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Toxic Mold
Inspection, Sampling & Testing
Toxic mold
inspection, sampling, and testing means to thoroughly inspect and toxic mold
test a home, apartment, condo, office, or commercial property for the presence
of water problems, higher than normal levels of mold spores, or serious levels
of mold infestation or mold contamination.
The first
step is to hire a qualified, trained, and
experienced Certified
Mold Inspector [C.M.I.]. Below is a photo of Houston's Michael
Bokenkamp, C.M.I. doing one of his normal, very thorough mold
inspections in South Texas [he serves Austin, the Hill Country, San Antonio,
Houston and adjacent areas].
The second
step is for either the Certified
Mold Inspector or the property owner or property manager to do a
thorough physical examination of the home or other real estate building for
evidence of possible water problems or mold infestation. The following areas
need to be checked---
1. Do any of the home residents or
building occupants suffer from any of the most frequent general mold health
symptoms listed at: Mold
Symptoms? If so, you need to be very thorough in both mold
inspection and mold testing of the home and workplaces of the residents to find
the possible mold cause of their health problems.
2. Shrubs, trees, and other plants
growing close to the home or building. Too many trees too close to the building
protect mold growth from the killing effect of ultraviolet sun light. In
addition, dead leaves and plants provide food to enable mold to grow; growing
mold creates airborne mold spores to enter the building through open windows and
doors.
3. Is the land around the building
sloping away from the building [thus carrying rainfall and snow melt away
from the building] or toward the building [thus bringing excess water to the
building and causing possible water intrusion into the building's foundation,
concrete slabs, and basement walls]?
4. Is the roof in good repair
[such as good shingles and no cracks or holes in flashings around plumbing vent
pipes, air conditioning units, etc.]?
5. In the attic, are their water
stains or mold growth on the under side of the roof decking, the roof
joists, the attic floor, and on and beneath insulation? Mold cannot eat
fiberglass insulation, but it can eat the paper backing of such insulation, and
mold can also eat and grow on organic dirt deposited onto the fiberglass
strands.
6. Are there physical signs or
evidence of water intrusion or mold growth anywhere in water-oriented rooms such
as bathrooms, the kitchen, and the laundry room? Be very thorough in
inspecting and testing for bathroom mold, kitchen mold, utility room mold, and
laundry room mold.
7. Are their water stains, water
damage areas, or suspicious discolorations of any other rooms' ceilings, walls,
floors, and furniture that would indicate the need to test for ceiling mold,
wall mold, floor mold, living room mold, closet mold, dining room mold, bedroom
mold, or, in other areas, attic mold, crawl space mold, basement mold, storage
room mold, or garage mold?
8. Is there hidden water moisture
inside wall cavities, beneath floors, above ceilings, or behind ceramic tiles of
bathroom walls, tubs and showers? Your
Certified
Mold Inspector
will
use his or her Hidden Moisture Meter to test non-invasively [no holes required]
such surfaces.
9. Has the property ever
experienced roof leaks, water leaks, floods, or other water problems and water
intrusions? If so, pay particular attention to inspecting and mold testing
building areas that experienced such past or present water intrusions. Your
Certified
Mold Inspector
can
use his or her fiber optics inspection device to inspect for mold growth and
water problems inside walls, above ceilings, and beneath floors.
10. Is the humidity level of the
crawl space, basement, attic, or any room of the building higher than fifty
percent [50%] humidity? Humidity levels above 50% in any area of the home
can provide sufficient moisture to enable mold to grow!!! Your
Certified
Mold Inspector
will
use a digital hygrometer to test each area of your home or building.
11. Are there elevated levels of
unhealthy mold spores in the air of the attic, crawl space, basement, and
the various rooms of the home or other building? Are the levels of mold
spores indoors greater than outside levels, and/or different as to the types of
mold species present? Your
Certified
Mold Inspector
will
use use a variety of mold testing techniques to collect mold air samples both
indoors and outdoors [called outdoor control test]. The various best mold
sampling techniques and technologies are:
(a) mold culture plates upon which airborne mold settles onto after stirring up
the air in the room with a disinfected fan for 15 minutes to 30 minutes;
(b) controlled air testing impactors that use an air pump to draw in and impact
airborne mold spores onto the sticky surface of a mold culture plate;
(c) direct sampling of visually-noticeable mold growth through scraping of the
suspect mold substance into a mold culture plate, or Scotch tape lift tape
sampling, or actually cutting and saving a piece of what the suspect mold is
growing on or in such as drywall, wood, carpeting, etc.
12. Is there mold contamination
inside the building's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system [hvac],
and/or hvac ducts? Your
Certified
Mold Inspector
will
tape mold culture plates [sticky surface facing inward] onto at least one air
supply register grill of each zone of your hvac system, and then run the hvac
system for 15 minutes to impact possible mold infestation spores onto the sticky
surface of the mold culture plates.
13. Have your collected mold
samples grown for 7 days and then accurately identified as to mold species
and mold colony counts by a well-qualified mold laboratory such as Mold
Inspector Laboratory International, Ltd. associate. To send mold samples to the Mold
Inspector Lab, please be sure that each sample has a identification label
containing your name, the property address at which the mold sample was
collected, the precise testing location within that property, and the testing
date. The lab analysis fee is $49.00 per sample analyzed. Please send mold
samples only by overnight FedEX, UPS, DHL, or Airborne Express, and NOT by the
U.S. Post Office to the address specified in your Mold Laboratory receipt.
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