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Toxic Mold
Inspection, Black Mold Inspection,
Sampling & Testing
Please
read the how-to mold testing article All-Around-Your Home
Mold Testing,
the feature article How
To Use Mold Test Kits, the feature
article Scotch®Brand
Lift Tape Sampling,
and the feature article How To Do
Bulk Physical Mold
Sampling.
Toxic Mold Inspection or Black Mold
Inspection, sampling, and testing means to thoroughly inspect
black mold 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]. Or make the decision to do
your own mold inspection following the thorough directions provided in our
book Do-It-Yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection,
Testing, and Remediation and on the
Mold Inspection
website.
Mold Inspection
Second Step of
Certified Mold Inspection
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---
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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.
-
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.
-
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]?
-
Is the roof in good
repair, such as good shingles and no cracks or holes in flashings around plumbing vent pipes,
& air conditioning units.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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