Tag:

mold inspection

My Interview With Indoor Air Quality Extraordinaire, Author, and Scientist Jeff May

by Catherine 6:04 pm

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!

6:04 pm 2 comments

Cleaning Tips Healthy Home Interviews Mold Prevention Mold Remediation Q & A's

A Candid Chat With a Professional Mold Inspector

by Catherine 4:17 pm

Brian Karr Discusses Mold Inspections, Mold Testing, and Why Some Mold Remediations Fail

Of all of the questions I get from readers of this blog, the vast majority are from people completely exhausted and burned out from dealing with mold inspections, mold testing, and remediation companies. Some have been mold testing, inspecting, and remediating their homes exhaustively for years, and are still not feeling any better. Many have had multiple mold inspectors come out to their homes to help them find and “solve” their mold problems. They take all advice and have their homes remediated, only to find days, weeks, or even months later that they are just as sick and just as reactive as ever. They embark upon further home inspection and investigation, only to find that the mold is still there, or that the real source of the mold was never found or properly remediated. In some cases, there were even additional mold problems and sources that were not found or addressed in the first place. Then, the mold ordeal begins again, kind of like the movie Groundhog Day, where individuals and families are forced to relive the same experience with only a slightly altered perspective. For some people, this nightmare goes on for years! It is emotionally exhausting and financially draining. In the end, the people who write to me don’t know who to trust, and don’t have any confidence that spending more money on inspections or remediation is even worth it. At the point when I am finally reached out to, the person is just plain ready to give up entirely.

What Can I Do to Help?

Even though I have been there, done that, and know my fair share about mold inspections and investigations, I am obviously not a certified mold or microbial inspector. So, while I can give advice and share heartfelt “if I were you, what I would do,” feedback from my own experience, I am not out there working in the field, so speak, investigating homes and seeing what other homeowners are dealing with. Thus, in order to really do my part to help the people who need guidance, I thought I would reach out to one of the best and most knowledgeable mold inspectors I know, Brian Karr of We Inspect and creator of the Mold Masterclass. (For my in-depth post about Brian and my experience of taking the Mold Masterclass, click HERE.)

4:17 pm 4 comments

Healthy Home Mold Prevention Personal Stories Q & A's

The Problems Caused by False Negative Mold Tests

by Catherine 7:08 pm

How to Get an Accurate Diagnosis When Air Testing for Mold

Recently, during some email correspondence with a fellow mold sufferer, I was reminded of a problem that afflicts many people trying to find out answers about mold in their indoor environments: The prevalence of false “negatives” or “safe” spore count results in certain air testing methods for mold. It is a problem that I am intimately acquainted with, because my family also got an “all clear” verdict on our extremely toxic home from the first mold inspector that we hired.

In this person’s case, the mold inspection and mold testing were also performed by a professional. The inspection only consisted of the collection of spore-trap air samples that were sent off to a lab for analysis. No “problematic” molds or spore count levels were identified in any of the samples collected. Spore trap air sampling was also the testing method used in our home that didn’t indicate our very big mold problem. It is a testing method that typically compares indoor air samples to outdoor air samples. Types of molds and number of spores are analyzed by microscopy to determine whether or not a mold problem exists with the indoor air. (I think determinations made on indoor environments that are solely based on outdoor mold comparisons is faulty logic. You can read my post HERE about why.) The home was then “cleared” or declared “safe” and she and her husband put mold out of their minds and continued living there.

7:08 pm 8 comments