Do I need a mold test ??  

You’ve come to our site because you are looking for information on mold testing and remediation. Most folks come here because they have either found mold in their homes and they are wondering if it is dangerous or because they are buying or selling a home and potential mold was detected as part of a home inspection. These along with potential health issues are common problems and we pride ourselves in offering you great information and solutions to your problems. Take your time and read through our site as it is our goal to serve you with honest no nonsense information

I’ve found mold in my home what do I do?  Most if not all mold contamination in homes and buildings is the result of water damage. The first question to ask is have I had water damage in the past? If you have you corrected it? 

Most water damage in homes is the result of sump pump failure or pipe breaks. If you had either of these situations and you did not property dry the building materials out then you in all likely hood have a mold problem. Building materials need to have moisture content below 15% mc (as measured with a moisture meter) to be mold resistant.

After flooding events sheetrock may look dry but it seldom is. Sheetrock and paneling are very porous and they wick water up into them. We have worked on over 10.000 homeowner floods over a 20 year period and I can assure you that in almost every case the moisture content will rise to over 30% mc or higher after a flooding event. I have seen homes rendered unsalable after water damage in some cases. Thankfully this is unusual but if you didn’t dry out your structure after water damage you probably have somewhat of a mold problem.

Call (732) 676-8175 for expert mold testing and removal advice from a certified expert.

A home inspector hound mold in my home and its holding up my sale!!!!! We get calls like this every week so don’t panic. Home inspectors as a rule either conduct a visual only mold inspection or they perform swab test. There are problems with both of these methodologies. Neither of these methods can quantify how much mold is in the structure or if there is even a mold contamination problem at all.

There will always be a certain level of mold in a structure the question is how much is there and what type of mold is it and unfortunately swabs and visual inspections can answer neither of these questions.

Swab test ALWAYS are failed by the labs because they always detect mold and the labs send back a report that says an unusually mold condition exist even if there is 1 spore of mold. The only reason to do a swab test at all is in the event that you need to identify the type of mold in question.

Visual inspections are frequently totally erroneous and we have often times seen cases where inspectors say a substance is mold and it’s something else altogether.

We are experts in solving real estate mold problems and frequently we can solve the entire issue by simply conducting mold testing that results in a report being generated that states that there is actually no mold problem at all.

We pride ourselves in being honest and you either have a problem or you don’t we never exaggerate or fudge our findings as do many other company’s. We can provide references of folks that started off thinking that they had a problem only to happily find out that they didn’t.

Mold swabs that always fail at most commercial mold labs.

If you’ve come this far then you   are probably searching for a solution to a mold problem in your home or building. The good news is that you’ve come to the right place because we pride ourselves if offering honest concise advice as to environmental problems in homes and buildings.

The following pages contain concise information and procedures for finding testing removing and preventing all types of mold and indoor air quality problems. No matter how sever the problem or what type or color of mold that you have ( red, green black white etc.) you can find the information necessary to deal with it within these pages.

I have been conducting mold investigations in New Jersey, New York and Florida for almost 20 years. I worked extensively at Hurricane Katrina and in my lengthy career I’ve seen it all as far as mold and water damage problems are concerned.

This website is the sum of that piratical knowledge gained by years of field experience. In its pages we present information on testing prevention and removal of toxic mold spores and fungi water damage mitigation and prevention and information on how to obtain our expert opinions and advice.

This web site is copyrighted by Certified Microbe Solutions  

(732) 676-8175

Toxic Mold Testing and Elimination Library 

When to hire a professional to test for mold. In most instances it is cost effective to hire a professional to conduct in home mold testing as opposed to using do it yourself kits. Although we sell home test kits and offer libratory analysis for them it is usually best in the long run to retain our firm or another professional service just for the sake of a total inspection of your property compiled with years of experience.

Frequently after testing we can offer advice on how to properly conduct your own mold clean up as long as the test results come back with a reasonable amount of mold suspended in the air and the mold growth on building materials is less than 30 sq feet.

The problem with just doing a visual inspection in these instances is that mold growth is frequently hidden and you may not see it at all. In most instances we suggest performing the following analysis of a home or building before writing or suggesting a remediation protocol.

Proper Mold Inspections. The first part of a proper mold investigation is a through walk through of the property in question. This would include both the interior and exterior areas of the home or building.

In suburban homes such as homes in New Jersey what we are looking for are signs of water damage around windows, doors, under sinks, in basements, around sump pumps and in attics. In suburban homes most water damage is caused by badly maintained sump pumps, baby ventilated attics, badly maintained gutters and improper water proofing in a basement.

During this visual inspection we are looking for signs of visible mold growth and we are taking moister reading to determine problem areas that have elevated moisture content.

We are looking for signs of penicillium aspergillus mold which is frequently found in areas that were water damaged or suffered from an elevated humidity or moisture content. We are also looking for signs of any mold that is black in color which may be stachybotrys, a particularly vile mold that causes the most health problems. If we observe suspected stachybotrys we will usually take a sample to confirm its existence because not every black mold is stachybotrys and we want to know if it is.

After a visual inspection and moisture testing we will suggest areas that we fell need to be tested by air sampling.

Air sampling or an IAQ test are test that measure the amount of mold that’s suspended in the air at a given moment in time. There are several types of IAQ test and a professional company will be equipped to perform any of them. The 2 main types are Impactor test and Non Viable Air sampling.

The most common test is the non viable test which is taken with a vacuum pump attached to a plastic cassette with a microscopic slid mounted inside it.

For onsite Mold Testing with these methods call

(732) 676-8175 FROM 800 am to !0:00 PM

Mold, Mildew and Water Damage Guide

• IS IT MOLD OR MILDEW?    What are the differences, is it the same as mold? Can mildew be dangerous?   
• HOW OLD IS THE MOLD ?  It from a new source or is it pre construction mold that’s been there since the house was built.   
• MOLD CLEAN UP COMPANIES How to chose one how not to get ripped off.  
• VISUAL MOLD GUIDE FOR HOMEOWNERS. What does mold look like. What red, green black and white mold looks like.  
• SURFACE INSPECTION GUIDE – What types of mold grow on various surfaces?   
• HOME MOLD TEST KITS The Good The Bad and the Ugly   
• PREVENTATIVE MEASURES Steps you can take to avoid a mold problem.   
• MOLD FAQ the most common questions that clients ask me.   
• WATER DAMAGE GUIDE. I spent 20 years in the water restoration business. I designed and sold very high tech water restoration equipment on 2 continents. If there is one thing I know about besides mold its water damage.  
• ODORS AND SMELLS? Is it from the mold? Is it a sewer gas and what do I do about it.   
• GUIDE TO MOLDS AND TOXINS that are commonly found in homes.  
• LAND LORD TENANT MATTERS. My landlord won’t fix my apartment or my Tenant is crazy and setting me up for a suit.   

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