Mold Inspection
Mold expert Phillip
Fry defines Mold Inspection as a
"thorough physical examination of a building by a
Certified Mold Inspector
to find and locate visual and hidden mold growth and water problems that
enable mold spores to grow into mold colony infestations. Includes mold
testing and mold laboratory analysis of collected mold samples and
samplings. Certified mold inspection and mold tests are often necessary to
file a mold insurance claim."
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 [C.M.I.].
Second
Step:
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
Certified Mold Inspector 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.
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 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
Mold Inspector Laboratory, Ltd.
For information on how to send your collected mold samples, please visit:
Mold Laboratory and
Identification.
For further mold mildew questions please email to mold expert Phil
Mold Consultant. |
