I live in Florida on a heavily wooded lot. In other words, I kind of live in a moldy environment. I have some health issues, mostly brain fog and fatigue, which are worse on some days, AND I am allergic to many things on my property, including pollens and mold. I HAVE had some tests done that show some levels of mold in my body. But, since I live on the wooded property, and spend a lot of time outside, that is to be expected. MOLD GROWS IN THE WOODS, especially when it is wet outside. I have spent a LOT of money trying to determine how many of my health issues are created from my indoor environment as opposed to my outdoor environment. So I have spent a LOT of money hiring a LOT of different mold inspectors. I love my home and property and don’t want to move.
Every company that I have hired does different tests. Some do air sampling, some do “swabs”. Some use special infrared cameras. And then they give you their “plan of action.” None of them, nor any of the doctors, can help me determine if my symptoms are being caused inside the house or outside. After all, during certain seasons I spend more time outside than inside.
My current inspection cost me over $2500 and in my particular case, I don’t believe that the answers he provided were worth the money. So, another big chunk of change spent trying to get answers. I know how stressful and costly it can be tracking down answers for these issues, so I am sharing the details of this recent report hoping that some of the information will be valuable to others and save you some time and money.
Keep in mind that I am not an expert on anything mold related and I am also a skeptical person, so any personal opinions I have are my own and are not necessary based on scientific evidence. However, I’m not a dummy. As a freelance writer who has written a lot about gardening, nature, the outdoors, as well as topics related to green building, I am not totally ignorant about these topics and have consulted scientists about many of these topics.
The main tool that the current company used to find issues is a camera that uses Infrared thermography. My understanding is that an infrared inspection gives a view of building conditions beyond what can be seen in any standard inspection. I do believe that the thermal imaging showed things that I have long suspected about problems with my AC system and ducts (primarily air leaks) and the images he provided will hopefully help me get the work done that I need on my AC. I think the images also show that I may need more or better insulation in my attic although I don’t think that is causing my health issues. The infrared thermography did NOT show dampness on any of the photos that he included in the report even though we have been having heavy rains. They just showed areas that he said cold air or warm air were evident in areas that they shouldn’t be, which can cause moisture. If I had read and understood his website better before I called him, I might have realized that his company wasn’t the best one for my needs.
It took about two weeks to receive the report from his inspection. The report is 48 pages and was very stressful to read because it talks about tearing out drywall, ripping up flooring, replacing my entire HVAC system (which is less than 10 years old), and many other things that would cost tens of thousands of dollars and LOTS and LOTS of stress. After I laid it aside for a few days and read it again, I realized that this was all just his opinion and his reasons for these suggestions don’t have a lot of merit FOR MY SPECIFIC HEALTH ISSUES. If you have more serious health issues than I do, you might want to take everything he says at face value.
IN MY OPINION, I don’t think that some of the other stuff he said is accurate and some just seems downright silly. Like telling me there was dust on the front of my air cleaners (with photos included in his report) when they specifically asked me not to clean for 4 days before the inspection. And telling me that my exhaust fans aren’t connected to light switches so they aren’t automatically turned on when I shower (I DO, in fact, always turn them on when I shower).
During the inspection, I pointed out some areas on the ceiling near exhaust fan vents and without any testing, he told me they were mold. In my opinion, they could have just been dirt and debris that got into the house when I had my roof replaced. But without testing, dirt is just dirt as far as I know and in his report, he called those things “microbial growth”. Again, that’s just my opinion.
He stated that my less than pristine dishwasher and dirty garbage disposal “could impact anyone using these devices.” Yikes! An extreme statement and depending on the degree of your health issues, I imagine that might be true….. IF, they in fact had mold in them. Neither were tested for mold but I have since cleaned them.
He found “small visible cracks” in the grout and caulking in my shower, as well as rusted carpet tacks in the master bedroom closet which abuts the master bathroom. From that, he suggests that I have 2-4 feet of drywall ripped out as well as all of the floor and wall tile in my master bathroom. I’m assuming he meant to say in my master bathroom SHOWER, which would make a LITTLE more sense, but since those instructions were included in the document, they seemed very extreme and would definitely be problematic if showed to an actual contractor. I did pull up more of the carpet in the master bedroom closet and there is no evidence of water damage on the carpet itself or the baseboard so I have decided not to tear apart my bathroom at this time. He told me not to use that shower but in my uneducated opinion, it seems more logical to me to actually use the shower and then maybe use thermal imaging to see if dampness shows up in that wall. I might decide to do that in the future after I learn more about thermal imaging.
Mold tests are not included in the price of his inspection but he talked me into paying for several swabs by mentioning that he thought he saw “black mold” under my kitchen sink. So he said he took two swabs off the trusses in my attic and two swabs in my AC and one swab under the kitchen sink. The “black mold” he thought I had under the kitchen sink turned out to be aspergillus (not black mold). Since he didn’t include a photo of this “mold” in his report, I’m not exactly sure what he was even looking at although it is dirty down there. His suggested remediation was to rip out all of my lower kitchen cabinets and replace them and the countertops. All of that based on a small area of aspergillus mold. I DID email him, asking him to tell me exactly where he took mold samples so I can get those areas re-tested. He does NOT like to communicate through email but instead, wants clients to set up a “free” telephone consultation to discuss the report. To me, all of this info should have already been included in the report that was included with the $2500 inspection. Anyway, he never did tell me where he took the mold samples from.
The molds on the trusses and in the AC were Cladosporium, chlamydospores, and a few other outdoor molds all of which are in my woods. So whether the molds on my trusses are affecting me more than the molds in my woods would be hard to discern. His suggested remediation was to sand and sanitize all of the trusses in my attic. He also has VERY extensive recommended changes for my AC system (which isn’t that old and is still under warranty), including replacing the entire system and moving my air handler into the house instead of leaving it in the garage. He suggests replacing all of the insulation in the attic, not because he said it is moldy, but just because he suggests insulation with lower VOCs.
He doesn’t suggest that I should remove the carpet in my rooms and in my personal opinion, since I walk outside and track mold into my house on a regular basis, and I’m not the greatest housekeeper in the world, replacing the carpet might be a better place for me to start with my particular issues. I’ve just been dragging my feet on that project (no pun intended). Nor did he suggest that I should do any further inspection in areas where I showed him that I actually had bad leaks in the ceiling before I got my new roof. If he checked those areas while he was in the attic, he didn’t choose to take photos to share in his report. (There are no photos of the attic included in his report at all. Including photos of where he took mold samples would have been helpful).
I guess that’s enough to prove my point. Again, this is all just my opinion and if you have severe health issues and you believe they are due to mold OR allergens, I certainly encourage you to do what you need to do to keep your family safe and healthy. My personal opinion is that if somebody recommends remediation that is going to cost tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars, don’t immediately panic like I did. Stress is very bad for our health. Do your due diligence. Get second or maybe even third opinions BEFORE you pay for extensive remediation, and keep in mind that it isn’t always a good idea to accept the remediators that the inspector is suggesting. Do your due diligence on them, too.
He also provided a list of steps to prevent and reduce microbial, bacterial and actinomycetes growth which I will be happy to provide in another post when I find the time, although most of that info can probably be found on line already. And I am going to try to get some more information about outdoor molds and how harmful they may or may not be to our health so when I find that, I will post that too.
In the meantime, I’m going to go outside and enjoy the birds and bees in my own backyard.
Ane before you call a mold inspector or remediator, I urge you to watch this video:
Wishing you all better health.
Leave a Reply