Published by All Dry Services of the Bluegrass
A mold inspection and a mold test are two different things, and the difference decides what you learn and what it costs. We carry out inspections and refer lab testing to unaffiliated third parties, so it is worth setting out what each one covers.
What we do
Our inspections are visual. A remediation specialist walks the property looking for visible growth and for the water damage that would explain it, and uses moisture meters and thermal imaging to find moisture behind walls and under floors. We will need access to rooms adjoining the affected area, and to the spaces above and below it, because that is where the moisture usually came from.
Afterwards we sit down with you, go through what we found, explain the remediation we would propose and why, answer whatever you want to ask, and agree a date for the written estimate. The inspection is free.
What an inspection does not cover
A visual inspection does not tell you spore counts or which species you are dealing with. That comes from collecting air or surface samples and sending them to a lab, which is mold testing, a separate and legitimate service that we refer out rather than sell.
If you want lab testing we will recommend third parties who have no relationship with us. We frequently carry out remediation after someone else's assessment has confirmed there is a problem.
When testing is worth paying for
A dispute. Landlord and tenant, a sale, an insurance disagreement. When someone has to be convinced, an independent lab report carries weight that a contractor's opinion does not.
A medical question. If a doctor is asking what someone is being exposed to, that is a question for a lab, not for us.
Post-remediation verification. Confirming a completed job is clear. Ideally by someone other than the firm that did the work, for the same reason as above.
For the ordinary case, though, the EPA is clear on this: if you can see mold, sampling is usually unnecessary, because the answer does not change what has to happen. Visible growth means remove it and fix the moisture, whatever species it is.
What matters most
Mold growth and the moisture behind it. Removing growth without finding the water is a repaint with extra steps: it will be back, in the same place, usually within a season. This is why our inspection spends more time with a meter than with a flashlight, and why we would rather find a leaking supply line than identify a spore.