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How To
Do Your Own Mold Inspection and Testing
Mold
Inspection Definition and Explanation.
Mold
expert Phillip Fry defines Mold Inspection as a
"thorough physical examination of a building by a
Certified Mold Inspector or
by the property owner, manager, or tenant to find and locate visual and
hidden mold growth and water problems that enable mold spores to grow into
mold colony infestations. Mold inspection also includes mold testing and
mold laboratory analysis of collected mold samples and samplings, including
the use of do it yourself
mold test kits. Certified mold inspection and mold tests are often
necessary to file a mold insurance claim and to know precisely where to do
mold remediation in the building."
The following are steps for a thorough black mold toxic home inspection
for mold:
First
Step:
The first step is to hire a qualified, trained, and experienced
Certified Mold Inspector
(CMI), or to make the decision to do your own mold inspection as the
property owner, manager or tenant.
Second Step:
The second step is for either the
Certified Mold Inspector
or the property owner, manager, or tenant to do a thorough physical
examination of the home or other real estate building for evidence of
possible water problems or mold infestation. The
Certified Mold Inspector or the
property owner, manager, or tenant
should thoroughly check the following areas:
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. The property owner,
manager, or tenant can buy his own moisture meter.
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. The property owner, manager, or tenant can buy his own
affordable fiber optics inspection tool at
Mold Mart.
10. Is the humidity level of the crawl space, basement,
attic, or any room of the building higher than seventy percent (70%)
humidity some or all of the time? Humidity levels above 70% 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. You can buy your own low-cost hygrometer in the
thermometer section of a large hardware or home improvement store.
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) do it yourself
mold
test kit
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 sysem (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 5 to 7 days
and then accurately identified as to mold species and mold colony counts by
a well-qualified mold laboratory such as represented by
Mold Mart. For information on how to send your collected mold
samples, please visit:
Mold Laboratory and Identification.
If you have mold inspection questions, please email to mold expert Phillip
Fry
Mold Consultant
at
envirodangers@yahoo.com.
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