Should I Get A Mold Inspection?

Written By Greg Wayman, CRI & Rick Bunzel, CRI

It's happened to many people who are house shopping. You go to look at a house, and a musty, damp or moldy smell hits your nostrils. Could this house have mold? You just ran into a potentially major hurdle in buying this home. If you are serious about buying the home, do you call for a mold test right away? A better course of action would be to wait for the results of the home inspection. Most inspectors have experience finding water damage and they will be able to determine the extent of the damage. If the damage is extensive most will recommend further evaluation by experts who are known in the area.

Media Hype vs. The Truth
Don't be scared by overblown media reports or misinformation from the companies who are trying to take advantage of "mold scare". Companies that claim to do mold testing will normally find mold because mold naturally occurs in our environment, especially in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area during Spring, Summer, & Fall months. Household mold, in normal amounts, is generally not a serious problem for the health of most individuals, but can affect the health of the young and old or those with respiratory problems. One question that will need to be answered is whether the condition is hazardous to the current occupants and only a doctor will be able to determine that.

Accurate Air Sampling
Did you know that to get an accurate account of the mold present in the air of a home, Industrial Hygienists recommend taking a minimum of 3 sets of 7 air samples with each set spanning at least 1 week apart from the previous? The typical cost for an air sample by my competitors who are conducting mold tests is $85/sample. To get an accurate indication of the mold level in a home that would cost $1,785! That's not even considering the remediation steps to get rid of the mold.

The Reality of Mold Reports
Typically, most home inspectors who conduct air samples in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area take one outside sample and one or two indoor samples. These are not enough samples to accurately portray the air quality. When the results return from the lab, there is no quantitative analysis of the amounts of mold present. There is simply a long list of all of the types of mold found (even in minute traces) and an even longer list of the possible symptoms associated with each type of mold. It gets worse. What the mold reports don't mention is of each type of mold that is listed, there are hundreds of species of molds within those types. The only way to know what exact species of mold you have is to grow them in a lab for 2 weeks. Take Aspergillus as an example. There are 16 out of 175 species of Aspergillus that have been proven to cause health effects on humans. Of that 9%, only 1 out of every 100 people may show symptoms. Imagine the negative impact a mold report will have on your clients if 15 types of mold are found and they don't have an Industrial Hygienist or their doctor there to explain how useless the information is!

Qualifications of an Industrial Hygienist vs. Home Inspector for Mold Testing
Industrial Hygienists hold Master's Degrees. Home inspectors who are offering mold testing as an additional service have attended maybe an 8-16 hour basic training class. They are more likely to scare clients than help them make educated decisions. Bad inspectors will try to up sell a mold test when they see a little area of mold (usually found in the bathroom.) FYI-there are no nationally recognized standards for testing or analyzing the results. That means a home inspector can take a swab of the mildew on a dirty shower and turn it in. Or take an air sample in the middle of winter when you have no outside sample to compare the indoor sample to because everything is frozen.

Rule of Thumb
The rule of thumb on mold is if you get rid of the moisture, you'll get rid of the mold. If the area is less than 10' in radius, it makes more financial sense to hire a contractor to remove the damaged area and rebuild than to test. If the area is larger than 10' in radius, then you may want to consider hiring an Industrial Hygienist to further inspect the home and determine the appropriate way to resolve the problem. Paying for mold testing first is usually a waste of money.

My Experience (Greg's)
In my career as a professional home inspector, I have come across only 2 homes that needed mold remediation. The first house had synthetic stucco and the installation was done incorrectly. There was a crack at the top of the wall where two valleys funneled water into it. The entire 3-story wall had to be removed and rebuilt. Luckily, the million-dollar home was still within the Builder's 1-year Warranty. The second home was in a small town and an elderly lady passed away. The home sat vacant and at some point the sewer backed up. No one checked on the home for over 6 months. The entire home had to be gutted and remodeled.