Mold Testing

Mold Removal

Mold Inspections: Water can get just about anywhere and where there is water, there is often mold. If you suspect that you have mold, we can help you determine whether you have a problem and what you can do about it.

Mold Remediation: The term “remediation” is used rather than “removal” because getting rid of mold is a process. We have the experience necessary to make sure that we remove all the mold the first time and take steps to ensure it won’t grow back.

Post Remediation Wall Sealing: Water is mold’s friend and your enemy. We have years of experience sealing walls after they have been treated for mold to make sure that the mold doesn’t grow back.

Wall and Floor Treatment Replacement: Mold often grows on walls, floors, and ceilings that have been already been treated. We leave our jobs with more mold protection than they had when they were new.

Mold TESTING

Molds are organisms that neither come under plants nor animals category. These are categorized as part of the fungi kingdom and they inhibit further growth of themselves by the sun’s ultraviolet light.

However, molds are usually everywhere (damp place of your home). You can spot the visible type of mold that is known as “Mildew”. If you want your place free from the presence of molds then you have to go for professional mold testing.

Mold is Everywhere.  

Mold is everywhere. Mold is a type of fungus that grows from tiny spores that float in the air.  It travels in microscopic spores and lands on surfaces, on a person’s clothing, their car, and their packages. Therefore, we will not be able to completely eradicate mold from a home, but we can take the right precautions and test for mold spores in the air and on surfaces.

In most cases, if visible mold growth is present, sampling is unnecessary. However, surface sampling may be useful to determine if an area has been adequately cleaned or remediated. Sampling for mold should be conducted by professionals who have experience in designing mold-sampling protocols, sampling methods, and interpreting results.

Signs of mold – Is Mold or is it Mildew?

Mold and mildew are both fungi that need water, oxygen, and food to survive, they both have a musty odor, but they differ in how they appear on surfaces. Mold tends to have a higher profile and can even appear fuzzy, while mildew is always flat. Mold exhibits darker colors such as deep green and black (like black mold); mildew may begin as white, then turn brown or gray. Also, mildew turns into a white, powdery substance, but mold never does.

How to detect the mold?

One of the positive signs you need to know about the presence of mold are:

A black/green/gray stuff seen in any corner of your home especially shower area, damp walls, or outdoor surfaces. Besides this, a musty odor is a tell-tale sign to detect the presence of mold. Although, the mildew lightens easily within 2 minutes of dabbing a few drops of bleach. While the severe type of molds grow with time into larger colonies. There are mold test kits to detect the mold and its type. However, to find out the actual cause of its occurrence and how to stop it you need the professionals in this field.

Therefore, in case you are unable to trace molds in your home, you can hire the experts of Safe Shelter Environmental anytime to have the best possible mold removal services solutions.

Is Mold Dangerous to Our Health?

Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health issues and allergies. Black mold has the reputation as the worst mold to have in the home, but that is not true. There is a very narrow set of toxic molds that produce secondary metabolites, which produce toxins. These are known as mycotoxins and they can cause an allergic reaction.

Studies show that more than 50% of homes and more than 85% of commercial buildings in the U.S. have water damage and some type of mold.

This is an issue to be concerned about because it is likely that every water-damaged building or home also has the presence of mycotoxins and that can cause problems with the indoor air quality and the cleanliness of the surfaces we touch daily. Allergic reactions and health issues can occur when you are exposed to mold and the symptoms are worse in people who are sensitive to molds, allergic to mold, or asthmatic. There can be a wide variety of allergy symptoms such as a stuffy nose, wheezing, red or itchy eyes, or red, itchy skin. Other people experience more serious reactions to mold spores.

Professional Mold Testing

In most cases, it is advisable to allow a trained technician to perform an inspection on the house and give their professional recommendation. There are two methods commonly used to test for mold. They are Spore Traps and Swab Samples.

Spore Trapping

Spore Trapping can test for mold spores in the indoor air. Spore traps work by having a known volume of air impact a sticky surface as it passes through the spore trap sampling device. Most of the particles in the air also impact this sticky surface and are captured on it.  Mold spores comprise a subset of these ‘particles in the air’ and are captured on the gummy surface inside the spore trap. Then the spore trap is sent to the mold testing laboratory for lab analysis.