Mold test results

[Michael W. Gault]

Originally Posted by rweiss

I recently took a Mold certification class sponsored by NACHI & Pro-Lab. The class was taught by the Environmental Solutions Association. The class was excellent and well worth it.

According to ESA, if you have visible mold, the proper sampling protocol would be to take a swab sample, plus take interior and exterior air samples.

I recommend that you contact ESA at http://www.envirosolution.com/ for more info.

If what you want is Quantitative, you're correct. But I believe if what your after is a qualitative answer (what kind of microbial growth do we have?) then a control may not be required.

It sounds like Andy may have been attempting a Qual analysis with a general IAQ type (which is both qualitative and quantitative) and thus mandated a control to provide meaningful results.

CC (our resident, non resident IAH) might be of more help here...

[Andy T. Bishop]

Exactly Mike!
I forgot about that person. Thanks for that Mike.
Man these guys are tough.
Have a great weekend.

[Martin Pasquinelli]

There's no question that the numbers in your report are evidence of colonizing mold. A control sample is necessary, however you can tell by the numbers in the interior that there is a mold issue.

[rbunzel]

Andy,

Don't want to rain on your parade any more but look at this as "on the job training" for why not to do mold testing, if your not qualified to do it. Notice I did not say certified. Many certifications are not worth the paper they are printed on. Any lab that offers .5 - 2 day certifications on a complex subject like mold are just setting you up for a lawsuit. BTW - do you have E&O for mold testing?

When I was investigating this as a way to expand my business I stumbled into the same issue you are facing - how do you interpet the results? Customers look to us for this information and reasonably expect us to interpet the results. Unless you have the training its very difficult and then especially with mold, your chances of the results (and interpetation) being wrong, are pretty good. Any lawyer who gets you up on the witness stand, will rip you apart.

Today when I am ask about mold I tell the client I only do moisture intrusion investigation because to have mold, you gotta have a source of water. As far as mold goes if you can see it or smell it in a house, its bad. It doesn't matter what type it is, its gotta go!

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by rbunzel

Today when I am ask about mold I tell the client I only do moisture intrusion investigation because to have mold, you gotta have a source of water. As far as mold goes if you can see it or smell it in a house, its bad. It doesn't matter what type it is, its gotta go!

Exactly my protocol, as well.

When I was young and growing up in South Texas, spring cleaning meant gallons of Clorox, packages of stainless steel wool, and lots of elbow grease cleaning the mold out of the bathtubs and showers. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I don't do spring cleaning anymore, preferring to clean on a daily basis so that I don't have to set aside a whole weekend or more doing spring cleaning. I also don't do mold testing, of course, especially since I live in a desert. I've been asked about it twice in 4½ years and both scheduled inspections with us.