Dear George, How Do I Detect mold?

[slideshow_deploy id=’26’]Dear George,
My daughter rents in the basement of an old 3 story house. Her room has flooded to the point of very wet carpet four times this year. The landlord had a carpet company come in and they gave me a letter that stated there was no mold. How do I detect mold?

Mold presents visual and olfactory clues, and will be most likely be present if there is (or has been) a water leak or highly humid conditions. If mold is not immediately detectable, then a mold assessor can take samplings which are sent to labs, thermal readings and VOC readings. Labs analyze the specific type of mold, which could be significant if determining specific allergic reactions.

A carpet company may well be expert in handling carpets, but mold detection is a completely different process. How did they test? It may be that the situation called for more than carpet cleaning; complete remediation might be needed. It may well be that there had been standing water at one time, in which case any soft goods such as carpet or padding would have developed a permanent distinctive mildew or mold scent.

That a live colony is not immediately visible to the naked eye does not certify that a mold colony and mold spores are not present. A professional assessment by a company such as Bye Bye Mold, Inc will do a complete and scientific search, as well as provide certified results, including “chain of custody” forms which may be essential for insurance or legal follow-up.

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