Mold in Walls & Drywall in The Woodlands, TX

Our village flooded during Harvey. Should we still worry about the walls?

Hurricane Harvey pushed Spring Creek, Panther Branch and Bear Branch to historic levels. Preliminary data showed 141 homes in The Woodlands with flood damage, and The Woodlands Fire Department made 224 high-water rescues and evacuations. If your home was one of them and any wall was dried in place instead of opened, a musty smell on humid days, faint staining near the floor or soft baseboards are reasons to have it checked. EPA's flood guidance says to assume mold wherever materials weren't dried within 24 to 48 hours. A mold assessment consultant can confirm with moisture readings and a small inspection opening before anything larger comes out.

We never flooded. Why is there mold behind the drywall?

Most homes here never took floodwater, and wall mold still turns up. The Woodlands is a master-planned community of about 114,000 people, dedicated in 1974, and its tall pines keep many walls shaded and slow to dry. Common sources include attic air handlers that overflow their drain pans into interior walls, second-floor bathrooms leaking into the walls below, refrigerant lines that sweat inside chases, and window or door flashing that lets in rain during long storms. Older homes in the early villages may have had decades of small leaks that were painted over rather than opened.

Who do we call for permits, and who does the removal?

The Woodlands is a township in unincorporated territory, mostly in Montgomery County with a portion in Harris County. On the Montgomery County side, the county Permit Department under Environmental Health, at 501 N. Thompson in Conroe, issues development permits, including for substantially damaged structures in the floodplain; ask about your rebuild there, and check with Harris County if your address is on that side. The mold work itself follows Texas TDLR rules: a mold assessment consultant writes the protocol, and a different company that holds a TDLR mold remediation contractor license removes the mold.

One more local note

Montgomery County Public Health District doesn't list mold or housing complaints among the issues it takes, so health questions are best taken to a health professional, and renters should put repair requests to the landlord in writing.