Testing for Mold

While many problems in the home, such as leaks, and cracks can easily be spotted by the untrained eye, there are a number of potential issues that aren’t as easily noticed. One such issue is with molds, and the health risks they carry.

When high levels of moisture infiltrate your home, it can seep into everything with the potential to retain it. Fabrics, such as couches, and carpets, wood products, such as baseboards, and the support beams in your home, and even rock mineral products such as drywall or Sheetrock can contain and grow the spores of mold.

Once mold sets into a home, it can be very difficult to remove. Hard surfaces can be cleaned with 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, but softer materials that would retain the moisture of such a cleaning agent need to be removed and disposed of outright. Once measures are taken to remove the problem, ensuring a household is free of mold is no easy task. While a musty smell and dark patches on ceilings and walls are a dead give away the problem remains, mold can be an elusive foe and not allow one to detect it so easily. Mold can grow inside your walls and ventilating duct work, entirely out of sight. A trained and licensed home inspector may easily be able to detect signs of mold others cannot, by spotting possible problem areas a buyer may not be aware of. window sills are a good example of this, as windows are often a source of excess moisture. Chipped and peeling paint on a window sill, and condensation between panes of glass can be giveaways to possible problems that exist now, or may arise in the future. Besides the sight and smell of mold, there are a range of other options available to detect possible problems. Lab testing is one such option and may be conducted immediately on site by your professional mold inspector for the most accurate results.

You may be surprised to know that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend routine sampling for molds. Furthermore in the case of a real estate purchase, if a seller detects mold in their home, they are under no obligation to ensure the home is mold free once the easily visible mold is gone, thus taking a ‘head in the sand’ approach legally protected by the New York “Property Condition Disclosure Act”. It is for this reason that a trained and licensed home inspector is highly recommended before any purchase of residential or commercial real estate is made.

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