safety first home inspection & decon, inc.

I really hate to write this review because Mr. Burr was very friendly and seemed knowledgeable but I would hate for any family to end up in the same predicament as my family. My husband and I were looking for a new home and found the one we thought was perfect. The home inspector found mold around the basement windows. He also found "suspicious " white paint covering the entire unfinished storage portion of the basement. He stated people do this to hide things so I should have a mold inspector come out. Mr. Burr's company had A+ rating on Angie's List so we went with him. I did not want a moldy house so this inspection was the determinating factor as to whether we would move forward. He and his cousin conducted the inspection for a fee of $125. They found additional mold in the laundry room but ensured me it was only a "surface" issue that was only about $100 to remediate. He accidentally erased several pictures of mold and since he stood by his reputation, he refunded me for the inspection and did the remediation free of charge. Our minds were at ease so we moved forward and closed. The day after we closed our neighbor told us that when she was in the house in December there was water damage and extensive black mold all over the basement. We removed a curtain in the theater room and found mold behind it, inside the furniture that was left behind and under the basement carpet in the corners. The carpet easily pulled up in the corners with just my hand. Mold and water damage was not disclosed to us by the seller. I took pictures and sent them to Mr. Burr and asked why none of this was on the report. He claimed there was no mold in the theater room and that since a month had past the mold probably grew. He stated they do not look under anything (like carpet) unless there is fresh water damage present. He then said he worked on another home in my neighborhood and that person told him my house was known for having mold! Why would he not notify me? Obviously if people are saying that how did he find a small area on the laundry room wall only? I got a 2nd mold inspector, All-N Construction, to come out and mold was found throughout the basement. He shined a special light in the room that was suspiciously painted white and mold was present. The vanity in the bathroom had evidence of past water damage and when he pulled out the drawers they were full of mold on the bottoms. He cut holes in the walls and ceilings and all had mold. He also said Mr. Burr missed this because there is no way all of this grew in just over a month, especially since there was proof of a cover up with the paint. He went to the laundry room and that "surface mold" that Mr. Burr treated actually was not treated at all and was all the way through to the other side of the drywall. The basement and laundry room will have to be gutted. We pulled out the fridge and found mold in there and behind the cabinets too! We got mold air quality testing done and found extremely high levels of toxic and allergenic mold present and were told we had to vacate until it was treated. The remediation is going to cost us $21,502! Plus the cost of reconstruction of the basement, laundry room and kitchen which can be anywhere from $60,000- $100,000!!! We bought the home because we relied on Mr. Burr's professional judgement. He missed a major problem and made it seem minor and now we are living in a basement until the work gets done and are in a financial hole. The seller lied and did not disclose but Mr. Burr was negligent. If he had warned us that the problem was severe we would have moved on. Both the 2nd inspector and the air hygienist have told us a prudent mold inspector would not have missed this. Madison Taylor can do air quality,mold testing and inspection and remediation if needed. Just go to them! No Mr. Burr could not look inside walls or ceilings before we closed and we did not expect him to move heavy furniture like the fridge (which both the other 2 did by the way since there was evidence of prior water damage on the floor beside it. To note, Mr. Burr noted the floors were effected by water in the past but stated there was no mold or humidity currently present there)but he missed visible mold that should've been caught and minimized a major problem that will cost us tens of thousands.

It was excellent. They did a great job. The quality of the work they did and how attentive they were to us. They made us feel comfortable.

I gave it a top rating and they did very well.

Mr. Thomas Burr and his business partner did an exceptional job removing mold from the floor in my office. They were punctual and very professional. Before the start of the job, the entire process was explain to my Husband and I which put us at ease. Upon completion of removal and treatment, Mr. Burr assured us that we were in no immediate danger of contamination before their arrival and certainly afterwards. Mr. Burr even contacted me the following day to see if I were pleased with the work once it had a chance to set overnight. If you have any mold issues or worries, I HIGHLY recommend you use Safety First Home Inspection & Decon, Inc.