Mold testing

[chadt1234]

We came across some mold in a small hall closet behind a shower. Shower head was leaking and has been fixed. I cut all the sheetrock back and treated it per instructions from a mold expert I know in Florida. He suggested having the house tested in a few days/week to see if it looks like it spread to any other areas. I know that most testing companies that remediate will probably find something they think needs to be remediated. If you ask a surgeon if you need surgery, the answer will probably be yes. Does anyone know of a reputable testing company in the Tomball/Houston area? My insurance agent only knows of a remediation company. Thanks guys.

[eastover53]

You can buy mold test kits on amazon. I’ve done this before.

[BBBGP]

Wendy Cadmus of Cadmus enviromental.http://www.cadmusenvironmental.com/home.html

[chadt1234]

The mold test kits are not the most accurate. There is a lot of room for error and they need to be sent to a lab to even try to get an accurate colony count. They really just tell you that there is mold present and maybe what type if you can match the growth correctly. Mold is everywhere though. We have done the tests a few years ago that are supposed to be more accurate and they are sent to a lab. At that time, we had no visible mold showing. Tests came back with minimal mold presence. Now that we have an epicenter, I'm looking to get a definitive answer from a professional

I'll give Wendy a call.

Thanks

[Mike Fangman]

I'm no mold expert, but I'd clean it the best I could, some spray bottle bleach and water, wipe it and let it dry out good. . Then Id paint the area with a sealer , like Kilz and roll with it. Sounds like
all that other , is a big waste of money. Mold is way overrated, unless you're in the mold business.

[chadt1234]

The guy that is advising me from Florida has no skin in the game on this. He told me not to cut it out. It was too late at that point. I had already cut out the sheetrock. The concern is that the spores are now airborne and can get in the AC ducts. The visible mold grew through the sheetrock to the other side. Its not just a stain on the wall. Also, bleach is not very effective against a lot of mold types. Especially the nasty ones. My daughter was having regular health issues at her apartment in Florida. She did the cheap Amazon test. We didn't know the severity of each mold present, but what concerned our contact there was the massive quantity of mold colonies on the petri dishes. Should be 1-3 per dish, maybe size of a dime or quarter. Her's were completely covered. We got her moved and she hasn't had a headache or congestion since. The wrong mold can really mess you up. From the inside at a cellular level.

[doright]

Platinum Enviromental Solutions. 713-446-9737. Chris has done testing for us several times. One interesting thing that I learned from him is the only way to know for sure that it's mold your dealing with is to have it tested. He told me that he's been doing testing for over 30 years and cannot tell you if its mold or some other organic matter. Also, there are hundreds of varieties but only a few are actually bad for you.

[diamond10x]

I'm no mold expert, but I'd clean it the best I could, some spray bottle bleach and water, wipe it and let it dry out good. . Then Id paint the area with a sealer , like Kilz and roll with it. Sounds like
all that other , is a big waste of money. Mold is way overrated, unless you're in the mold business.

This. I'm not an IH but I deal with mold assessments/remediation for work. Lots of people freak out at the sign of mold. 99% of people don't realize that mold is an important organism to our environment. Its actually a necessity. It is all around us on everything, we breathe it in with every breathe. The issue is when you have levels indoors that are multiple times more than outdoor levels. Neither the EPA or OSHA has specific enforceable toxicity levels because it affects everybody differently.

Getting one of those quick cheap tests to do on your own are silly. They will just tell you there is mold, in which case I'd be worried if they didn't say there was any.

More than likely if it was behind a leaky shower head growing on drywall it was Stachybotrys since it requires high humidity and feeds on paper, wood, drywall (things that contain plant material). You've cleaned the mold and fixed the moisture problem which is all you can do. Unless there are other areas that are getting that much moisture to feed the growth of mold, you shouldn't have any worries.

[chadt1234]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I have done all I can to remediate the mold I found. I did not do a great job of sealing myself in the closet while cutting out the sheetrock (which pros would have done). So my concern at this point is airborne spores finding a nice home somewhere else (like AC ducts) and beginning a new life there. We have been having some minor unexplained health changes so I'm wanting to make sure that we are living in a healthy home now. That's why I am looking for honest testers as opposed to remediators.

[JFFB]

I'm no mold expert, but I'd clean it the best I could, some spray bottle bleach and water, wipe it and let it dry out good. . Then Id paint the area with a sealer , like Kilz and roll with it. Sounds like
all that other , is a big waste of money. Mold is way overrated, unless you're in the mold business.

Exactly.