To Test or Not To Test: Detecting Mold in Your Home

9/12/2018 (Permalink)

Testing mold in your home or business to find the severity of the damage

As a homeowner, you probably take great pride in being able to care for your home yourself. You generally have the knowledge and the skill to keep it clean and safe for your family. Certain problems, however, such as mold growth, may require professional help. You need a certified industrial hygienist to conduct the mold testing and, if a mold problem is found, a mold remediation specialist to take care of it.

Inspection Techniques

When the CIH arrives at your home in Asheville, NC, he or she will go through the process of analyzing the air quality in your home. The CIH will perform three main techniques:

• Conduct a visual inspection
• Measure moisture in the air
• Compare baseline outdoor air samples to indoor air samples

Two results of mold testing can be indicative of a problem. First, if the mold spores of a particular species are more highly concentrated in the indoor air than in the outdoor air, they are probably feeding off something and thus multiplying at a more rapid rate than usual. Second, if there is a species of mold found inside that is not found outside, this, too, can indicate a problem.

DIY Techniques

Many home improvement stores sell kits so that their customers can conduct DIY mold testing in their homes. More often than not, however, a mold kit is a waste of money. The kit simply tests for the presence of mold. Without fail, the results are going to be positive. Mold is everywhere. Without first establishing a baseline test of mold concentration found outdoors, no indoor test is going to tell you anything useful.

If you suspect that there is a mold problem in your home, you are better off having a CIH conduct the mold testing rather than trying to do it yourself. The professional will get more accurate results which leads to your problem getting resolved more quickly.

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