Increase Mold Inspections

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Be nice to the newbie, Doug.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Originally Posted by nyacoub

Also, The guys at Pro-Lab told me I should charge $125/sample..
Does this sound right to you guys?

I would love to inspect a school for mold, any tips on how to land a job like that? I dropped off my marketing info to the local school board in my city but havn't heard from them. Anything else I should be doing?

Unless you have a lot of training and experience, stay away from testing schools. They are an entirely different animal. They even make me nervous.
Home inspectors in my area are charging $125.00 per samples.

[Douglas Wall]

Be nice to the newbie, Doug.

People seem to think I'm hard on new guys or "mold Inspectors" in general.
I want people to do their best and know what they are doing.
I've had more than six guys over the years ride along with me, they are my competitors. How many people that complain about my attitude have taken six "newbies" along to show them the ropes.

I will try to be nice.
It's Monday, everyone have a good week.

[Russell J. Hensel]

Doug is in my area and competent at what he does. I agree with him 100% and KNOW what your doing before getting into mold inspections. And please do not call them MOLD inspections because it sounds as if you are doing air samples. Go and educated yourself. The IAQA is a great source of education. I am not bashing new guys, but come on...

I have no idea how it is up there or anywhere else, but if I mentioned PRO LAB to a mold remediation company I think they would laugh at me and throw me out of the office. Like everything, they have their place in the world, but I do not know of ONE properly licensed and insured mold remediation company in my area that would allow for their samples used in anything they do.

If you want to appear professional and educated then GET professionally educated. Have the proper credentials and education, not only to keep your butt out of the sling, but to provide the consumer with adequate and competent service.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

If you want to learn to do good quality mold inspections and sampling, you have to look outside of what the general courses typically tell new inspectors. Do a search for books dealing with Bioaerosols and start reading up on what industrial hygienests have to say about developing sampling protocols and interpretaing results.

I would also suggest looking into learning about mold remediation so that you know what goes on in that field and have a more rounded understanding.

[Billy Boerner]

Neal cancel the job. Listen to these guys then start testing. Trust me. They might be saving you from a potential lawsuit.

[Dennis R. Goudreau]

your first job is a mold clearance, Neal may I suggest you educate your self first before doing any testings, what were the numbers as the remediation went along, what type of remediation dry ice,blasting with corn meal, kill & sand ,what kind of equipment do yu have, do yourself a favor and educate yourself

[Billy Boerner]

Originally Posted by dgoudreau

your first job is a mold clearance, Neal may I suggest you educate your self first before doing any testings, what were the numbers as the remediation went along, what type of remediation dry ice,blasting with corn meal, kill & sand ,what kind of equipment do yu have, do yourself a favor and educate yourself

This is why I don't test for Mold. Dennis already confused me lol

[Marcel R. Cyr]

[Neal L. Yacoub]

Great no hard feelings atleast your being honest. Im definitely going to further educate myself, last thing I want to do is end up in court. I wish I had someone in my area to do ride alongs with I think thats a good idea.

[Dennis R. Goudreau]

Hey Neal

was not my intention to ridicule you, my apologies if it came off that way, it can be a complex area, this stuff (mold) scares some people so the more you understand the better off your client is.

[Nick Gromicko]

Join www.IAC2.org It's free.

[Neal L. Yacoub]

I took Inspect4Mold, a course offered here in Ontario, and I took interNachi's online Mold Course, and have become an IAC2 member. Now I am watching the two part mold inspection video offered on NachiTV. Is there a specific course you guys would recommend?

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Originally Posted by nyacoub

I took Inspect4Mold, a course offered here in Ontario, and I took interNachi's online Mold Course, and have become an IAC2 member. Now I am watching the two part mold inspection video offered on NachiTV. Is there a specific course you guys would recommend?

All those courses are fine for the basic understanding of how a mold inspection is conducted. They all pretty much teach the same thing, no matter what or how many of them you take. You can compare them to a basic high school class in algebra. You are going to get realtively the same education in the subject no matter where you go if you continue to take high school algebra courses. If you really want to know the nuts and bolts about mold inspections, I suggest reading some higher learning books on the subject. There is a great book by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists entitled Bioaerosols: Assessment and Control.

You might want to also read The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification S520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation. This will give you an idea of what kind of technology is out there and what methods are used in order to clean up mold problems.

The EPA also has a wealth of publications that are available online related to Indoor Air Quality. HUD has a great book on moisture intrusion that is very helpful. There are thousands of websites out there related to mold information. You just have to learn what is fact and what is regurgitated myths. You might want to also find a few microbiology and mycology text books and do a little light reading to understand how molds grow, their sturcture, and their health effects.

Some of this may seem a little over the top and way too involved for doing a simple mold sampling, but from my experience it is necessary to at least know and understand most of what I just listed. You will sooner than later be asked all kinds of questions by a concerned client that you will not have the answer to and the basic sampling courses do not even come close to discussing. It will also help you write your reports and come across as a professional with an understanding of what you are doing instead of just doing it because that's what some standard says to do.

Mold inspections are not anything like a home inspection. A Standard of Practice is often not practical in most cases. Each home should have an independnet sampling protocol designed by the client and the inspector/sampler. Protocols should meet the client's expectactions without becoming a financial burdon that would limit the inspection so much that it does not provide valuable information.

Just one of my opinions, others may vary.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Also just take courses that are recognized for credits with an Industrial Hygienists' associations. Some of them will repeat themselves but I have always walk away learning something new.
The first two books that Scott mentioned are a very good read.