Professional Mold Inspections

Mold inspections can be extremely helpful in locating both visible and invisible mold. Many mold inspections, however, do no more than confirm that you have mold, which you might already know. Other mold inspections rely on checking for visible mold, which often is not a true indicator of the mold condition of a house.

Mold inspections done by experienced mold inspectors can be either screening mold inspections or in-depth mold inspections.

A screening mold inspection involves taking an air sample on each level of the house (excluding the attic), plus a tape sample of any visible mold. Screening mold inspections often can confirm the presence or absence of mold but may leave you wondering where the mold is, how extensive it is, and what to do about it.
At an in-depth mold inspection, such as done by a mold inspector from EnviroHealth Consulting, in addition to taking air samples in most rooms, a microscope is used on-site to study surface samples.

Advantages of using an on-site microscope:

An unlimited number of surfaces can be checked to see if there is mold growth. We typically check 20-40 surfaces at a home.
There are no lab fees.
The microscope gives you immediate answers about the presence of toxic black mold and other types of mold.
The mold inspector takes an unlimited number of air samples, for later examination with a microscope after the samples grow.

In summary, at a screening mold inspection, 3 or 4 air samples, maybe with 1 or 2 tape samples, are typically taken by a mold inspector. Lab fees are extra for each sample.

With an EnviroHealth in-depth mold inspection (including inspection for "toxic black mold" and other fungi), a total of 40-70 samples (air and surface) typically are taken, and no lab fees are incurred.

My very, very, very least favorite type of mold inspecting:

Sometimes I'm hired to be just a technician, not a professional mold inspector, and no real mold inspection has actually been done by anyone.

For example, a home inspector has found evidence of visible mold, which he writes up in his report. Either a mortgage company or a relocation company hires me to go in and look at those places and only those places. I feel as if I'm nothing more than a technician taking samples, as if the home inspector (who typically seems to know very little about the habits of mold growth) has usurped my position as a professional mold inspector and has called the shots. In the real world, the areas of visible mold often are the least interesting areas in a true mold inspection.

For example, no visible mold on basement paneling could mean very little. However, the paneling might be loaded with invisible mold, with even more mold growing behind the paneling. Homeowners assume they will learn where mold is, if they hire a mold inspector.

The "letter of the law" is satisfied when it comes to a papertrail protecting everyone's back - but who looks out for the health of the homeowner? That's why you need to learn to be your own advocate. This website will give you a lot of the information you need to do that.

And yet, and yet...the real estate industries have to function. These approaches are perhaps the best they have been able to come up with on a practical level. This is all the more reason you as a consumer have to be your own advocate. You need to hire me, or someone like me, and not depend on reports ultimately paid for by the home seller.

Reserve a little sympathy for the home seller, too. Those individuals get trapped by the report of the home inspector. They often have to lay out considerable money for professional mold remediation companies to address small moldy areas that could be considered homeowner maintenance issues under other circumstances.

Where are you, my colleagues??

If there are any mold inspectors "out there" who practice their profession in harmony with what this website lays out, I'd love to hear from you. may@createyourhealthyhome.com.

If I were "in charge" of the mold industry, there'd be some changes around the ranch:

Inspectors would work with microscopes both for initial mold inspections and for post-remediation inspections. I continue to be uncomfortable with the thought that post-remediation spore trap testing could mainly be checking the efficiency of the air scrubber or negative air equipment and have little to do with confirming the absence of sources of mold growth.
Cleaned surfaces and below-grade protected surfaces would be encapsulated with an effective, least-toxic product.
It would everywhere be illegal for a mold remediation company to also perform mold inspections.
Chemical pesticides would be outlawed in both cleaning and encapsulation products.
Home inspectors would be out of the loop for commenting on mold. Where they pointed out possible visible mold, a disclaimer such as the following would be added: "An in-depth assessment by a professional mold inspector should be done to rule out visible and invisible mold growth." Actually, such a disclaimer should be printed on every home inspection report - or, better, provide a buyers' information booklet, as is done in the lead industry. Don't miss this illustrative story.
The mold inspector would measure the vacuum cleaner with a laser particle counter. Why clean up the air from mold, if the vacuum cleaner is recycling dust and other allergens back into room air?
Mold inspectors would be trained in indoor air quality issues, too. They would provide guidance in how the products we bring into a house pollute the house, often more so than the mold does.

They would, for example, know why synthetic fragrances should be avoided, in favor of a hypoallergenic approach. They would never dream to enter a client's house wearing cologne or smelling of fragranced laundry detergent and dryer sheets. Many people are sensitive to these products, and the inspector is supposedly the indoor air quality expert.

Yes, in case you're wondering, I own more than one soapbox - :) But why clean up one pollutant only to suffer from a host of others?? It "don't make a lick 'a sense," as one of the Geico commercials puts it.

Would this more in-depth approach to mold inspections be more costly?

Probably. But it's the only way I know to honor the health of the family. And for those on a budget, well, there's this website and Borax and whitewash and inexpensive respirators.

Common types of air testing:

Spore trap testing - where a given volume of air is drawn onto a greased surface for subsequent counting of dead and alive spores, as well as hyphal fragments (fragments of growth structures which confirm that mold growth is or was present). A raw count of the actual numbers of spore type and hyphal fragments is provided, as well as a mathematical extrapolation for an estimate of what that raw count might equate to in numbers of spores and hyphal fragments per cubic meter of air.

What you can expect to learn from spore trap testing:

Results give a clue as to presence of mold growth somewhere. For example, if levels of a specific type of Aspergillus are high in the exterior air sample and if levels of a different species of Aspergillus are high in an indoor air sample, there is likely to be an inside source for Aspergillus. The inside type of Aspergillus did not blow in from the outside.
Spore trap test results typically do not provide guidance as to what needs to be remediated or where the mold is growing. Sometimes, of course, the growth is obvious...but there may be additional growth, and you'll not learn that from spore trap testing.
In post-remediation spore trap testing, results confirm how efficient the air cleaning equipment is and how clean the air is on the day of testing. Whether it's that clean two weeks later is not viewed as the problem of the remediator. After all, he doesn't know what you might do in the interim to disturb his cleaning job.

Culture plate sampling - where a given volume of air is drawn in by an air pump onto a Petri dish with nutrient for mold growth. As culturable spores (live spores that also can grow on the type of nutrient used) land on the nutrient, they start to grow. After a week or so, colonies can be studied for the type of mold and any patterns of dissemination throughout a house.

In my experience, culture plate sampling, along with surface sampling, provide the most useful data for locating sources of mold growth and later ascertaining that sources have been eliminated.

However, culture plate sampling is not the most popular type of sampling, because it takes longer to get results with them than with spore trap samples.

What you can expect from culture plate sampling:

Results provide useful information for tracking down sources of mold or ruling out mold contamination in areas (such as an attic).

Limits of any home inspection

There is never a 100% guarantee that all sources of mold - or any other type of structural or environmental concerns - have been found. We do our best to reduce the risk of an unpleasant surprise, that's all.

Clients occasionally tell me that they were doing some renovation work and found unexpected hidden mold in a wall cavity or some such thing. Something like this is nothing that any mold inspector could find.

Bear in mind, too, that even though I could cite examples of people who reacted to areas of hidden growth, such as this story of invisible mold, the research suggests that mold associated with dampness conditions is more strongly linked with asthma, etc. There's just so much we don't know about mold, that I opt for the conservative approach: get rid of all known or discoverable mold growth and control indoor relative humidity.

Sometimes there's a mystery, such as a room where mold levels are elevated and there is no detectable reason for this. My suggestion there is to do a spring cleaning on the room and monitor health symptoms in the room. If necessary, we can do testing in wall cavities -- but that's tricky, because you have to test in between studs, like every 18" around the room, or at least at spaces that might be suspect for mold growth.

In such a room, you never know. Maybe at one time in the past, someone overdid it with a humidifier, or over-watered a plant, or took out a smelly carpet, and only the residue of the mold remains. Maybe all the room needs is a spring cleaning and routine use of a HEPA vacuum and damp-dusting. You don't want to start cutting or drilling into walls on a fishing expedition. I typically find that if there's mold in a wall cavity, I may be able to detect it by taking a tape sample at the bottom of base molding.

I've observed in action some of the equipment to peer inside walls and have mixed feelings about boroscopes. Yes, if there's plenty of black mold, you can see that. But Stachybotrys is already one of the easier molds to guess at its presence or absence. Did water get into the wall cavity, and is drywall present? If so, there's a good chance for Stachybotrys, so replace the water-damaged section and clean and encapsulate inside.

If green mold is present (or invisible mold), that would not typically be detected with a boroscope.

If I were buying a house, here's the minimum of what I'd want tested, assuming no one with a microscope was present:

2 spore trap tests in airflow coming through air ducts at opposite ends of house (or one for each zone);
spore trap sample in the basement
spore trap sample on each living floor
spore trap sample from attic
spore trap sample in exterior
tape sample from underside of basement stairs
tape sample from basement or crawlspace subflooring
a judgment call about a tape sample from inside sink cabinets

The list above is the minimum I'd want done.

There's no way around it. Knowing what I know, I'd want an inspector who works with a microscope - and yet, such characters may not exist within a 500-mile radius of where you live. Again we come back to you having to be your own advocate. How do you do that? How do you rule out a risk for mold growth behind finished walls in a basement? Sniff for moldy smells? Only look at houses that don't have finished below-grade spaces?

I have no easy answers, my friend. Not even a mold-sniffing dog can help you, because if the smell of mold is pervasive (to the dog, if not to you), the air would have to be cleaned up before the dog comes back and hopefully finds something.

You do have access to my screening service (or other screening services) for tape-testing at locations having elevated risk for mold. Some people buying homes have sent me tape samples to look at. This approach isn't ideal, but it can turn up helpful information.

EnviroHealth inspections include:

Tape samples at below-grade surfaces, such as basement or crawlspace ceiling joists and subflooring, basement steps, possessions stored in the basement.
Tape samples inside sink cabinets. Areas near plumbing are at higher risk for mold.
Tape samples of wood in the attic.
Tape samples on furniture, beds, carpets, and other surfaces as needed.
Air samples in each room, plus the exterior, to see what molds might have blown in.
Use of a moisture meter to look for hidden leaks.
Use of a relative humidity meter to help determine the risk for mold in the basement.
Vacuum cleaner check to make sure your vacuum is not recycling mold and other allergens back to room air. Allergens are substances that could provoke allergic reactions -- such as from mold, dust, dust mite particles or feces, cat and dog dander, and pollen. We aim for zero levels of any environmental stressor.
Upon request, additional checks can be made, such as for gas leaks, carbon monoxide, full spectrum electromagnetic field assessment, water issues, and lead screening.

EnviroHealth mold inspections are available in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, DC, and in other areas by special arrangement.

Call 1-888-735-9649 for further information or to schedule an appointment.

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EnviroHealth Consulting, Inc., 1-888-735-9649

Mold and other environmental inspections available in

Connecticut - Maryland - New Jersey - New York - Pennsylvania - Virginia - Washington DC and other areas

may@createyourhealthyhome.com.

Updated 9-2011