Mold is everywhere, and the key is understanding what the potential levels of mold are in your home and what to do if they are affecting you and/or your family.
Mold in Your Home
Mold may be present in your home at any time of year. Mold levels can be elevated during a cool, rainy season or during the hot, humid days of summer. We hope that the following guidance gives you a better understanding of the dangers of mold and some of the signs that you may want to pay attention to that indicate mold testing and/or mitigation may be required.
What is mold?
Mold is an organism that is everywhere. Mold’s job is to break down and decompose dead and dying materials in nature, and it’s found both indoors and outdoors. It’s never completely gone, and its existence is necessary in the grand scheme of things we call nature.
Places for Mold
Places like wet basements, crawlspaces, and poorly ventilated attics are susceptible to mold, or “microbial growth.” Areas where there are persistent leaks can also provide the right conditions for mold. These areas may have that familiar damp and musty “basement smell.” You may want to consider mold testing if you have or think you have that damp, musty smell in your home.
When and why would you want mold testing performed in your home?
If you see what you think is mold in your home, you may want to resolve the source and remediate the problem to prevent unnecessary and harmful exposure to your family. Mold testing afterwards will determine if you have effectively eliminated the issue.
Effect of Mold on People
Problems may arise with mold when humans are exposed to higher levels of the microbial spores. Mold doesn’t affect everyone the same. People with allergies, compromised immune systems, infants, and the elderly are the most affected by mold exposure.
Mold Testing
We do a lot of mold testing for people who are buying new homes and have asthma or other health issues that are affected by high levels of mold in the air. They want to make sure there are no issues before buying and moving into the home.
Reason for Testing for Mold
Another frequent reason for mold testing is when people move into a new home or have visitors who develop health issues they haven’t experienced outside of that home. We recently did mold testing for a couple that had a young grandchild who was fine everywhere in their home except in the basement. When the child went into the basement, they developed red, scratchy eyes and sneezing.
Here’s a brief explanation of our mold testing.
Any type of mold growing in your home can cause a health problem, and the effects of mold exposure can differ significantly from one person to another. If you think you have a mold problem in your home, you should consider having mold testing done. Sometimes the problem is obvious, but other times, mold testing or sampling is the only way to determine if there is an actual mold issue.
After scheduling an appointment, one of our mold technicians will come to your home to perform mold sampling. After discussing any concerns you may have, our technician will inspect the home for any areas that may be a potential problem.
Types of Mold Testing
When we conduct our mold testing, there are two types of mold sampling that we may do. The most common is an air sample, which will detect any mold spores that are present in the air of the area being sampled. The other is a swab sample, which will examine any mold microbes that are swabbed from a surface.
Testing Does Not Determine Mold’s Affect
It must be noted that mold testing alone cannot determine how you or your family will react to or be affected by mold growth in your home. Identifying and removing the source and root cause of the mold spores is the best first step in protecting your family.
How long does mold testing take, and is it accurate?
Our mold testing procedures and process typically take about 30 minutes or so on average. Most of the time, in addition to the sampling, the visual inspection is fairly routine in nature. Sometimes it takes longer if there are obvious issues and additional sampling needs to be documented.
Analysis
After the mold testing is completed and documented, the samples are sent off to a lab for analysis and reporting. The reports detail any molds found in the samples, common areas for their development, and the common symptoms of exposure to the molds identified.
Microbial Testing
Microbial testing innovations in recent years have greatly improved mold testing results to about 99% accuracy. As long as protocols are followed and there is no user error, the testing laboratory can accurately determine if there’s a mold problem and the types of mold present.
In Summary
If you think you have a mold problem, you should have mold testing performed in your home. Whether or not it’s an obvious problem or just something in the air, testing should help you to determine if you have an issue. Mold testing is relatively inexpensive and is the first step in determining your course of action.
Visit our website to learn more or to schedule your mold testing in the Rochester, Owatonna, and Faribault, MN areas. You can contact us today at (507) 202-8942 or use our online “Schedule Now” feature to set up an appointment.