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Being a homeowner means having a massive list of responsibilities for your property, which not only helps keep that property in good condition but helps it maintain its value as an investment as well. One of the most important responsibilities is keeping the home free of mold, and if mold is found, having it remediated before it can colonize extensively and create a health hazard for the home’s inhabitants. To ensure your home hasn’t been taken hostage by mold, you should take the time to partner with a local company that is a leading expert in mold testing.
In addition to many homeowners not knowing if their homes have a mold problem in the first place, many are simply unaware of when they should even call for an inspection and mold test. We’re going to look at some of the signs or indicators that you should have a professional mold testing service come out to your home, and what the process might look like if mold is found that needs to be physically removed. Our environmental consulting company is here for all of our mold testing needs in Los Angeles
Mold is a fungus, and like all fungi, it thrives in moist places. Mold spreads by emitting spores, microscopic particles often as small as a single cell. Spores float around in the air until they land on a surface. Mold spores are everywhere, outdoors as well as inside your house. It would be practically impossible to remove all mold spores from a house without installing some kind of massive industrial clean room filtration system.
Luckily, mold spores only form mold when they land on a moist surface. That means that if you can keep the interior of your home dry, you can avoid having any problems with mold. The best way to prevent mold in your home is to clean up spills, repair leaks in your roof, plumbing or HVAC system and make sure your kitchen and bathroom are properly venting moisture out of the house.
As we mentioned, not knowing when mold testing may be needed is one of the reasons many homeowners never call for a test. Some of the same signs in a commercial or industrial setting may indicate that industrial hygiene services may be needed for extensive testing or ongoing monitoring. Below are the signs that you may want to contact a local leader in Los Angeles mold testing.
One good thing about mold- if you can see it, you have mold in your house. Seeing mold in the cracks and corners of your walls definitely means it is growing and spreading more spores. Keep in mind that mold may also grow in places you cannot see, such as in your ducts or between your walls. It may also form colonies so tiny they escape the eye. A few situations should make you look for any mold problems in your house.
During the mold inspection, we will visually examine the most likely areas around the home that have a tendency to grow mold. We will take an air sample from inside the home as well as an outdoor sample. Those two samples are compared at our lab to determine if the mold levels inside the home are higher than what is naturally occurring outdoors. If the indoor mold levels are high, remediation will be necessary.
If your basement flooded, roof leaked, or a broken pipe sprayed water all over the kitchen, you need to inspect for mold. Any place that got wet and was not quickly dried (within 24 to 48 hours) could become contaminated by mold.
Water damage can plant seeds of severe damage in your home. If you had water damage at any point, from seasonal storms, a leaky roof, burst pipe, or other issues, and the water was not verified to be completely dry within 24 hours, there is a good chance that there is some degree of mold present. Once the mold is present, it can spread in times of increased moisture. If you’ve recently had any kind of water or flood damage, contact a professional mold tester.
If you’re considering buying a new home, not only should you have a general inspection done, but a specific mold inspection should be done as well. The general home inspector is going to do a largely visual inspection, but an expert in mold testing in Los Angeles will come with appropriate testing and sampling equipment. This can give you insight into a potentially serious issue with the home, but it can also give the buyer incredible leverage over the price if the issue wasn’t disclosed.
There is no way to know what kind of water damage may have happened in the house you are planning to buy. The only way to find out if mold is present is to do a mold inspection.
If a house has been closed up and unoccupied for months or years, humidity could have built up inside and caused mold to grow. This is especially a problem in warmer areas with high humidity.
If you have gone through the often expensive and difficult steps to deal with a mold problem, regular mold inspections are a good idea to make sure you really got rid of it all.
Before renovation and demolition activities, the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants regulation requires that all building materials that will be impacted be surveyed to identify all ACM.
Due to the nature of mold, if you have ever had a flood event or confirmed mold presence in your home, you should have regular mold inspections. In most cases, this can be an annual inspection to ensure that things are still mold-free, but in other situations, it will provide an opportunity to catch potential issues early on. If mold is coming back, it can be a sign that the preventative measures taken last time did not work or have since failed, and finding that sooner can reduce the potential cost to repair.
If the property hasn’t been actively lived-in for an extended time, it’s always a good idea to have it tested for mold. Mold thrives in warm, damp spaces, and an uninhabited home that doesn’t have the air conditioning and dehumidifier running as often in the summer may face potentially extensive mold accumulation.
Another contributing factor is that in homes that sit unoccupied for a while, other maintenance issues like crawlspace and basement waterproofing and general moisture control measures aren’t kept in the same condition they would be with inhabitants. All of this is a good cause to get a professional mold inspection if the home has been vacant for a few months.
Molds are part of the natural environment and can be found everywhere, indoors and outdoors. Mold is not usually a problem unless it begins growing indoors. The best way to control mold growth is to control moisture. This website provides guidance about mold and moisture for homes, schools, multifamily and commercial buildings. Molds can have a big impact on indoor air quality.
If you are wondering what the process is for mold testing, it’s slightly different for each situation, but there are some common elements. First, we’ll have a professional licensed for mold inspection in Los Angeles come out to your home at the date and time that you choose, and they will come with a variety of testing and detection equipment. In many cases, they will be able to visually confirm the presence of mold, however, samples will be lab-tested to confirm the type. If mold is found, you will need a company that performs mold testing in Los Angeles, CA.
If you have spotted mold in your home, or fit some of the criteria we laid out for needing an inspection, time is of the essence, and delaying can make the potential health concerns much more significant. Reach out today to discuss your Los Angeles mold testing needs with a member of our local team.
