Mold Removal in Mountlake Terrace, WA

A planned postwar town

Mountlake Terrace sits in southwest Snohomish County about 12 miles north of Seattle. It was founded in 1949 as a planned postwar community and has long been a bedroom community for Seattle commuters. Its neighborhoods include Cascade View and Melody Hill, with Town Center along 56th and 58th Avenue West. Like most of the area, the city spends October through April under gray skies and steady rain, so houses rarely get a chance to dry out between storms.

Modest houses from the postwar decades share some weak spots. Bathrooms were often built without exhaust fans, or with fans too small to clear shower steam. Crawl spaces may have bare soil or thin, aging plastic. Attic insulation gets added over the years, sometimes covering the soffit vents that let the attic breathe. And original or early replacement windows fog up on cold mornings, feeding mildew on sills and the drywall below. Apartment units add their own patterns: shared walls, stacked bathrooms where one leak reaches several floors, and bedrooms that stay closed and cool all winter.

Lake Ballinger and the creeks

Lake Ballinger, about 100 acres, sits in the southwest corner of the city near Ballinger Park. Hall Creek feeds it and McAleer Creek drains it toward Lake Washington, and other parts of town drain through the Lyon Creek and Swamp Creek watersheds. Homes on low lots near the lake or creek corridors can see higher groundwater and seepage into crawl spaces after weeks of rain. Snohomish County's Flood Information Center has a real-time flood map and a Flood Guide if you want to look at conditions near your address.

Who to contact

Building permits are handled by City of Mountlake Terrace Community Development, and its permit specialists answer questions. Mold cleanup itself is not described as permitted work, but replacing framing or large areas of drywall may be. Code Compliance, in Community and Economic Development, handles nuisance and property issues under the building, environment and zoning codes. Renters should put leaks in writing to the landlord first; Washington's landlord-tenant law requires landlords to keep units weathertight and set times for starting repairs after notice.

The Snohomish County Health Department recommends drying water-damaged materials within 24 to 48 hours. It does not investigate mold complaints in private homes or test mold, and refers landlord disputes to the Dispute Resolution Center of Snohomish and Island Counties.

Calling for help

You are connected with an independent local company. With no Washington mold license, check L&I construction contractor registration on the Verify a Contractor tool.