air testing | Mold Free Living

How to Know If Your House is Killing You With Jeff May

When you are looking for someone to trust on all matters concerning indoor air quality, hidden leaks, mold problems, weird or unpleasant odors, contaminated mechanical systems, and the overall “health” of your home, Jeff May should be at the top of your list. I know he is at the top of mine. As a matter of fact, I learned about Jeff and became acquainted with his expertise in the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and home inspections fields when my family was going through our mold nightmare. At the time, I was desperate to find information on how to fix our home, and found one of Jeff’s popular books, My House is Killing Me! The Home Guide for Families with Allergies and Asthma, at our local public library. It was the most comprehensive and helpful guide on the myriad things that can cause a home to get “sick” I had ever seen. Needless to say, I couldn’t put it down and later ordered his book, The Mold Survival Guide: For Your Home and for Your Health on Amazon—I can’t recommend it enough to others navigating the confusing world of mold in their home or anyone suspecting that something in their home is making them sick. To this day, I find myself referencing sections of the book when I am working on articles about below-grade spaces, like basements or crawlspaces, or wanting to understand more about proper attic ventilation or ice damming and mold growth. If it has anything to do with mold in a home, believe me, that book covers it!

Let’s talk professional mold testing. I get so many questions on the blog about it—almost daily questions. Thus, this post is for you! It is a brief rundown of my take on professional mold testing in your home. I will go over various tests and test methods and compare some of the most popular ways that professionals test the air and surfaces in your home for mold. I will also discuss best practices for sample collection. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all of the options. It is just an overview.

(Note: These are all just my insights and opinions given from my perspective and my experience. I am not a mold remediation professional, nor am I a doctor or licensed building biologist. Take all of this information at face value and consult a professional prior to any mold testing you decide to do on your home.)

First and foremost, I cannot launch into this post without mentioning the EC3 Mold Testing Plates. These plates are the simplest, most cost-effective way for you to take the reins and test the air and surfaces to see if you have a mold issue in your home or office. These plates are not a laboratory diagnostic test; however, they are the most trustworthy source to determine if mold is present and whether it is at unmanageable levels. These plates enable you to test and to also keep testing your environment and things on a regular basis to see if you have a mold issue, if what you are doing to clean for mold in your home is working, if something you are bringing into your home has mold, etc. The list can go on. The most important takeaway for you is to know that the EC3 Mold Test Plates put you in the driver’s seat, so that you do not have to wait or rely on a professional to confirm that your home or office has a mold problem. That is what makes these DIY test plates invaluable.