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