A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO HIRING A MOLD INSPECTOR
Before moving into a new home, it is essential to check for mold, especially in areas where there are damp walls, floors, and ceilings. Its presence does not only affect your home’s integrity but can also affect your health if not removed immediately. Prolonged exposure to mold contamination can lead to flu and cold symptoms like watery eyes, fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and even upper respiratory congestion among other issues.
As more people grow aware of the impacts of mold infestations on their health, and the health of their loved ones, the more essential home inspections become for home buyers and new parents. Unfortunately, in an attempt to get rid of their mold quickly, many people hire an inspector without qualifying them
Look for professionals: You will need to start by searching the internet for expert mold inspectors near you. Only a specialist will have the knowledge and equipment to find the mold and have suggestions on what and how to deal with it. So, read their websites to find information related to these aspects.
Shortlist the ones with the best reviews: Try looking for inspectors you’ve listed on rating sites like Angie’s List or Home Advisor and check their ratings and reviews. You can also do a Google search for review and rating websites to see what pops up.
Look for signs of professionalism: A professional mold inspector should be just that, a professional. Do they arrive wearing a uniform or with a logo on their clothing or vehicle? Do they have the basic requirements like a moisture meter, bright flashlight, air sampler, tape lift, and swabs for sampling? Can they provide proof of training? Do they have any professional association memberships
Testing for Mold Tips
Testing for Mold Litigation
For the strongest case possible, you’ll need to know the species of mold you are dealing with. It is in your best interest to have a disinterested, 3rd party to take the test for you. It is also recommend to undergo multiple tests in order to support your case. If water damage was a problem, you will also want to test for environmental bacteria, as this has the potential to make you very ill.
Testing for Mold Post Remediation
Once you have determined that your environment has mold contamination (testing for mold has confirmed the presence of mold infestation), you must have the structure “professionally remediated” for mold. Once remediated, you’ll need to be sure the job was done correctly and the mold levels are deemed safe. This type of testing for mold is known as “Post Remediation Clearance Testing”, this assures you the job was done correctly and the structure is now safe to inhabit.
Testing for Mold Health Reasons
Is your environment making you sick? You will need medical testing in conjunction with your environmental testing for a complete analysis.
Testing for Mold Peace of Mind
Testing for mold and getting clear and clean results is the peace of mind every person wants to get. Whether it’s in your home, apartment, school or place of work, testing for mold can give you that peace of mind.
Water Damage
Moisture is generally the cause of mold growth in a structure. When inspecting a building the first step in figuring out how the mold contamination began is finding the water intrusion. We recommend testing anywhere there is visible water damage in order to identify the source of your mold problem
How to Perform Your Own Mold Inspection & Mold Cleanup
The steps in this document will be sufficient for many building owners who want to do their own mold investigation, mold testing, mold cleanup, and mold prevention in their home or office.
However do-it-yourselfers should pay close attention to what can go wrong. If you haven’t already read HIRE A PROFESSIONAL? you should do so now
We encourage healthy, not-at-risk people to handle small mold problems themselves. You don’t need to hire an expert to clean up moldy bath tiles or a square foot of moldy drywall. But if you are proceeding on your own, be alert for the discovery that the extent of the problem is large enough that you should stop and bring in a professional.
Find the Mold: Examine living/working conditions to find evidence of any mold or to determine the actual extent of mold problem in the building. Our website includes detailed articles on finding and recognizing mold both on visible surfaces and by invasive methods such as cutting small openings at areas where there is high risk of a hidden mold reservoir (such as where leaks into a wall or ceiling have occurred
Clean-up the Mold: remove or clean up problem mold reservoirs. But don’t be fooled into spending an outlandish sum on removing a “cosmetic” mold. Later below you’ll read about stuff that is not mold or is only a cosmetic mold. We provide detailed articles on good procedures to clean up indoor mold. Don’t forget that the key word in mold remediation is “remove” – we need to clean off moldy surfaces that can be cleaned and dispose of moldy materials (such as drywall and insulation) that cannot be cleaned
Mold Testing by Inspector
I started my business in 1994, before mold became known as a public health issue, so I had about 7 years experience before the mold industry started to get organized.
To be credentialed, I took the mold inspector training in the early 2000s. At the class I attended, the students were essentially taught to be lab technicians. We were taught to do a visual inspection, and if we saw anything that looked like it might be mold, to take a swab or tape sample and forward it to the lab. We were also to take a spore trap test on each floor of the house, probably with the exception of the attic, plus the outside. That’s it – 4 or 5 samples from the average house (whereas I’m taking 40-60 on my inspections, usually without any lab fees but including photo-documentation of mold growth).
Another problem is that there can be high levels of mold that are not visible to the naked eye, so someone who goes just by what is visible may miss a lot of mold.
Therefore, if you plan to have mold testing by an inspector, be prepared that mold likely may be missed. You may want to pick up the slack with your own do-it-yourself testing before the inspector arrives. You may need to guide the inspector to where to sample (if you should need lab confirmation for legal purposes or if you want to be sure that remediation doesn’t miss some area of mold growth).
Types of air testing
Although I find tape-sampling with a microscope invaluable for finding invisible mold, I almost always take air samples, too. When having mold testing by an inspector, the usual type of air sampling done is called “spore trap testing.” Spores are trapped on a sticky surface and the test kit is forwarded to a lab for counting. Some inspectors, myself included, prefer culture plate sampling, because it is better for diagnostic purposes. With culture plate, you can see the type of mold that grows out from trapped spores.
(Industry guidelines call for one sample in the basement, one on each level of the house, and an outside sample. Sometimes we do that. Sometimes the prospective purchaser says that they won’t be negotiating but just want a basement sample done for their own information. One sample costs a lot less than four samples. But if legal use could be made of a basement sample, then have all four samples done, or you will have no reference point for understanding the basement sample. Your inspector could be challenged as not knowing what he is doing, for that matter.)
Mountainside Mold Remediation
How do you choose the best Mountainside Mold Remediation company? Jun’s Mold Remediation performs mold inspection testing to find the mold. When there is mold in your home and you want to get rid of it quickly, choosing the best mold remediation company is very important. Water damage can lead to mold problems in your home. Searching for a qualified remediator that understands the potential danger of mold in a home is critical. Here are a few tips on finding a good mold remediation company
Mold inspectors use many different tools to help them diagnose and verify what they find in the home. A professional mold removal takes samples of the air and physical locations of the home to check if there is presence of mold. Sample are sent to the labs to be analyzed and report what findings there are
Searching for the best mold remediation it is best to check for references and reviews. A company that shows consistency will show up on a number of good reviews in different sites. Review the contract and agreement made with the professional, knowing what information you will be given about the test and results. A good report supplied by the professional will have findings of mold, photos supporting any findings. An action plan for dealing with the problems and good maintenance tips will also be provided in the report.
Mold in a home means that moisture or humidity is or has been present. Water that has been present and not dried up will produce mold. If there is some discoloration of drywall paper or flooring there could be a mold issue. Mold is not only black. A mold situation at times has a musty odor. Walking in a home with a mold issue can be sometimes easily detected by the odor in the air. Even if mold is not visible and has no odor, mold is inspected and found in the home by having a proper mold remediation.
Usually when residents of a home are experiencing congestion, allergy symptoms, headaches or breathing issues it is an indication of unhealthy air quality in the home and it must be inspected right away.