Mold blamed on a buliding error has been found at multiple condos in River Oaks in Richmond Hill
There are eight confirmed cases and other units are currently being checked for problems.
Five are in the riverfront condos and two are in units that are currently under construction.
"We held a homeowner’s meeting two weeks ago to address this issue," said Jeff Jepson, a representative from River Oaks realtor North Point Realty.
He said the mold was not dangerous and so common it didn’t have a specific name.
"Some owners were upset, which is understandable because mold is one of those trigger words that freaks people out. It is the most common types of mold, most of it is on the exterior and it’s in the process of being corrected."
"I see where they’re properly correcting the problem and they’ve got crews steadily working out there right now, so this issue is being resolved," said Bob Massey, who owns one of the units.
Mold formed in two new units that are currently being built when hot water heaters busted. Mold formed in the six completed units due when water infiltrated the brick due to a reported building error from the sub-contracted brick mason.Both the realty company and the construction company have done work to clean up the mold and are taking preventive measures to avoiding the problem in the future.
Richmond Hill Mayor Richard Davis said he had received word of the mold issue and went down to River Oaks this past week to check it out. He said he spoke with representatives from River Oaks who have assured him they are working on correcting the issue.
"With any project this large, you’re going to have some mold problems," said Jeff Verheyen, assistant project manager for River Oaks building contractor C.E. Hall Construction. "Two of the buildings sat and we ended up with busted hot water heaters. Mold has formed from that, but we have hired a mold remediator to assess and treat the problem."
Those two units are currently under construction and have not been sold.Verheyen said only one unit in each of the buildings was affected and the issue will be resolved before the units are sold.
Jepson said six cases have been identified on bottom floor units. Two of those are not sold yet and only two are currently occupied.
"Of the two occupied units, we physically moved one occupant out while we investigate the issue and the other, a renter, only had mold on the outside of the unit," Jepson said.
Jepson said there are 10 total bottom riverfront units and, even though all do not have mold, corrective measures are being taken on each one as the brick mason improperly installed a flashing mechanism between the brick and the walls of the units.
The measures being taken include removing a couple layers of brick to get to the flashing unit so it can be properly installed.
An industrial hygienist has been brought in to thoroughly test each unit, said Jepson, who noted expenses will be incurred by the brick mason’s insurance company and the problem should be fixed within a few months.