Why A Mold Inspection Air Test Is Useful In The Winter
Having a mold inspection air test during the winter months isn’t generally top on our lists of winter home concerns. Many homeowners consider mold to be a spring, summer and fall problem, when water events can cause sudden floods or heat and humidity stick around and get trapped indoors. But mold can grow all year round, and a small problem that begins in the winter can grow bigger by the spring and bigger still by the summer months, making an air test in the winter an important tool in identifying mold problems.
Mold can grow in your home during the winter for many reasons. One common reason is that your furnace may have a built-in humidifier to add moisture to dry winter air. When combined with decreased ventilation and high temperatures, the right conditions for mold growth can arise in even the coldest of months. Another way mold can form in your home is in improperly insulated spaces, where warm indoor air meets a cold exterior wall, forming condensation. Moisture is the single most important factor when it comes to mold growth, and, along with humidity, is one of the things we look for during a mold inspection in the winter.
Where Mold Likes to Grow
During any mold inspection air test at SafeAir, we generally start in one of two places: the basement or the attic. Year-round, they’re the most common places that mold likes to grow in your home, and a mold inspection in the winter can help reveal areas that may become bigger concerns later in the year. Basements are particularly prone to mold because they are often under-insulated, have less traffic, have water sources or are at risk for leaks, and have restricted airflow. At the top of your home, an air test in the winter can reveal a great deal of how your home is coping with increased heating and what problems that warm air could be causing in your attic.
The Benefits of A Mold Inspection Air Test
Having a mold inspection in the winter can help you keep your home and family healthy all year round. Catching mold early can save you time, money, and the headache of remediation by dealing with any mold growth while it’s small and hasn’t caused damage or made anyone ill. An air test in the winter compared with one in the summer can tell you a lot about your indoor air quality and the areas in your home that may need improvement. Mold isn’t the type of problem that goes away on its own – to be certain it’s gone for good, a thorough, professional mold inspection in the winter months is needed to prevent it from continuing to grow and spread.
Prevention is the best method
In the end, the adage ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ applies to mold as well. Preventing mold, through proactive measures like fixing leaks, upgrading ventilation, and by having an air test in the winter are some of the best ways to ensure that mold growth is caught early and removed before it begins to affect your home and your health
WHEN DO YOU NEED A MOLD INSPECTION?
Whether you are moving into a new home or conducting annual maintenance on your own, one of the biggest problems you and your home inspector might not be able to detect is mold. Mold can be tricky to spot and even trickier to remove depending on its type and severity.
Mold 101
Mold is something that occurs normally and naturally outside. It helps to break down dead organic plant or animal matter into materials that can be reused by nature. Mold is incredibly important to our ecosystem, but it should stay outside! You can naturally encounter mold and mold spores every day outside without having any negative results, as long as you aren’t allergic. Once mold moves indoors, it becomes less useful and much more harmful. Without the air circulation and outdoor environment, the mold and its spores will multiply (and you’ll breathe them in) in larger concentrations.
Why Does Mold Like the Inside if It Comes From the Outside?
Mold relies on dead organic material to stay “alive,” so it is constantly releasing spores to find new things to feed and live on. Homes are a restaurant for mold and mold spores, as they are made of tons of different materials that mold loves—wood, drywall, fabric, and paper to name a few. Regardless of how appetizing your home is, mold still needs water and moisture to thrive. If you can control and eliminate moisture, mold should not be able to grow in your home. A professional mold inspection can identify spots susceptible to mold growth and give you tips on preventing mold, even if they don’t find any mold currently growing.
Getting Rid of Mold is a Tall Task
Mold remediation or mold removal is the process that a professional contractor will go through to make your home safe to live in again after finding mold. All materials affected by mold need to be completely removed from the home, as spores are still living on them. As parts of your home structure may be affected, they will need to be replaced with the proper materials. The more damage mold has done to your home, the more you will need to pay to remedy the damage
Trust the Mold Inspector on Mold, Not the Home Inspector
Part of your home-buying process is hiring a home inspector to walk through the home and identify any potential problems before you move in. However, most home inspectors are not skilled at identifying mold problems. Mold can be hidden away in moist areas like underneath baseboards, beneath carpet, or lurking behind a paint job.
TESTING FOR MOLD – SCAM OR SCIENCE?
Let’s start with a quiz. Which house has a higher mold spore count?
The room on the left is a bathroom with significant mold growth on the walls and ceilings. This was due to the lack of a bathroom fan. The photo on the right is a basement with no visible mold growth, but a damp rug and a strong musty odor. Mold testing was performed in both areas.
Why such weird results?
Despite the heavy staining from the mold growth in the bathroom (left), the flat growth profile did not lead to substantial spreading of spores. The high spore count in the basement (right) was due to moisture trapped in the rug. Despite the fact the area rug was only 6′ across, the constant exposure to vapor emissions from the concrete slab led to a tremendous amount of mold growth. Amazingly, very little mold growth was visible. This is common with carpeting, as the mold grows within the pad and carpet fibers without much visual evidence. These are both good examples of when mold testing is helpful.
When should you test your house for mold?
Before any sampling is conducted, you must first identify the potential results. This may sound obvious, but many inspection companies charge thousands of dollars for sampling without ever identifying a real benefit. They may provide their clients with pages and pages of data, but no actionable information. Before any sampling is collected, you must first identify potential actions you’ll take based on the results.
You don’t see visible mold, but you have high humidity
If your home suffers from condensation on the windows, this is often an indication of poor air flow and high humidity. High humidity is one of the main causes of mold growth. In these scenarios, it is reasonable to suspect that mold growth may be occurring in the home and therefore, testing is a worthwhile option. This is especially true if you see condensation on a modern, double pane window.
You’ve found visible mold growth, but it’s unclear what materials have been affected
Let’s say you own a condo and you find mold growth on an exterior wall behind a bed. Your inspector concludes that the mold growth is due to condensation from a poorly insulated wall. The extent of the actual growth is obvious, but the extent of the settled mold spores is not. During mold growth’s cycle, thousands, even millions of spores can be released into the air.
Important Things You Need To Know Before Choosing A Mold Inspector
There are so many mold inspection companies out there in the market, and we can get overwhelmed with all the choices that lay before us. Which company should we choose? Is that company reliable? Will they be able to help me? We know that choosing a mold consulting company can be a difficult and challenging process and therefore, we have put together four important things that you need to know before choosing a mold inspector for your home or office.
Are Mold Remediation Or Cleaning Services Included?
There may lie a conflict of interest for the firm to conduct both the inspection as well as the remediation of mold. You may not be able to trust the mold inspector completely as well since there is a possibility that they may use the inspection to their advantage and profit from the discovery of mold. It will be best for you to engage a third-party company for your initial investigation and testing so as to get a neutral and unbiased opinion.
How Reputable is the Firm?
There are many companies online that you can choose from. To prevent yourself from wasting unnecessary time and effort calling every firm, you can do some homework beforehand. Look up each company online and check out the customer testimonials or reviews about the mold inspector. This will be a good way to gauge the reputation of the firm, if it is worth continuing your search. Quality companies should have a list of satisfied customers, and probably personal statements from past clients who endorsed their services. The more highly rated the reviews and personal statements are, the higher the chances are that the mold inspector is someone good and reliable.
Is the Firm in Good Standing with the BBB (Better Business Bureau)?
Another great way to determine the reputation of the firm is to see if the firm is in good standing with the BBB (Better Business Bureau). The BBB is a great platform for customers to assess the quality, ethicality and honesty of the mold companies. If a company has zero complaints and favorable ratings, you are probably in good hands!
Does the Firm Has a Professional Liability Insurance?
Also known as the Errors and Omissions insurance (E&O insurance). The E&O insurance is a form of liability insurance. Most of the reputable and quality companies carry general liability (GL) insurance. This is because E&O insurance is usually expensive and cost prohibitive for most mold inspection firms. Therefore, majority of the mold inspectors do not carry this form of insurance. By engaging companies with such insurance can provide you with a higher level of protection.
Mold Testing & Indoor Air Quality Consulting
From mold remediation to air quality testing, have the tools and the skills to handle all of your property inspection needs. If you’re purchasing a new property, you can’t afford to sign your name on the dotted line without getting an accurate picture of the property’s condition from team of inspectors.
As an established Mold \ IAQ inspection company with over a decade of experience, helped countless area residents get the answers they deserve about their current or prospective property. here to do the same for you.
When customers seek a locally owned and operated Mold \ IAQ inspector they can trust, they choose us because:
ACAC-certified
An active member of the IAQA
An AIHA-accredited microbiology laboratory
experienced Mold \ IAQ inspector is known for producing nothing less than stellar results. When you turn to us for help, we’ll present our findings in a clear and concise manner that enables you to make an informed decision.