4948 Island Home

My search for a new home has led me to some pretty bad places. The house at 4948 Island Home Rd. in Louisville, TN. was probably one of the worst but not the worst. I already told my agent what I thought about another house we saw. Puke city, that one. At any rate, potential buyers beware of this house! It has a major mold problem!My first impression of this house was caution. You can smell the musty, moldy odor before you even open the front door. The bulging siding isn't a good omen, either. Once inside it wasn't hard to tell that a smoker or two had previously lived here...

...the rear windows are covered in nicotine as are the walls, themselves. There is also the beginnings of mold starting to form on the walls. The carpets are junk as is everything in the kitchen...

...the main bathroom looked to be about the only thing in decent shape as opposed to the other bathroom...

...and when my agent opened the rear door (which is off of one of the bedrooms), I advised her not to venture out onto it. The deck is completed dry-rotted and totally unsafe. It would have to be completely removed...

...but all these above problems pale in comparison the the full, walk-out basement. And here's where the caution comes into play: ENTER THE BASEMENT AT YOUR OWN RISK! DO NOT TOUCH ANY SURFACE! THERE IS MOLD EVERYWHERE!

I took a snap from the top of the stairs, this after we both had gone down with the aid of flash-lights (the is no power on in the house as far as we could tell). I didn't want to contaminate my camera. Bad enough I had to immediately change my clothes when I got back home. Apparently, there is a water leak in the basement which looks to have been leaking for quite some time. We found a full pot under a sink that was way past doing its job. A disclosure sheet indicated that the house had been vacant since April, 2015.  It also stated no evidence of mold. Methinks that report should updated. So, the leak went unchecked long enough for the water to flood the basement and for mold to grow...EVERYWHERE! It was on the walls, cabinets, toilets, rugs, books even the handrail, walls and carpet going to the upper level. We "squish-squashed" around on the soaking, moldy carpets too long, I think.  And I still feel sick to my stomach.

I don't even want to think what it would cost to remediate all that mold! The basement is a complete gut-job. And could someone tell the listing agent to get the damn water shut off? Please? If you do chance to have a look at the lower level, I'd recommend some water-proof boots (galoshes would do nicely) as well as a face mask...or even better...a respirator. Or a hazmat suit. I'm not kidding.


*SIGH!* On to the next house...