Sometimes mold is easy to spot, but more often than not, mold goes unnoticed in a building. If not dealt with, it can become a very difficult and costly problem to solve. Worse yet, an inhabitant's health can become greatly degraded.
Mold spores occur naturally in nature. It's nature's way of decomposing things and returning matter back to the soil. This is a good thing and part of earth's normal ecological cycle. Spores are nearly everywhere, and the outdoor air consists of normal fungal ecology.
Nature's decomposition work in your building is a bad thing. All that mold needs to grow is cellulose and water, which means it can grow on almost anything: drywall, carpet, cardboard, household dust, you name it. A tiny water leak or elevated moisture in a building is really all that is needed for mold to grow.
Structural building problems often create elevated moisture conditions. Condensate formation near poorly insulated areas and building envelopes that have water breaches are very common causes of a mold problems. But even just too much humidity can be the cause of a serious problem.
In buildings under these conditions, the fungal ecology quickly becomes abnormal as it grows in an opportunistic state of dysbiosis. In this state of dysbiosis, you typically find elevated airborne spore counts for pathogenic molds like Aspergillus, Penicillium, Stachybotrys, and Chaetomium. Many people have heard of toxic black mold, but there are other molds to be concerned about as they are toxic human allergens.
Healthy HouseTM can test your home or workplace for mold. We work with our accredited mycologist to analyze mold samples. We offer the following types of mold testing:
1.) Airborne spore trapping
2.) Surface sampling
3.) ERMI and HERTSMI-2
4.) Dust analysis
5.) Mycotoxin testing
6.) Mold VOC testing
Prior to testing for mold, we recommend a thorough analysis of the building. We perform a thorough visual inspection and examination the functional efficacy of building envelope, ventilation and insulation.
By using infrared technology, we can spot temperature variations where moisture problems are likely to exist. We also use a hygrometer and moisture meter to the test moisture content in the air and various materials in the building. A particle counter also helps us pinpoint sources of contamination.
We perform on-site mold and mycotoxin investigation and testing in many southeast Michigan communities including Ann Arbor, Detroit, East Lansing, Plymouth, Canton, Northville, Novi, Livonia, and more.
Wherever you may live, we can help. We can provide consultation and testing services remotely, and guide you on performing testing and results interpretation.