Finding a Quality Mold Assessor
Integrity Mold Inspection's approach begins with you… our client. The first step in the investigation is to understand what your concerns are about your indoor environment and how we can help you achieve your goals.
It is important to understand as our potential client: when you shop for help with your indoor mold, moisture, or odor issue—that it doesn’t require much expertise to take air samples in a home or building, send them into a laboratory, and then say you have mold. The key is that you get answers to the question: why does my living or work space have mold and how does it get corrected? Here are a set of questions we recommend you ask your mold assessor before you hire them:
- Are you a Licensed Mold Assessor with the State of Florida?
- If you find elevated mold because of mold sampling laboratory results, do you explain what caused the elevation and how to fix the problem? The laboratory report from mold sampling is only one small piece of a mold assessment report. This is very important because if the mold assessment doesn’t include a detailed plan that solves the issue then the ball is dropped on you or your agent.
- Do you write a mold remediation plan that outlines the steps that are necessary to get rid of the mold without contaminating other areas of my home or building?
- Is your report a professional document that will help support my insurance claim or my concerns?
- Does your mold assessment report state the cause of loss?
- Will you be available to answer questions regarding your mold assessment?
- If you find mold during a real estate transaction, do you leave the issue with the seller’s agent or buyer's agent?
Integrity Mold Inspection Services
- Mold Assessment and Moisture Investigation for Remediation of Visible and Nonvisible Mold.
- Post Remediation Verification Inspection (typically referred to as a clearance test).
- Mold Inspection For Real Estate Transactions
- Mold, Moisture, and Odor Inspection for Occupants that feel that the Home or Building environment is causing them to feel sick or experience allergy like symptoms.
- Mold and Moisture Inspection and Assessment for Insurance Claims
- Limited Mold Inspection of a Specific Area
- Odor Investigation
- Expert witness deposition
- Mold issue consultation strategy
- Dry-out inspections
When to Have a Mold Inspection
- Floods—If you had a flood and you hired a company to dry your wall cavities, it is recommended to assess whether the moisture intrusion wasn’t contaminated and didn’t have time to establish mold. A competent Mold Remediator should recommend a third party licensed Mold Assessor to perform a mold investigation after the dry-out is complete.
- Moisture Intrusion— If you have a water leak or have discovered moisture in your home or business, it is recommended to investigate whether the moisture intrusion caused mold and where the moisture came from.
- If you Have Discovered Mold—It is recommended for you to know the extent of the mold issue, how to fix what caused the mold, and have a remediation plan that will resolve the mold and moisture issues. These frustrating issues are easily resolved with a professional report done by Integrity Mold Inspection. Many times there is more mold in the wall cavity than you may see growing on the surface of a wall. The reason is because the moisture source may have intruded a wall cavity before it reached an interior surface. Sometimes walls appear dry when they may be wet enough to provide conditions for mold to thrive. This is detected typically with a moisture meter or a thermal image camera. Moisture measurements allow us to find and document sources of moisture.
- If you Smell an Odor—It may be mold related. A mold and moisture investigation is recommended to find the origin of the odor. Sometimes when people visit a home they notice an odor that the occupant may have become accustom to or you smell an odor that nobody else seems to smell. In this case a mold, moisture, and odor inspection is recommended. Regardless if the odor is mold or other nuisance odors, we are experts at typically finding the cause.
- Real Estate Transaction—Mold assessments are recommended If you want to purchase or sell a home. This is done to determine if a building has mold or moisture issues, and what measures would be necessary to fix these issues.
- Post Remediation Verification (Clearance Testing)—After mold remediation work has been done to your home or business, you should have documentation that remediation is satisfactory (sometimes referred to as clearance testing). This document is important for insurance claims, disclosure for selling the home, and peace of mind.
- Home Owner Sales —Sometimes homeowners want to do a mold inspection prior to listing their home on the market because they want the opportunity to fix issues before they negotiate a sale.
- Hurricanes/Tropical Storms—You may want your vacation home or existing home inspected for signs of moisture damage after a major tropical storm.
- Vacation Homes—You may want your vacation home assessed yearly to see if the indoor atmosphere is being maintained and if your home has new moisture issues.
- Landlord—Many landlords want a mold and moisture investigation to document current moisture conditions and fungal ecology prior to leasing their properties.
- Tenant—Sometime a tenant cannot get the landlord to understand a potential mold issue is present. Our mold report would communicate if a mold clean-up is necessary.
- Allergies—Your allergies may trigger when you are in a specific room or building. This could be something specific that you may be coming in contact with that could be resolved in your indoor environment. We are not Allergists; however, we recommend to investigate your indoor environment that may be amplifying your allergies, rather than only treating the symptom with medication.
- Immunocompromised—You or your loved one could be immunocompromised and you want advice on how to create a healthier living environment for them. *Note examples of immunocompromised people are young children and elderly with serious health issues.
- Masking Odors—We recommend not to try to disguise an odor with another odor. The best practice for your health is to eliminate what’s causing the odor. Some of these plug in odor devices emit harmful chemicals.
- Healthy Living— If you practice healthy living and would like a plan that would enhance the air you breathe in your home.
Inspection Minimums
Mold, Moisture, and Odor Inspections should include a minimum of the following.
Physical Mold and Moisture Investigation of:
- Walls, Ceilings, Attics, Exterior, Garages, Air Handles, & Duct Work.
Thermal Imaging of areas that are a moisture concern such as:
- Exterior Envelope, Window Areas, Plumbing Areas, Stains, Repaired Drywall Areas.
Moisture Measurements found with the Thermal Imager and Visible Moisture Evidences:
- Air Test Sampling of Indoor Air.
- Wall Cavity Sampling if Needed.
- Tape Lift Samples of Visible Mold.