Mold Inspections 101: What Is Mold Assessment and Why Do You Need It?

Mold is a species of fungus that lives in dark, moist places and spreads by continuously releasing microscoping spores into the air. It plays an important role in the environment and can be found in all parts of the world where there is organic matter for it to break down. 

Unfortunately, “all parts of the world” means this fungus can also infest our homes and, if we’re unlucky, spread to the point where it endangers our health, causes long-term damage to our property, and requires extensive (and costly) mold cleanup and remediation.  

With the above in mind, it’s no surprise that homeowners and home buyers will often schedule a professional mold inspection in San Diego to make sure there’s no mold in their property or in the property they’re thinking of buying. Keep reading to learn more. 

Is a mold inspection worth it?

The terms mold inspection, mold evaluation, mold assessment, mold testing, and so on, all basically mean the same thing: a trained technician gathers mold samples and runs a variety of scientific tests in order to provide their client with crucial and objective information. 

Mold inspections are important because:

• They help home buyers “dodge the bullet”.

The more extensive a mold infestation is, the greater the damage to the property will be and the more expensive it will be to remediate it. What’s more, mold infestations don’t exist in a vacuum: they’re usually caused by other problems with the property itself. 

As a home buyer, the last thing you want is to invest in a house or apartment that has a mold problem. Finding out about it as soon as possible will save you a lot of money and frustration down the road. 

• They create parameters for mold removal.

Depending on the extent of the infestation, mold removal can take a lot of time and include destructive cleanup approaches. For this reason, thorough testing is needed to help define the boundaries of the infestation before the remediators can get to work.

• It identifies the type of mold.

Not all species of mold endanger the occupants’ health in the same way. Knowing which type of mold you’re dealing with can be vital in determining whether your medical symptoms are caused by mold or something else. 

• It provides legal evidence.

Depending on the specifics of your legal case, you may be required to provide scientific proof that the mold infestation is in fact present. The good news is, a mold inspector’s findings are fully admissible in court as objective evidence. 

What happens during a mold inspection?

During a mold assessment, a technician takes mold samples from the air and one or more surfaces. These samples are then taken to a mold laboratory and tested to determine which type of mold it is and whether it’s able to grow in that particular area. 

The most commonly used air testing method takes a “spore trap sample” with a special spore trap sampling device. Surface samples are more varied, with the 3 most common methods being bulk samples, swab samples, and tape samples.  

Where can I book an in-depth mold inspection in San Diego?

Even the most seemingly perfect home in Mission Beach can hide nasty surprises such as extensive mold infestations, structural damage, and other problems that can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to fix. 

As a property buyer or owner, you want to know about these things long before you sign any legally-binding documents. Here at Inspectors Company, we can help you with that. As a fully certified and highly experienced provider of San Diego home inspection services, we’re uniquely equipped to thoroughly test any house or apartment. Call us today.