Mold inspection and testing can become very important if during an inspection, areas where past or present water damage or excessive moisture are found. It is always recommended to test for mold and air quality when it is visible and you can smell that musty scent.
Molds are everywhere, and that’s natural. The problem is when they start growing indoors. Indoor mold is often a sign of water or moisture issues. A home inspector checks for specific areas where mold is known to grow and will indicate if issues are found and suggest a mold test and lab analysis.
Effects of Mold on Health
Mold exposure has the potential to cause a variety of health issues and symptoms, including allergic reactions, asthma, and respiratory complaints. If someone sensitive inhales or touches mold or spores, they may have an allergic reaction. Allergic reactions may include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash.
How do you get rid of mold?
Mold can be removed from your home, although, it is not possible to remove all mold and spores from the environment. The only way to prevent indoor mold growth is to control moisture. The spores don’t grow if there isn’t moisture.
If your dealing with mold in your home, it’s important to clean it up (remediation) and get rid of the sources of moisture. There are also specialty mold clean up contractors experienced in Mold Remediation that you can hire.
Mold is an indication of either a present, recent or past water problem or leak. To prevent any growth, the source of the water problem must be fixed. All damaged items must be dried completely. To prevent mold growth, it is important to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24-48 hours.
From water stained ceilings to smelling something musty, dusty and old, mold will make it’s presence known either visibly or physically. Unfortunately, mold can hide in many places in your home; invisibly. This makes Mold Testing and analysis rather important when buying a new home.
Mold grows with excessive moisture. A major step you can take to reduce mold is to reduce indoor humidity (to 30-60%) to decrease growth by:
- Vent bathrooms, dryers and other moisture-generating sources to the exterior of the house. Vents have been found to be improperly leading to attics and garages. Attics trap excessive heat and moisture and without proper venting they cause mold growth and roofing problems inside and out.
- When possible, during hot and humid months, use air conditioning and de-humidifiers, ceiling fans.
Where can mold be found?
Molds can be found in any area where moisture is present. Some of them can grow on wood, paper, carpet and foods.
Mold can grow on almost any surface if there is too much moisture. Read more about Mold and your health, steps for cleaning mold in a home here.
Mold Inspection, Testing and Analysis for Michigan Homebuyers
Top Floor Home Inspections provides mold testing and air sampling, swab mold inspection services in the Metro Detroit area. The home inspector takes samples from the air or surfaces and sends them to a lab for analysis.
If the results are returned as high, further testing may be necessary by a Mold Remediation company who also can provide quotes to a homebuyer on costs to remove the mold and clean the area.
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