Q. I live in a condo which has three floors. I had noticed this problem last year and I had the water dept. down but they could not find the problem. I have wall to wall carpeting in most almost all of my rooms. In my living room I have noticed wet spots coming up from the floor through my carpeting. It stopped for awhile but I am just noticing they are coming back. I hate to rip up the carpeting to see where this problem is coming from but I wanted to know what is causing this and if there is any danger with mold or mildew that I need to worry about. [October 2, 2004]
        A. There are at least two serious possibilities: (1) you have a water leak somewhere underground [many plumbing supply lines run inside concrete floors or thru concrete floors]. You can check out that possibility by hiring a local water leak inspection company that uses special equipment emitting a radio frequency that can detect the precise locations of elevated levels of water in the concrete [and therefore potential water leaks to find and repair]. (2) you have an non-existent of degraded moisture/water barrier beneath the concrete floors so that ground water can wick up through the concrete to make your carpeting [and walls resting on the concrete] wet. Either condition can cause massive mold growth in your walls and ceilings and ultimately the loss of your health and your condo investment. The second problem is best analyzed by a Certified Mold Inspector using a hidden moisture meter to scan all of your concrete floors, plus all of your walls and ceilings. The carpeting and padding would need to be pulled back as far as you are willing to have the floor area scanned for high levels of water in the concrete. Step one of necessity uses more powerful radio waves to find leaks which might be fairly deep beneath your home. A hidden moisture meter scans only to a depth of about 3/4 of an inch---plenty deep enough, though, because if a floor or wall is wet, it is almost always totally wet. You also need to use either the Certified Mold Inspector or our do it yourself mold test kits from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store to mold test the air of each room, any basement/crawl space/attic, and the outward air flow from each heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test. When you have wet concrete and wet carpeting, you are likely to already have a serious mold cross-contamination problem in your home. Read all five of our mold advice books, as described at the top of this page.

       Q. We are owners of a condominium which about 3 weeks ago was subjected to a flood of water from an overflowing toilet in the suite above ours.  The owners couldn't figure out how to get the toilet to stop, so it kept flooding for quite a few minutes.  Water poured down through several routes: our smoke detector, inside a wall from where it then flowed out to both on top of and (apparently) underneath our newly installed "wood" laminate floor, and through the vent in our bathroom. The restoration company that was called in by the condo mgt. said everything looked OK and saw no reason to do any restoration work.  However, subsequently, we have been noticing an extremely noxious sour odor that seems to be getting worse each day.  We also haven't been feeling very well - very achy and tired - and are wondering if there is a hidden mold problem that could be, at the least, causing the bad odor and, at the worst, making us sick.  As there is no visible sign of mold anywhere, we are wondering if there is a way to test for mold without having to actually tear out drywall?  Also, do you have any other recommendations? [March 19, 2004]
       A. One way to detect mold test for hidden mold growth inside walls and ceilings is to turn off the appropriate electrical circuit breaker, and then remove the plastic electrical switch and outlet cover plates. Using a small fan that has been thoroughly cleaned [blades and housing] with rubbing alcohol, tape one of the opened do-it-best-yourself mold test kits from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store to the fan so that the fan air flow directly impacts on the sticky surface of the mold test kit. Then place a stand of some kind to hold the fan in place for 15 minutes to draw air from the gaps around the uncovered electrical outlets and switches. You want to line up the mold test kit directly with the outlet gaps so that the fan draws air from inside the wall and then directly impacts that air on the mold test kit. Then seal the mold test kit, and properly mark it as to testing location, your name, property address, date of testing, and testing method [fan air test]. You can watch for mold growth over a 7 day time period in the mold test kit, or send the kit to a mold lab for mold laboratory analysis right away or after the 7 days. You would use a separate mold test kit for each hole that you are drawing air out of. You need to clean the fan blades and housing after every separate test location is completed. You can do the same procedure to test ceilings, by disconnecting the screws holding up the ceiling light [letting it hang by the electrical wires]. In addition, you will also want to mold test the air of each room, attic, basement, crawl space, and the outward air flow from each heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test. You would you use mold test kits from a large hardware or home improvement store for such air tests.  As to the flooring, and likely, mold growth beneath, you need to drill several well-spaced testing holes into the flooring in several areas to conduct multiple location fan tests. You should visit the Mold Inspection website: Mold Inspection.