MOLD DISCOVERED DURING KITCHEN RENOVATION
My wife and I were all excited about updating our kitchen cabinets and counter tops. It was time for a change. So, we had it all planned out and ready to install our new kitchen in April of 2010. The workers came early on a Saturday morning. We had coffee and donuts for them. They were very thankful. So, they started to do their prep work. Then, they removed the first cabinet section. It was all over from there. We discovered a puddle of water along with black mold. STOP THE PRESSES!
Here is another picture of the drywall stripped from the kitchen wall. 
Well, we discovered that the water was leading from the main water pipe coming into the house. The pipe was cracked about three inches from top to bottom. Luckily, my neighbor down the street is a licensed plumber for the last thirty years. He said it was an easy fix for him. So, I proceeded to call my insurance company to report the claim. They sent out their inspectors. I called my mold inspector friend to conduct mold tests to verify I had mold.
Good news was that I had mold. It was going to cost me about $2,300 to do mold remediation in the kitchen. Mold was only detected in the kitchen. The bad news was that the insurance company would not cover the claim because they said it was an extended leak. Really? I would encourage everyone to read their homeowners insurance policy. It is very interesting to see what they will cover and not cover.
Finally, we just updated our kitchen this past month. That has been our summer project for the house. We had a little delay due to the mold. We are preparing for the school year coming up in less than a month.
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What an unpleasant surprise ...it is something that we can all encounter - I am sure you & your wife are enjoying your new kitchen!!! Having the knowledge & contacts I'm sure expedited the process.
Glad you discovered the mold before it was making your family sick. Looking forward to pictures of the new kitchen.
Noah my network did help me speed up the process. Great observation
Stacey-we did discover it quickly lucky for us
Harry,
It's good to know there are many types of mold. Some harmful and some not-so-much (case in point is bread mold). Testing is the only way to know.
Fortunately the source of your mold problem was easy to identify and eliminate.
All The Best!
Steve
We had the experts in the following Tuesday to test the whole house. We were very fortunate.
Thanks for posting another informative post for us today. Have a great weekend