I went to look at a super cheap house and saw this mess near the stairwell. There are literal mushrooms growing out of the wood near the bottom step, and it seems to be linked to a leaky toilet upstairs. People are telling me that actual mushrooms means the underlying water damage and mold is incredibly advanced. This leak has been going on for years, probably long enough for the sewage water to rot the wood, turning it into fertile ground for this fungal growth. The consensus is that the whole area needs to be torn out—drywall, flooring, maybe even structural wood—to fix the leak and deal with the rot that's definitely hiding beneath the surface. It looks like a simple repair that turned into a five thousand dollar project overnight. #HomeMaintenance #WaterDamage #Mold