Test Only Company

Absolutely, positively, do not even think about hiring a Certified Mold Inspector that also does remediation work or even recommends one! Let’s face it, mold remediators make their living on a property owner’s misfortune. Mold remediation is a big and expensive business. There are a number of reasons not to use a mold remediation company to do the initial first home inspection. Here are a few.

1. Fraudulent Mold Testing: Some unscrupulous contractors will bring back to you mold test results showing extremely serious mold problems in your home or on your property. Unfortunately, the mold samples are not actually from your home but are in fact samples that had been intentionally infected (inoculated) with large amounts of the “bad” mold spores from other locations or from mold collections maintained by these same contractors. The purpose of fraudulent mold testing is to frighten homeowners into authorizing more remediation work than what is actually necessary.

2. House Cooking: “House cooking” is an old scam designed to get the worst possible test results. The inspector turns on the furnace in order to elevate the number of mold spores in the air before taking samples. Some will even turn on ceiling fans and humidifiers full blast. The purpose is to cause high levels of detectable mold to justify expensive mold remediation work. This scam can also be avoided by not hiring a mold inspector who also profits from remediation work.

3. Mold Sniffing Dogs: Yes, we said mold sniffing dogs, we’re not making this stuff up. If you haven’t seen them yet, you probably will before long. Their owners are banking on you being as gullible as they are. All buildings have some mold, can they identify the fungi and levels? When we see them going around with microscopes, we will revisit our opinion.

4. Ozone Generator: Ozone schemes claim that tenting a home or building and then injecting massive amounts of ozone gas into it will kill all of the mold in the structure. Ozone can only kill what it comes into contact with. Ozone cannot get at, and thus cannot kill, mold growing inside drywall, walls, carpeting, upholstered furniture, wall cavities, ceiling cavities and floor cavities. Besides being ineffective at killing hidden mold (the worst type), ozone readily damages all rubber and plastic parts it comes into contact with such as rubber and plastic components of appliances, electronics of all types, exposed electrical lines, extension cords and HVAC controls. Ozone is also unhealthy to humans according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

As you can see, there is room in the mold remediation business for deception and abuse. Don’t get us wrong. most certified mold remediators are honest businessmen. Their job is to remove mold if their services are needed. Note that certified mold remediators are the only qualified contractors to remove this dangerous mold. In some cases, a homeowner can handle their own remediation as long as the mold problem is found in the beginning stages.