Mold in Walls & Drywall in Ball Ground, GA

Ball Ground homes and hidden moisture

Ball Ground is a small Cherokee County city of about 2,600 people at the foothills of the North Georgia mountains, roughly 41 miles from Atlanta, with a National Register historic district downtown. Its housing runs from historic homes dating from the 1880s to the 1920s to new subdivisions built since 1997. Older houses often have plaster on lath, old windows and decades of roof and plumbing repairs. Newer houses have more plumbing in interior walls and tighter construction that holds moisture once it gets in. In September 2009, the NWS gauge on Sharp Mountain Creek at Ballground reached its 18-foot flood stage, and Cherokee County was one of four Georgia counties designated for FEMA Individual Assistance.

What to do now

1. Stop the water at its source if you can, whether a fixture, the roof or a window.
2. Dry the room; EPA says wet materials should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
3. Leave plaster or drywall alone for now. Breaking moldy material without containment spreads spores.
4. Keep anyone with asthma or a weakened immune system out of the area, as EPA advises.
5. Photograph the wall and note dates.
6. Have a company map the moisture before any demolition, especially in a historic house where trim may be worth saving.

Signs and likely causes

Cost factors

Angi's Atlanta cost guide reports most pros charge $12 to $29 per square foot for remediation, with drywall repair at $1,174 to $3,405. HomeGuide's 2026 national ranges put a large wall section at $1,500 to $6,000. Plaster removal, saving historic trim, wet insulation and travel time to a small north Cherokee town can all push the price up. Check with the City of Ball Ground about building permits before the rebuild. Cherokee County Environmental Health takes mold complaints and gives information but does not inspect homes.