Question for Snipe Hunter- Mold

[gear jammer]

How and where do you check for mold when you do inspections. Do you have to send the samples to a lab? I too am in the hunt for a new roof and want to check for mold from a leaking corner in the roof. I am torn between metal and asphalt. Metal roof is on sale at Menards and the difference is currently low.

I was very interested in the other new roof and ventilation posts and didn't want to hijack. I have vented soffits and a cupola for a vent.

I'm unable to do this myself anymore and going to start getting bids. Was checking prices this morning.

[Snipe Hunter]

If I see it, I don't test. Why test if I know it's there? I only test if I don't see it but smell it or if an occupant has recurring respiratory problems that can't be explained. Then I take air samples with a Bio-Pump. I use cassettes with a sticky microscope slide. The cassettes go in the pump and it blows air across the slides for 10 minutes. I do 2 outside the home on the windward and leeward sides of the home to establish the benchmark. Weather has to be right. No recent rain and not too windy. The average of those two is the normal airborne spore count. Then I take samples inside the house. How many? It varies. If there is an area that smells like mold, I take a sample in that area and I might take one near an HVAC supply register or maybe on another floor to help isolate the problem area. I do a lot of visual searching, under cabinets, behind furniture and most importantly the basement. I also take moisture readings around the home looking for anomalies. Same with humidity level readings throughout the home. I try not to test over carpet if possible. Carpet, especially basement carpet is a perfect mold farm. I will pull up carpet if I can in the basement and tend to find mold there.

Then I send the samples to a lab and they provide spore counts for each slide. If the indoor airborne spore count is significantly higher than the outside benchmark, there is mold problem in the home. If the client wants to know what type of mold, I take more samples as it is a different lab test.

If I see it and the client want's to know what kind of mold, I'll take a tape sample and send it to a lab for identification but those can be misleading. Because there is mold everywhere. It doesn't tell me what's in the air and doesn't tell me if the spore count is high or low. And really, who cares what type of mold it is? It needs to go away.

[gear jammer]

Thank you for the advice. Youngest granddaughter and her partner want to buy a duplex. She has a great high paying job for a large midwest based manufacturer. they looked at a place and the realtor supplied them with an inspection that was performed for the seller. It listed some items that needed immediate attention but mostly minor. They were ready to make an offer. She asked me and her dad to take a look. The place has more than minor issues. The reason I asked about the mold was because of some fresh paint in several places that I suspect was to camouflage bad areas . Also the smell  was terrible. Previous owner had pets. All the carpet was out but the odor still there. Grand daughter mention the pinesol was not as heavy as the day of the open house. Kind of explains it.
We told her to walk away. She protested and got mad at us when we told her use her head. Her partner fell in love with the duplex I think on the idea of renting half to some family.

[Snipe Hunter]

I probably wouldn't even look at an inspection report provided by a seller. It's a direct conflict of interest. Like having a car dealer test drive one of their cars for you.