Mold Services
The service performed by Maida Inspector or Technician is a Mold Testing per a visual screening in suspect areas. The idea of the visual screening is to find "suspicious areas" (e.g. leaks, water stains, high humidity levels) that may be encouraging to mold growth yet unknown to the occupant, buyer or seller.
Most of the time when buyers or sellers are considering mold testing, it's because a home inspection identified "something" that appears to be mold and is visually suspicious. If you own your home, you may also consider a Mold Testing/Screening for one of these reasons: The property has had past water penetration and you're concerned about subsequent mold growth, the property has an area that has a musty odor, or, an occupants has a known mold allergy.
Mold Testing: Air Samples
Using this generally accepted collection method (a non-viable sample) the purpose of these samples is to identify potentially air born molds -living or not- and their concentrations. The result of an air sample determines what genera of molds may be present at the time the sample is performed.
Standards or Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for airborne concentrations of mold, or mold spores, have not been set. Currently, there are no regulations or standards for airborne mold contaminants or the majority of substances of biological origins that are associated with building-related exposures.
Any time air samples are performed inside of a property, an air sample is also performed in a control area – usually outside. Each interior air sample on a report is compared to the outside (control) air sample. This indicates whether the number of spores inside your home, are higher than the natural environment.
In general, indoor air fungal concentrations should be similar to or lower than local outdoor air fungal concentrations. Usually, if indoor air fungal concentrations are significantly higher than outdoors, remediation or further investigation should be considered.
Mold Testing: Topical Samples
Usually, topical (swab) samples are only performed when suspicious areas such as water stains or suspect visual mold contamination are observed. Topical samples are typically location specific and do not require a comparison (control) sample.
The result of a topical sample determines which genera of mold(s) may be present at the time sampling is performed. Our client does have the option of further analysis (i.e. identifying molds present to a species) for an additional charge. However, in pre-purchase sales situations this step is not always necessary.
It is our regular practice to recommend remediation for any surface tested that has mold contamination topically present; regardless of its type, value or concentration.
It is important to note that mold is natural to the environment, and most houses do have some molds.
Maida Services Mold Testing/Screening is limited to the areas in the house that are visually and physically accessible. We do not provide or perform any destructive or evasive testing for possible mold contamination that is concealed behind wall coverings, floor coverings, etc. Therefor, no opinion is rendered concerning the conditions in these or other inaccessible areas. Usually, there is no economically practical method to make all of these areas accessible, however, these areas may still be subject to attack by microbial organisms.
