Nowadays, there is a DIY at home kit for nearly everything. Home mold test kits are no exception. From the internet to you local hardware store, New Jersey home and business owners can easily purchase DIY home mold test kits. Home mold test kits boast about how easy it will be to confirm or deny mold growth in your home or business. Sure, home mold test kits are easy to use and will provide you with some mold-related information, but what does it actually mean?
Understanding South Jersey Mold Growth
There is mold everywhere around us. The truth is that mold plays a vital role in our ecosystem and is rather beneficial in a lot of ways (ie: cheese, medicine, etc.). What you should be concerned about is abnormally elevated or excessive mold development. “Normal” is a very ambiguous measurement. Professional New Jersey mold inspectors typically use the natural environment outside of the home or business as a baseline. A mold inspector will collect an outdoor air sample to establish what is “normal” in that environment. Indoor mold counts should be less than or equal to outdoor mold counts.
Home mold test kits are designed strictly to tell you if you have mold in your building. All homes have mold. What you need to know is if it is more than normal, where it is, the source of the moisture in your home, and what can be done to rid your home of mold. Home mold test kits do not reveal this information. You need a professional mold inspection, conducted by a certified microbial investigator (CMI), to accurately report these important facts.
Are DIY Home Mold Test Kits Accurate?
There are so many factors to consider when inspecting/testing for mold. Sure a home mold test kit can determine the presence of mold and provide you with some scientific findings. But what do the findings actually mean in terms of how it is affecting your property? Unfortunately, false negatives and false positives are common with home mold tests depending on where the samples are taken from, what were the conditions when they were collected, where the moisture source is, and countless other variables.
Getting to The Source
Test results, alone, are just arbitrary numbers that the average home or business owner may not know how to interpret without context. A professional mold inspector is fully equipped with the proper tools and training to thoroughly evaluate your mold problem. Often times, mold can be sneaky. The natural of mold allows it to grow virtually anywhere and a home test kit will not get to the root of the problem. With the necessary tools, your inspector will be able to…
- Prove or disprove mold presence
- Determine the full capacity of the mold activity
- Diagnose the water source and the full extent of the water damage
- Develop the most appropriate scope of work for your specific needs
If a mold problem is identified, it is important to understand where the mold is coming from and get to the root of the problem. Professional New Jersey mold removal services target the source of the mold and works to remove mold from the roots to prevent regrowth.
Identifying Causation
When it comes to mold in your home or business, it is extremely important that the underlying water issues causing the mold growth is resolved, as well as thoroughly removing existing mold development. If the water source feeding the mold is not found and fixed, the mold will inevitably grow back, despite a proper cleanup.
The most common water sources feeding mold growth: leaks, seepage, flooding, and humidity. Taking the time to diagnose the water source and implementing the appropriate preventative measures is vital to avoiding more costly mold remediation and water restoration further down the line. Neglected moisture problems can have major repercussions on the building. Water damaged building materials will wreak havoc on a building over time. Walls, floors, and ceilings can become severely compromised and put everyone in danger.
Certified Professional South Jersey Mold Inspection and Mold Testing
While home mold test kits are cheap and affordable, you are not really getting your money’s worth out of it. If you are genuinely concerns about mod development in your residential or commercial property, you should consider investing in a professional South Jersey mold inspection.
Visual Assessment– Your MasterTech Inspector will complete a comprehensive visual analysis to determine any conditions that could stimulate mold growth in your NJ property. We will provide you thorough digital documentation for your records.
Moisture Mapping– Your inspector will carefully map out the wet areas of the property to determine where the water source begins and ends, while avoiding any unnecessary demolition or invasive tactics.
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- Moisture Meters: Moisture meters allow us to read the moisture content of building materials. Moisture locked within porous building materials can go unnoticed for a long time.
- Thermal Imaging: Your inspector will be taking advantage of the temperature difference between wet and dry materials. Thermal imaging will allow your inspector to clearly identify all wet areas and paint a picture of the mold spread.
Mold Testing– Surface and/or air quality tests will provide scientific data that will confirm or deny mold presence. If mold presence is confirmed, the test results will help your inspector figure out the most appropriate course of act to resolve the mold issue.
Report of Findings– Your inspector will compile a clear and concise report that outlines all his/her findings. If deemed necessary and requested for, your inspector will present you with a detailed scope of work for a South Jersey mold remediation.
For more information on having your home or business tested for mold by a certified mold professional, call us today to speak with a member of the MasterTech Team. 609-948-8844
