Hot Tub Inspections

Toxic Mold Sampling & Testing

 

Valley Home Inspection can perform Air tests or take surface samples to help determine if mold is present in a home and if so, what type of mold is present.  This service is not part of a standard home inspection but can be added to it.

We use two types of mold testing techniques to collect mold air samples both indoors and outdoors [called outdoor control test].

  1. Controlled air testing impactors that use an air pump to draw in and impact airborne mold spores onto the sticky surface of a mold culture plate.  These impactors are then sent to a laboratory for analysis.

  2. Direct sampling of visually-noticeable mold growth through lift tape sampling which is then sent to a laboratory for analysis.

Is there mold contamination inside the building's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system [HVAC], and/or HVAC ducts?  We can tape mold culture plates [sticky surface facing inward] onto at least one air supply register grill of each zone of your heating, cooling, and ventilating [HVAC system], and then run the HVAC system for 15 minutes to impact possible mold infestation spores onto the sticky surface of the mold culture plates.  These plates are then sent to a laboratory for analysis.


Where mold grows easily

  • Attics with roof leaks or inadequate ventilation

  • Basements with dirt floors or water problems

  • Behind and under showers, tubs, toilets, and bathroom walls

  • Books, magazines, newspapers

  • Carpeting and padding

  • Ceilings [from roof leaks]

  • Ceiling tiles

  • Clothing

  • Crawl spaces

  • Drapes

  • Drywall in ceilings and walls

  • Garbage disposal

  • Heating/cooling equipment & ducts

  • Humidifiers & vaporizers [inside]

  • Leather items

  • Paint

  • Paper, cardboard & other paper products

  • Plants [house plants]

  • Rags

  • Upholstered furniture

  • Walls [from siding, roof, & plumbing leaks]

  • Wallpaper & behind wallpaper

  • Wood products


 Frequent Causes of Mold Growth

  • Basement flooding and water intrusion

  • Closeness to lake, river, or ocean

  • Clothes dryer exhausting into walls, ceiling, or attic

  • Construction defects + poor workmanship

  • Crawl space

  • Firewood stored indoors

  • Flooding

  • High indoor humidity [60%+]

  • Humidifiers & vaporizers

  • Inadequate ventilation

  • Indoor plants

  • Lot grading downward to home

  • Overflow from tubs, showers, sinks, & toilets

  • Landscaping mistakes like mulch & plant glut

  • Leaky roof

  • Sewage pipe leaks

  • Siding water leak

  • Venting inadequacies in kitchen & bathrooms

  • Water supply pipe leaks