Home Inspector Faribault | Home Inspections – 507-721-3120
The first step after discovering mold is to determine whether it is dangerous, and if so, the level of danger. There are over 400,000 different kinds of mold known to man, yet of those, only about a dozen could cause any serious harm to your well being.
How do you find out exactly what kind of mold you have encountered and whether or not your health is in danger? Is there a reliable way to identify mold based on its color and appearance alone? It is not advised to identify mold by simply looking at it. Depending on various situations, mold color and structure can vary drastically. These conditions, such as the nature of the organic material mold grows on, environment, temperature, and presence of direct light, can all affect the way your mold contamination looks.
Due to the hidden nature of mold, the visible part of mold is just the tip of the iceberg as mold prefers to grow behind the walls and under flooring and carpeting. Only professional mold inspectors can tell where and how much moisture is hidden in your building structure by using thermal imaging equipment. If area moisture levels have been high for a prolonged period of time, there is a good chance of mold presence.
When the mold inspector arrives at your property, in order to begin the inspection, he will use an assortment of methods, including: visual inspection, surface sampling, and air sampling in order to determine the source and the type of mold that is present in the building.
Each time a mold inspector visits a property they will begin the process with a visual inspection. They will check the property and look for any signs of water damage, water intrusion, possible faucet or pipe leaks, and any other signs of moisture. They will also test the temperature and the humidity on the property, and add these calculations to a wide variety of data that they will be obtaining about your home or property.
When a professional mold inspector begins the surface sampling process, they are actually attempting to determine what kind of mold exists at a particular location within the property. The inspector may use a swab or a piece of tape to obtain the sample. As soon as the sample is properly packaged to avoid contamination, it is sent to a reliable laboratory where it can be analyzed.
The air sampling procedure is perhaps the best process of determining whether or not airborne mold spores exist within your premises. There are a variety of types of equipment that may be used for this type of sampling, but generally air will be drawn and then impacted over a glass substrate in order to create the sample. The inspector will give a detailed report within 24 hours and mold sampling back within 7-8 days.
Home Inspector Faribault | Home Inspections – 507-721-3120