The Need for Mold Inspection in Homes and Buildings
Molds have an important role in the natural environment, but when they grow and exist inside building establishments, they create a negative effect on the air quality inside the building atmosphere, especially with airborne type of mold species, being a source of allergen and can adversely affect the health of the dwellers, who may have allergic reactions to molds, thus, causing them to experience nasal problems, like sneezing or runny nose, and other health reactions, such as coughing, eye irritation or upper respiratory irritation and even as severe as an asthma attack. Water leaking constantly in a building and has not been given immediate remedial action for a long period of time may result into dampness in the indoor environment and the existence of mold growth. Molds exist to contribute to the natural habitat of decomposing dead matters, that is why they can pose a serious adverse effect inside a building environment, when they are found existing, as they are likely to decompose any wood, porous materials in the building, including drywalls and carpets.
Mold inspection is a necessary building maintenance procedure to evaluate on the following objectives: check if the building has the presence of molds; identify the kind of mold species inside a building establishment; locate where the mold population is growing; test for the indoor air quality by scientifically measuring the amount of mold spores present in the air; and post-check if molds have been completely removed inside a building.
Mold inspection observes these five steps: interview of occupants or building maintenance caretaker, visual inspection, sampling, sampling analysis, and reporting.
Common issues inquired through the interview by the mold inspector are on these topics: humidity inside the building, mold smell, any possible roof or plumbing leaks, or detected mold presence inside the building.
As soon as all needed information have been collected and studied, the mold inspector conducts an ocular inspection of the suspected areas where mold presence is existing and specific tools will be helpful during his inspections, such as a borescope to view some wall sections, laser thermometer to check on the surface temperature, moisture meter to find out the moisture presence of the room, hydrometer to determine the amount of humidity in the room, as well as a camera to take shots of a detected mold growth.
Most important in the course of the inspection is taking air samples, outdoor and indoor, using a special sampling device that can collect mold spores of which the amount of spores collected will determine if air quality inside the building has been greatly affected.
The mold inspector brings the air samples taken in the building to a professional analyst to determine the population of mold spores for every cubic meter of air sample and to also determine the kind of mold specie found in the building.
The last segment in the mold inspection is a documented summary report which consists of the following: photos of the mold presence and its specific locations, population level of mold spores in the air inside the building, the specific mold found, the inspector’s conclusions and strong recommendations in stepping up measures to prevent mold growth, as well as its elimination.