Mold Inspection Basics for Phoenix Property Owners and Managers

What Kind of Mold Inspection Do You Need?

Accurately inspecting a property for mold involves more than just a quick visual inspection and a couple of air samples. It’s definitely a great start, but, typically not enough. Why, you might be wondering? Every situation is different and only conducting one method of inspection may leave “stones unturned”. The best approach depends on the situation. We can help you determine what the best approach is.

Visual Mold Assessment

The first and most important step in our mold inspection is the visual assessment. During the visual assessment we look for any indication of a past or current water leak. Where there is/was water damage there’s more often than not, mold growth. Some tools we use during this part of the assessment are a thermal image camera, moisture meter, a bright flash light, borescope, and/or the good old nose. We also look for anything that appears to be a mold like substance. If it looks like a duck… right? The end goal of the visual assessment is to find a colony of mold growth so a protocol for remediation can be developed or, to determine if a deeper mold inspection is needed.

Intrusive Mold Assessment

If our visual mold inspection warrants the need for a deeper look into things, environmental sampling for mold now becomes a more viable option. However, even before testing for mold levels at this point, lets look at one more option. Intrusive means of inspection at this point might be a more accurate way to determine if a mold colony is present. Lets say we found an area that showed signs of water damage on the surface of a wall (bubbled paint), but, with no visible signs of mold growth. Is it more ideal to take an air sample or is it more ideal to cut a small square and look inside the wall and save yourself the cost of sampling? Don’t get us wrong, sampling does have it’s place and it’s benefits, it’s just not the first thing we typically recommend for our mold inspections and is sometimes not applicable at all.

Air or Surface Sampling for Mold

Hypothetically speaking, if everything looks good visually, and there’s no current leaks detectible by our visual means of inspection, sampling for mold could help identify a hidden mold issue. One important thing to remember is, even if there’s a mold colony in the home, doesn’t mean there will be an elevate level of spores or MVOCs.

Assuming in our hypothetical situation that mold levels inside the property were either elevated or suspect enough to indicated an interior mold problem, we still need to find the “source” to create an accurate plan of action. See, now we’re back to the importance of the visual assessment and finding a source.

There are a few scenarios where mold testing is definitely a recommendation and best for the scenario. One example is for documentation purposes in the transfer of property. Another is when medical issues are involved and if it will help a doctor determine a diagnosis. A third is for legal documentation to prove whether mold was present in a structure. Last example is when a mold remediation project needs to be “cleared”. This clearance sampling is called a Post Remediation Verification (PRV).

Whatever your situation, you can be certain we will be able to help and prescribe the correct approach for inspecting your Phoenix property accurately. Call today to schedule your free mold inspection.