Mold Inspection Services: Behind the Scenes

Many of those who provide mold testing, mold inspection, and indoor air quality services are introduced to the business by mold testing laboratories who make money by processing samples. The laboratories attract entrepreneurs to the mold inspection and mold testing industry by presenting the profession as a low overhead, low startup cost, low experience needed, high profit business. As a result, there are numerous people offering indoor air quality services who do not know what they are doing and are often called "pump jockeys" by those who are more experienced (meaning that all they know how to do is operate an air pump.)

Pump jockeys typically come and then go, as soon as they find out that they are in over their head. Meanwhile the mold testing laboratories, who do not provide inspection services, keep the samples coming to their door by doing more seminars. In this scenario the mold laboratories and pump jockeys get paid, and you ultimately get very little value for your money.

No one spends money on environmental inspections and testing for the fun of it. Those who need environmental services typically have serious health concerns or significant problems with their home or office, and therefore need professional, experienced help. Unfortunately, business people who are suffering from allergies and asthma or have other significant concerns pay significant sums for substandard mold inspection services and get very little value for their money.

Some pump jockeys provide only the laboratory results to their clients without a clear interpretation, leaving the client more confused about their indoor air quality than before they shelled out several hundred or thousand dollars for the mold testing service.

The more experienced pump jockeys provide a written report that is overloaded with complex industry specific jargon, legal language, and disclaimers designed to protect themselves, leaving the consumer with very little readily useful information.

In most states, indoor air quality standards for mold and other respirable particulates have not been institutionalized, nor are there federal regulations for home testing and remediation for mold. Therefore, those who are taken advantage of, often have very little legal recourse.

The moral of this story is that you need experienced help to resolve your indoor environmental concerns.

Feel free to call Indoor Air Quality Consultants at 412-894-7218 to discuss your concerns, to find out how to identify the best mold service companies, or to schedule a mold inspection and indoor air quality assessment of your home or office.

Common Approaches to Addressing Mold Concerns

Those who are concerned that something in their indoor environment such as mold is making occupants sick usually contact either an environmental consulting company or a mold remediation company.

What is an Environmental Consultant?

An environmental consultant should be able to address concerns related to mold, bacteria, chemicals, gases, various particulate or any other concern about the environment. However, it appears that most in the industry focus primarily on mold.

Mold testing companies inspect homes and offices for mold and water damage, and attempt to identify the root causes of mold and water damage. Mold inspectors typically take air samples, surface samples using swabs and tape lifts, and also take bulk samples of materials suspected to have mold such as drywall or wood.

After the inspection is performed, the mold inspection company sends the samples to a microbiological laboratory. The mold lab analyzes the samples and emails the lab results to the mold inspector.

Next the inspector will provide a written report with lab results to the client, which may include an interpretation of the lab results, a description of the observations, a mold remediation plan, and other recommendations such as to call a mold remediation company to fix the problems.

What is a Mold Remediation Company?

A mold remediation company is a business who removes mold and water damaged materials from a building. Some also perform free inspections (buyer beware.)

So...who ya gonna call?

A mold inspector? A mold remediation company? both? Neither?

First you'll probably search google, bing, yahoo or the yellow pages for mold testing, mold inspection or mold remediation companies.

Next you'll spend a few hours talking to 3-4 sales reps whose quotes will likely range from "free" to nearly a thousand dollars to inspect your home or office.

Then you'll likely scratch your head and wonder what to do next. If you need help rationalizing the best possible approach to addressing concerns associated with mold or other toxins in your home or office, feel free to call Indoor Air Quality Consultants at 412-894-7218.

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There are several reasons that people may need a mold inspection, mold testing, or an indoor air quality assessment.

- A homeowner or employee may be concerned that something in their home or office may be causing health symptoms.
- A buyer of real estate may be concerned about purchasing a home or building that has mold, water damage, or other unknown problems.
- A property owner may need a mold inspection to submit with an insurance claim related to water damage, mold or other environmental concerns.
- A property owner may need to verify that their air quality is okay after renovation or mold remediation is performed.
- Landlords and tenant tenants may need help rationalizing environmental issues related to plumbing or rain water leaks.
- Professionals such as mold inspectors, mold remediators, and real estate professionals may need help with numerous environmental concerns.
- All of the above reasons may be associated with potential legal issues.

There are numerous possible issues that can occur in the indoor environment, which can result in depreciated air quality and present health risks for occupants. With this in mind, our main focus at Indoor Air Quality Consultants is to help you to resolve the most common issues related to allergy and asthma triggers such as mold, mold spores, skin fragments, insulation particulate and other common types of respirable particulates in the indoor environment.

Call 412-894-7218 to discuss your situation or to schedule an mold inspection or an indoor air quality assessment.