that. This units water heater line has been slowly leaking in a walk in closet for who knows how long cuz they don't use that bedroom cuz they said its too hot. I open the closet to find the most horrible mold contamination I've seen in years.

I call maintenance to see what he wants me to do because this beyond the scope of work we normally do in apartments. He just wants me to extract, pull pad, set one fan. Keep in mind its 100% humidity and the a/c is out so its like 85 inside. I told em there's no way I'm doing it half azz and assuming the liability.

So after talking with my friend we decided we'd do it if they allowed us to do it right and he told em it'd be $1600+ to remove all carpet, pad, drywall, insulation, treatment, HEPA vac, containment, air scrubber, etc. He's gonna talk to the owners n let us know in the morning whether or not to proceed. I hope they decline honestly.

I also told them residents need to be relocated prior to remediation as they have 2 toddlers.

OK guys, here's the pics. I choked after one minute of exposure.

Don't worry, I know all the proper procedures and I am certified. I am not assuming responsibility on my companies behalf, this is all thru his. I've repeatedly warned him the risks but he wants to take it on.

To be continued...

 

[matt30577]

wow

 

[Jimmy Hitt]

Contamination consists of a 6x5 master closet. Less than 10 yards of wet carpet n pad. Love to hear what others would charge. I'm stuck in the middle so don't have much of a say in that besides the fact that I'll pocket at least $1200-$1500.

What you think @dmreed4311 ???????

 

[timmoore]

Holy hell that's mold and a half be careful my friend


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[Jimmy Hitt]

Holy hell that's mold and a half be careful my friend


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C'mon up n help me. Lol. I'm not happy about it at all. Whole lot of risk & liability for minimal reward. I was choking in under a minute when I initially looked at it. Love how apartments don't mention a thing about it, likes it normal.

 

[timmoore]

Lol now when you get a regular job where you need a beast of a machine or a long 500 ft run let me know


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[1ST CHOICE CLEANING]

What is on the other side of the closet? If it is another unit there may be mold inside their wall cavity as well.
I wouldn't touch the job for less then $3k and the liability would scare me. I know you said it's all through your buddies company but if you perform the service you could get brought into it if there is issues. Good luck.

 

[Jimmy Hitt]

What is on the other side of the closet? If it is another unit there may be mold inside their wall cavity as well.
I wouldn't touch the job for less then $3k and the liability would scare me. I know you said it's all through your buddies company but if you perform the service you could get brought into it if there is issues. Good luck.

Behind the fuzziest wall is the bathroom. There's a unit behind the lightly contaminated wall. I'm sure the adjoining units wet. Yea I told em xactimate would be over $5k if I had to guess.

Thing he's worried about the most is popping em for $3k+ and pissing em off since he does 3-4 properties they own.

Its not my account so I'm saying get xactimate prices on it. I've been exposed once before where I had to be hospitalized due to improper PPE so I know how dangerous this can be. I had bad chest pains and breathing troubles after that. Dr said mold poisoning but I didn't have health insurance n company I worked for wouldn't cover so it was a PIA.

 

[Jimmy Hitt]

Few more pics

 

[seagrtj]

Behind the fuzziest wall is the bathroom. There's a unit behind the lightly contaminated wall. I'm sure the adjoining units wet. Yea I told em xactimate would be over $5k if I had to guess.

Thing he's worried about the most is popping em for $3k+ and pissing em off since he does 3-4 properties they own.

Its not my account so I'm saying get xactimate prices on it. I've been exposed once before where I had to be hospitalized due to improper PPE so I know how dangerous this can be. I had bad chest pains and breathing troubles after that. Dr said mold poisoning but I didn't have health insurance n company I worked for wouldn't cover so it was a PIA.

The last thing he needs to worry about is them getting pissed. When he gets drug into a liability case he'll be pissed. Tell them to get another estimate and they will see what a remediation of that scope costs

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[dmreed4311]

Dude this is not how it works in the apartment industry.
Your friend will lose the account I'm sure. You should have done what they asked and moved on, the Maintenance will deal with the mold, I have done thousands of flood jobs for apartments and never once did they want or expect me to deal with the mold.

 

[salvador]

lots and lots of mold i think you're being too low on your pricing but if you aint busy something is better thn nothin... i would be at 2500-3500 mark for something like that. i hate mold jobs and the use of PPE makes it very suffocating. if you have xactimate use it you would get your monies worth.

 

[dmreed4311]

The last thing he needs to worry about is them getting pissed. When he gets drug into a liability case he'll be pissed. Tell them to get another estimate and they will see what a remediation of that scope costs

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It does not work this way in the apartment industry, they will not get estimates, they have their own staff and they will just cut out the dry wall and replace and paint. All they wanted was the carpet dried out, they would handle the rest.

 

[dmreed4311]

The apartment industry is nothing like the real world.

 

[salvador]

The apartment industry is nothing like the real world.

I hear ya, but also gotta consider the liability your putting for doing a half ass job with chances of people getting sick and suing you.
I would not put a blower when you have mold exposure it can cross contaminate other parts of the house. but if youre willing to risk your company from a big claim or sue... then go for it.

 

[Jimmy Hitt]

Dude this is not how it works in the apartment industry.
Your friend will lose the account I'm sure. You should have done what they asked and moved on, the Maintenance will deal with the mold, I have done thousands of flood jobs for apartments and never once did they want or expect me to deal with the mold.

There was no way I was doing exactly what they asked. If it was just a little mold that I wouldn't come in contact with, then Yea I would've done the usual. But there was no way of even pulling that closet carpet back without getting a face full of mold.

Left a little out of the story David. This property was bought two days ago by the company he does all the work for. The maintenance guy now dealing with it hadn't seen it. The incompetent maintenance man that was there, was fired yesterday for his handling of the situation. Also the new guy said his biggest concern was the residents health (surprised me).

So its not the typical situation that we run into in the apartment world. The new guy is contacting the regional & the owner to see how they want to proceed. Its a small company, 3rd property, so they care a little bit, unlike the big boys.

I was in contact with my friend, who's sitting on the beach, the whole time to see what he wanted to do. Wasn't calling the shots cuz its not my place to. Everything that's being done is what he & the new guy agreed to. Once they call tomorrow morning I'll know what they've decided. But another night of being wet ain't gonna change a thing because I'm sure its been a month at least.

 

[dmreed4311]

I hear ya, but also gotta consider the liability your putting for doing a half ass job with chances of people getting sick and suing you.
I would not put a blower when you have mold exposure it can cross contaminate other parts of the house. but if youre willing to risk your company from a big claim or sue... then go for it.

If you want to work for apartment complexes this is how it is done. I have worked for every major property companies there are, Camden, Post, Equity, Mid America and so on and they all handle floods and mold the same way. We as carpet cleaners get the carpet dry and they deal with everything else.

 

[Jimmy Hitt]

lots and lots of mold i think you're being too low on your pricing but if you aint busy something is better thn nothin... i would be at 2500-3500 mark for something like that. i hate mold jobs and the use of PPE makes it very suffocating. if you have xactimate use it you would get your monies worth.

I totally agree. But those numbers won't fly in the apartment biz. He told them if they wanted to call servpro that it'll be $5k+. I'm not making any decisions on this one unless I see that they only want half azz and I'll be liable. Then I'll have to step back & reevaluate.

 

[mike2633]

As aggravated as, I get in my totally new and completely unrelated line of work, I don't for one minute miss floods and screwing around with these apartments and getting permission to do things or all that other stuff. God bless you people who can put up with all that, I did for a while and just couldn't take it anymore.

 

[Jimmy Hitt]

If you want to work for apartment complexes this is how it is done. I have worked for every major property companies there are, Camden, Post, Equity, Mid America and so on and they all handle floods and mold the same way. We as carpet cleaners get the carpet dry and they deal with everything else.

I'm not disagreeing with you at all cuz I've seen the shadiest stuff in this market. But I'm under a year old as an O/O and scared to hack that job up and then it bite me in the azz down the road. Or being blamed for not doing it right or whatever else they come up with to shift blame.

Also worth noting, office was closed for the day, maintenance wasn't on property, and he wanted to get with his superiors before proceeding. He was cool about everything and asked if I wanted to wait til it had been torn out or if we felt comfortable doing the tear out.

Do I want to do wear all that PPE and do it? NO. Do I want the money? YES.

FYI, mid america is the only management company I recognize on there. Maybe equity too.