Mold Test: Toxic Mold Inspection, Investigation and Testing

Mold inspection means to thoroughly inspect and perform toxic mold test at home, apartment, condo, office, or commercial property for the presence of water problems, higher than normal level of mold spores, or serious levels of mold infestation or mold contamination. The following are sample tasks you do as mold inspector after being trained and certified as a certified mold inspector.

First Step:
The first step is to hire a qualified, trained, and experienced Certified Mold Inspector. To find one in your area, please
visit: Mold Inspector.

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 following areas need to be checked --

1. 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 sunlight. 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.
    

2. 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)?
    

3. 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.)?
    

4. 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 the 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.
    

5. 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?
    

6. Do any of the home residents or building occupants suffer from any of the most frequent general mold health symptoms listed at Mold Symptoms?
    

7. 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.
    

8. 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 devices to inspect for mold growth and water problems inside walls, above ceilings, and beneath floors.
    

9. 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.
    

10. 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 the types of mold species present? Your Certified Mold Inspector will 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:
     

    1. Mold culture plates upon which airborne mold settles onto after stirring up the air in the room with disinfected fan for 15 minutes to 30 minutes.

    2. 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.

    3. 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.
        

11. 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.
     

12. 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.