If you see discoloration on sheet rock or any building material, DON’T let the handyman rip it out. If there is mold growth behind the wall, the entire building may become contaminated with settled toxic mold spores if you tear out the wall. We can test and know before any demolition occurs. Or, to say it another way, if you’ve staged the house and then find a wet area that needs repair and let the handyman tear it down, you may need to professionally microbial remediation (see $$$$$ here) for all of the staged furnishings, plus the entire interior may need to be wiped down (see more $$$ here) and then HEPA vacuumed. And this can take weeks.

Wet building materials “hold” mold better than dry material. So, mold growth behind a very wet sheet rock wall will tend to stay on the wall and not into your nostrils in the breathing space of the room. However, in long term leaks behind walls, say from an upstairs ice maker in the refrigerator, ambient air (read contents and nostrils here) become contaminated. Carpet padding can wick enough water from a wet wall to grow mold and impact the ambient air.

If tape pulls the paint off a wall, the wall is wet enough to have mold growth. A mold inspection is indicated.

Better to know the complete situation before you close. We WANT you to close and will do everything we can to help all the concerned parties understand the problem and how to fix it. We can help you get some quotes for the repairs. No one wants any buyer or client to find out that, three months after they close on a house, they now need $25,000 in unexpected repairs from mold/improper drainage, etc., etc., etc.

Mold needs cellulose (sheet rock, but not plaster) to grow. Mold won’t grow on cement. It will grow on a biofilm on the top of the cement. It will grow on wood. When water travels through cement, it leaves white efflorescence which is not usually mold; bur it is an indicator of water intrusions. Wet cement is not a good thing – it degrades the cement over time and impacts the interior. That is an indication of a drainage problem. A mold inspection with infrared water leak detection is indicated.

Keep the humidity below 50% to discourage favorable mold growth environments.

Install working bath exhausts on timers – especially in rentals. You want the exhaust fan to stay on for 15-20 minutes after anyone exits the bath. A humidistat is even better. That’s a bathroom exhaust the is hard wired to go on and stay on until the humidity is below 50%. Keeping the humidity below 50% creates a less favorable growing environment for mold growth.

No one, without professional mold testing, can tell if discoloration is mold or not.

“Black” mold (stachybotryrus chartum atra) grows like Jell-O, so we seldom see it in the air. Unless the handyman tore down the wet bathroom wall or there is quite a lot of it growing in the mold reservoir. This mold requires a lot of consistent water to grow. Think about a leaking ice maker in a refrigerator as potentially creating this mold. Other types of mold may also be present.

Don’t have the clothes dryer venting into a garage where cardboard boxes are stored. Have the dryer vent directly outside with a minimum amount of curves and turns. And store contents in plastic containers to discourage mold growth.

It takes about three days to get mold results (except for viable sampling that scientifically requires seven days to grow) back from the lab, but we can get same day service from our lab for non viable air samples. There is a rush charge, but if you’ve got know today, we can make it happen. Including Saturdays and Sundays, if prearranged.

We respect our client’s privacy to the point that we will not speak to other interested parties now or in the future without our client’s written permission.

Our Reports provide a clear, thorough and complete snapshot of the mold condition of the area of concern. We will explain all parts of our work until we have no “gaps in understanding” with any of the involved parties. However, please remember that it is not our job to train our clients to become industrial hygienists.

To spend buyer’s inspection dollars wisely, have the termite and home inspectors first. If either or both of those reports mention “water”, “drainage”, “rot” or any condition that a reasonable person would think may indicate mold growth, or a drainage problem that would promote mold growth, give us a call and let’s talk about your specific situation.

Single paned windows with no insulation, like most of San Francisco, causes its own set of mold problems. Again, know the true situation before you close
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If you see discoloration on linoleum, don’t tear it out until you have preliminary asbestos testing.

Do not disturb any painted wall in a building built before 1978 without preliminary lead testing of that paint.

If it’s been rebuilt with drywall between 2001 and 2008 and you smell “rotten eggs” when you first open the door, or the new copper piping shows corrosion, Chinese drywall may be involved. American Air Testing has seen very limited installs of Chinese drywall in the San Francisco Bay Area. The “rotten egg” smell may also be a natural gas leak and you should immediately call the utility company for verification.