Mold Removal in Shoreline, WA

Older homes, wet winters

American Community Survey figures put the median year built for Shoreline homes at 1968. A house that age has usually been through several roof replacements, a plumbing repair or two and at least one owner who finished the basement. Each of those is a chance for water to get behind a wall. Pair that with gray months of rain and cool nights, and the attic, crawl space and lower-level rooms are where growth tends to show up first.

Typical trouble spots in Shoreline houses of this era:

• Crawl spaces with torn or missing plastic over the soil.
• Daylight basements dug into the hillsides, with seepage through the uphill wall.
• Bath fans that dump air into the attic instead of through the roof.
• Aluminum or single-pane windows that sweat every morning in winter.

Water around the city

Shoreline sits between the Seattle city limits and the Snohomish County line, about 8 miles north of downtown, with 3.4 miles of Puget Sound shoreline along Richmond Beach. The city maps floodplains along the Sound, Boeing Creek and Thornton Creek, and it takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program. Building in a FEMA-designated floodplain needs a Floodplain Development Permit, and flood insurance is required there when federal loans are used to buy or build. Echo Lake, Hamlin Park and the Boeing Creek ravine through Shoreview Park add to the green, damp feel of many blocks.

City offices and county health

Permits for remodels, additions and other residential work fall under City of Shoreline Planning & Community Development, so check there before rebuilding walls or floors after mold removal. The removal work itself is not described as permitted. For a rental with a leak the landlord has not fixed, give written notice first, as Washington's landlord-tenant law describes. Shoreline Code Enforcement, part of the Customer Response Team, is the city office for property code problems. Public Health - Seattle & King County does not do mold assessments and tells tenants to report the underlying water or maintenance problem, because code officials will not respond to mold alone.

What to expect from a call

You will be connected with an independent local company that can inspect, trace the moisture and give you a written plan. There is no Washington state mold license, so confirm the company is registered with Washington L&I as a construction contractor on the Verify a Contractor tool. If you want sampling or clearance testing, Angi suggests hiring someone separate from the company doing removal.