You should not try to paint over the drywall. Regs for removal and mitigation will be local. If I had to do this in my own home, it would be relatively straightforward. I'd ventilate and wear a respirator and cover up. There is nothing growing in there that is not in the environment already, it is just very concentrated.

You don't want to scrimp on laying down some mold inhibitor on the wood framing and wood anything else that is left behind. You don't want to spend the money on removal and new drywall only to find that the mold will come back later.

Thanks for the reply. The mold guy is really good. I've used him before. I know he'll do it right, and there will be an independent test.

I just flatlined for a minute when he mentioned the likely cost.

I see no reason that this could not be DIY for a lot less money. It is a matter of hauling out the drywall and other debris and spraying the frame. You can get testing done by an independent lab.

Oh, man. There is no way I'm tearing the drywall out of an entire house. I would be busy for a month or more, and I would be breathing mold every day, even if I used a mask. I just want to be sure I'm not overspending on whoever does the job for me.

I'd want to get a couple more bids.

I am talking to a different guy to see if I can get him to do the demolition cheaper. That way I could bring the expensive mold dude in for the treatment and test.

That sucks, especially since I've noticed some mold forming due to our horrible winter and ice damns. Looks like this summer's reno job is going to be quite hefty on my end...

Keep us updated on how things continue here... In the past I've seen people just DIY and remove drywall with mold and they don't ever bother to treat it. Then they replace it years later again...

For what it's worth, when my wife and I purchased our summer home on Cape Cod, a sea shore area. Our bedrooms and bath rooms were covered by mold, from floor to ceiling, black mold. The house was a foreclosure and had been vacant for some time. My wife purchased bleach, and with bleach and hot water, and masks, we washed and cleaned the house. Wash, rinsed, washed again and rinsed. The mold did leave a stain at the end, which was covered by a good primer (I used kils). Half way through, being anal, I would do a second wash with TSP, just to test if one method was better than the next.
12yrs later mold hasn't returned. We often comment that the house would have been torn down today, due to the mold coverage.
Hope this may help

Perhaps a dumb question... Couldn't testing be done, first? (Not as a part of a 10k demo bid?). While I realize that extensive mold can contain many different types, I also understand that not all mold that is black is "black mold". If professional remediation is not necessary, why pay for that? Is "testing" part of the bid process to ensure elimination, after?
NOT trying to be smart-alecky, I swear! Just learning all I can, when I can. It's a long-term process, for me. :-)