ProLab or EMSL?

[ejones2]

I currently use Prolab I pay 25.00 for a mold test plus I pay for my air o cells $50.00 for a box of 10, plus 25.00 for overnight shipping to the lab. So my cost for one indoor and one outdoor sample is $80.00 any suggestions?

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Find a local lab in your area that you can trust where you can drive your samples to and drop off if possible. I use EMSL because there are two labs within driving distance to me and I can trust the results that I get from them. I stopped using Pro-Lab because I recieved positive results from a blank sample that I submitted. If you call up EMSL and establish an account with them, they will likely give you a better price than what Pro-Lab is currently charging and you do not have to buy your sampling supplies from them if you do not want to. They often run sales on supplies, so you may want to consider that. You do not have to pay ahead of time for samples like Pro-Lab. You only pay when you submit samples to them. This should be the same for any quality lab that you choose.

As far as shipping fees, if you do not have a lab around you, this will have to be an extra cost of business that you will have to calculate into your sampling fees. Look for alternatives besides FedEx if possible.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Did you call Springfield Indoor Air Quality? He can probably give you a better price and he is right there in your town. Why pay for a lab technician to analze your samples when you can have the top mold expert in the state do it for you. If he does not have time to talk to you, let me know. He is very busy. He does lab work on most weekends too usually at no extra charge.

[ejones2]

James

I believe these guys do mold testing as well. Would they work with competition?

[James E. Braun, CMI]

He does sample analytics for other inspectors. What I use do when I started out is I did the pretesting and then I sent him all the protocol work. I think he likes performing the lab work the most. I know his wife does not like him being gone all day doing field work, so I imagine he would welcome more lab work. I do not think he will see you as competition.

[Mark E. Northrup]

emsl will give you free overnight fed x for your samples if you ask your price rep. And they will match any price from prolab.
mark

[Eragorn Northe]

I use EMLab P&K, they are awsome, very helpful.
you can place an order no problem, have it sent out the same day.
www.emlab.com

[dmcauley]

What Eragorn stated. Good company with good results and pricing. Free shipping and $30 sample fee. Great easy to read report too.

[Russell Spriggs]

Originally Posted by ejones2

I currently use Prolab I pay 25.00 for a mold test plus I pay for my air o cells $50.00 for a box of 10, plus 25.00 for overnight shipping to the lab. So my cost for one indoor and one outdoor sample is $80.00 any suggestions?

Even if you stay where you are, you can pay for the lab fees and your cassette will be free.
And, I know you can get the FedEx cheaper. I know it's 17 or less.
So, 2 cassettes & onight is $67.
Call Michael at x223

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

I have been using EMSL for a couple of years now and am pretty happy with them, but I am curious about EMLab. SInce they have a lab that is pretty local to me, I might try them out and see if their results match what EMSL is giving me. I see that they are a few cents to dollars cheaper on testing supplies. For me, this can translate into a few hundred dollars a year. I will have to see what their lab fees are and view a couple of their reports. I saw what they have posted on their website, but still have some more questions. I'll wait until after the holidays and stop by their lab. I will let everyone know what I think afterwards.

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Eric -

You're doing something wrong with Pro-Lab. We pay them $25 each which includes the AOC and Lab Sampling. If you buy the Fed Exp Overnight Mailers from them, they're $14 each. (Example / My cost for 2 AOC's + overnight is $69).

I've never send in JUST one at a time BUT if I did the cost would be $39 each. I typically send 3-4 for an average house. For 3 samples my cost plus Priority Mail would be $79.95 / My fee would be $345 w/home inspection OR $395 w/out a home inspection.

My price to my clients INCLUDES priority mailing ($4.95 to me). IF my clients however want EXPEDITED service / I charge them $25 and Fed Exp it ($11 extra for me).

Oh by the way when I order 12 AOC's at a time (lab fees included), they often send a 13th one free.

I've had fairly good luck with them (my rep is Mike Hertz).

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

A word of warning about Pro-Lab...

Send them a blank cassette every once in a while that has not been used. Remove the caps and reinstall them. Write a fictious room on the label and on the COC. See if you get positive results back. I do it occasionally with EMSL and have never had a positive result come back. Can't say the same with Pro-Lab. I will never use them again for micro analysis. This is good general practice whenever you are using an outside laboratory for any kind of analysis whether it be mold, radon, water.

Test your lab every once in a while if you are doing water samples by sending in sterile water that you can usually pick up from the drug store.