Hot Environmental Topics

Mold is a serious concern, it can have adverse health effects to people who are sensitive and exposed to mold.   Sometimes, you can see the mold, sometimes you can smell it, sometimes both and sometimes you just suspect mold (maybe you do not feel well). In all these situations a professional mold evaluation is warranted.  What is a Professional when it comes to mold is subjective.

The  photo below is normal and unusual.   This is an unfinished attic with a drop down set of stairs located in the primary bedroom closet.   Mold grew with reckless abandon in the space.  The wife of the couple who owned the home was having issues they suspected those issue were due to mold, since there was an exposure pathway in their bedroom. Curren Environmental inspected and tested and sure enough, mold was impacting the bedroom from the attic.    The remediation of this area included remediating the mold but also correcting the cause of the mold.

So the solution was two fold, removing the mold and fixing the cause of the mold which was actually three different causes.  This was easy as we have seen it before.

Now there are way to many people who talk the "mold talk" but don't quite know what they are doing.  Its pretty easy to sample mold either on a surface or in the air.  The hard part is understanding the test results.

It is all to common that people have an inspection with testing, and the lab report is confusing to all parties, including the people who did the testing.  We know this because we are mold experts and we get calls and emails everyday asking our opinion regarding test reports.   It is a real problem that people who paid for testing can’t get a straight answer on what the testing means.  From the number of calls we get throughout the United States we can see this is a widespread issue.    It doesn't help that there are no federal regulations, with only 11 states having actual mold regulations,  people can get easily confused regarding mold.

The fact is many people involved with mold do not know what they are talking about  and that only compounds the problem.

Unfortunately, the consumer is partially to blame.  People want suspect mold evaluated, so they hire someone without a clear description of what they were going to do to evaluate for mold or how the mold testing will be interpreted.    I have read thousands of reports and the vast majority of the reports are very vague regarding the test results and cause.     When I have inquired by calling the people who did the inspection and testing regarding what they were trying to say, the common response is the report is vague on purpose.

The rub is people spend money for mold testing and or evaluation and then need a 2nd opinion because the first opinion is so vague.  The 2nd opinion is needed because the first opinion is unclear, they don’t agree with the opinion or lastly there is no opinion just lab data.  

This is where Curren Environmental comes in, we have tested and evaluated thousands of sites.  We can peer review your data.  A peer review is a 2nd set of eyes evaluating data and providing an unbiased interpretation.   You are going to spend a couple hundred dollars on average to have your testing reviewed, but the piece of mind is immeasurable.    

What are common mold second opinions?

•  We review lab data where a company says mold remediation is warranted and it isn't.
•  Areas have to undergo a second mold remediation  because the the prior mold work was done improperly.
• We find mold where others didn't

Fact

Too many people involved with mold want to put money in their pocket rather than working in the best interest of the client.

Expert Advice 888-301-1050

People are different. Homes are different. Not all cars are the same. 

What about Tank Sweeps?

The generic term, "Tank Sweep" gives you two distinct approaches to perform a sweep and the quality level are polar opposites.

First off, the purpose of having an Oil Tank Sweep done in NJ, PA and DE is to detect for the presence of an intact, underground oil tank. The reason you want to identify an underground tank before you buy a property, is to avoid the potential of paying for a contamination cleanup from a leaking tank. In our world a small clean up is under $15,000, more extensive cleanup start around $75,000 and go into the $100,000's.     You can see why a quality tank sweep is important. 

So when you are faced with tens of thousands of dollars to address a tank leak, go with the best approach which is using GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) for a tank sweep.  The technology will cost you a few hundred dollars more than someone using a metal detector, but the quality of the two approaches is night and day.  

GPR sends radio waves in the ground which can reflect off of a metallic object giving the technician an image.   Certain images are tanks, some are pipes, some are debris.

There are dozens of people who have bought an $800.00 metal detector and work out of their home and do tank scans.   If only a tank was the only metal on a property, then these people would be super geniuses, but alas, metal is abundant in the ground, naturally in some soils, rocks, pipes, rebar, buried debris, above ground what do you have that doesn't have metal?  The point being you can't use cheap technology for such an important service.

To top it off, these one person bands,  as they don't remove tanks, so if you find a tank, now you have to find a company to remove it,  In a real estate transaction delays are bad.

The icing on the cake is we have been hired to remove tank found by the metal detector sweep person to only dig up not an oil tank. Really, we find no tank about 65% of the time. 

Five Tank Sweep Tips.

1. Ask the selling about prior oil heat.  In NJ they are supposed to disclose it, in PA they are not.  In every state we work the owners have  not been 100% honest with a tank disclosure.   I say this because we do thousands of tank sweep, tens of thousands tank removals so we touch more properties than pretty much any company in the area (we have been do this work for decades.)

How are owners not honest about an oil tank?  Well after we find one, many owners suddenly have tank paperwork or now remember yes there was a tank on the property.  This is 100% accurate statement

So always ask in writing about what they know regarding prior oil usage at the site.  People lie about USTS (Underground Storage Tanks) and ASTs (Aboveground Storage Tanks).   

2.  Look at the neighborhood, are there houses with oil heat?  Bingo do a scan.

3. Don't ignore ASTs (Aboveground Oil Tanks), many AST's replaced USTs.

4. If a property had a tank removed, don't assume that was the only tank.  Do a tanks weep, many sites had 2 tanks.

5. Check with the town regarding any permits for tank replacement, filling or removal.

What if a tank sweep finds an oil tank?

At Curren we provide a cost to remove and test the tank.  Tested clean tanks are not a problem. Many owners will hire us because they need to address the tank they didn't know about and well, we do this a lot, are competitive,  experienced and work in our client's best interest.  If we can save a client money we do, its in our DNA.

That said, don't run away from a property after you find  a tank (the next property may have one), rewove and test it.  Of course if the property owner refuses to address the tanks, well in that case, run away (walking isn't fast enough).

Bottom line when you find a tank, you want it removed and tested, and remediated if it leaks.  It truly doesn't matter to us if we remove the found tank or not.  Hey many property owners are mad we found a tank, true. We just want the tank removed and tested so our client doesn't have to deal with that expense. 

Seller and Buyer’s perspective differ on “as is” property sale.

People think when they advertise “as is”, buyers will understand that “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset” and the buyer will in turn, not to ask for repairs. Truth be told every sale is “as is” until the buyer has professional inspections performed. Buyers pay for professional inspections of the home and want things repaired, termite, electric, HVAC, mold you name it. Curren receives phone calls regarding an “as is” sale because the buyer wants the mold remediated or the tank removed.   Bottom line an as is sale means different things to different people.

As consumer we are conditioned to receive good service and not buying a headache. If your restaurant meal is not up to expectations, you say something. You buy cars with warranties and will still be miffed if you have to take the car in for warranty repair. Your new technological device not working? You call the help line. Sorry we are used to a certain quality of service (QOS) and products that don’t need repairs in most everything, and buying a home is no different.

An As Is buyer will ask for repairs

On a level playing field a buyer walks through a home with their eyes open, looking to see if the home and property are what they are looking for.  When an offer is made the buyer has not Kicked the Tires, so to speak, that happens with inspections.   A buyer can see the kitchen is outdated, yard needs a fence and a patio, they will not ask for these items to be addressed because you don’t need a trained eye to see those types of flaws during the walk through of the home.   What the buyer cannot see or is not looking for will turn into a request for repair. Once the buyer pays for a professional inspection, such as a home inspections, mold inspections, termite, tank sweeps, and radon, the buyer decides that “as is” is not acceptable. This happens time and time again. The bottom line is that the seller will get the mold and/or tank addressed but will bemoan that they had to fix termite damage, install a radon system, replace the sub pump, fix the leak in the crawl space.

Pro Tip    Disclose What you know

Let’s explain the best “as is” situation. The seller decides to pay for their own home inspection prior to putting their house on the market. This report is to share with the buyers. This makes a situation where it is tough for a buyer to dispute the “as is” sale. The seller is not hiding the flaws of their property, but instead, letting the buyers know exactly what they are purchasing in terms of problems. Now, many buyers will still do their own home inspection and reply with their list of repair items that may or may not have been on the seller’s report. Environmental issues such as mold and tanks are not covered under a typical home inspection so can be a surprise to the seller. What you do not know will hurt you as a buyer when it comes to mold and tank environmental issues on a property. By hurt I mean an expense not in your budget.  

Pro Tip Negotiating As Is Repairs

When negotiating the repairs, Curren Environmental has seen mold remediation costs split between the parties or a credit provided to a buyer. Oil tanks on the other hand, would normally be removed by the seller since there is a chance that the underground oil tank leaked which can add thousands of dollars to the cost. Bottom line when tanks leak, it may be a costly problem to remediate the contaminated soils.  Mold could cost you a few thousand dollars not tens of thousands of dollars.

The term “as is”, when it comes to selling a property may have two different definitions, one for the buyer and one for the seller.

Commercial real estate transactions require buyer due diligence to assess for undisclosed environmental liabilities. Property leases, or refinancing, can also warrant due diligence between the parties.

Environmental due diligence is a formal process that has been refined over the past 30 years to follow a standardized approach to assessing a property for environmental issues such as soil or groundwater contamination. Environmental due diligence can take a few different forms, which can vary based on the type of transaction (purchase, lease, refinance), and perceived environmental risk of the property. Types of due diligence include Environmental Questionnaires, Property Transaction Screens, Phase I ESAs and Phase II ESAs. All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) is associated with performance of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in accordance with the ASTM Standard E-1527-2005 and/or the Small Business Liability and Brownfield Revitalization Act (Brownfield Amendments) of 2002 (the Federal rule that constitutes AAI). A Phase I is the formal process of assessing properties for the presence or potential presence of environmental contamination by evaluating current and historical uses of the subject property to identify recognized environmental conditions (RECs) and historical recognized environmental conditions (HRECs) on the property.

Oil heat was used in the early 1900's and some properties still use oil heat today.  Many properties converted to  natural gas from oil.  These conversions did not always address the oil tank.  Hence why a sweep of a property for an oil tank is important.

On a basic level people ordering a tank sweep will choose a company on the cheapest price not understanding the difference between a metal detector and GPR.   Many businesses use a sub $1,000.00 metal detector to look for a tank. Cost for the sweep a couple hundred dollars. Pretty good margin because 4 to 5 tank sweeps can pay for the most commonly used detector.

The problem is that a tank will not be the only metal on a property.  There are pipes, rebar, geology, etc. and all can have metal and will make a metal detector go BEEP.    A metal detector would not find this tank, because it is between a metal AC unit and a metal fence, too much metal.

          Your best tank sweep will include multiple technologies to be effective.

Fact:  For commercial properties where tank sweeps are performed GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) is the technology utilized.  GPR is more expensive because it does more.  Sure you can use a metal detector to verify a buried anomaly found by GPR, it's just that a metal detector can't be the only technology you rely upon.   This photo is an excellent example of using multiple technologies.   For the record the owner stated a tank was removed in the last year but they had no paperwork on the removal.   Buyer hired Curren to perform a tank sweep.  A buried tank was found via GPR.  Two metal detectors ($3,500.00 worth of metal detector technology) were utilized to verify the object was metal and not a cess pool, cistern, grey water tank etc.  This is important as the owner stated a tank was removed, meaning the object found COULD have been something else.   It was a tank. 

People think the best results from a tank sweep is not finding a tank. 

Not true.   If you have a property circa 1930 or 1960, historical oil heat is all but assured.  You want to find a tank or come up with a data set proving no tank, or that a was tank removed and it did not leak. 

We have been doing tank sweeps for over 20 years, we use multiple technologies to scan a property and GPR is by far the primary method relied upon.  That said, our technicians have removed tanks, hundreds if not thousands so they have hands on experience with buried tank system. 

When we find a tank, we can get our client costs for removal in most situations within 24 hours of finding a tank.  This is important because the tank sweep is no longer a tank find project, but a tank removal project and this project needs to jump to the front of the line.  We can do that because it is an existing client/project and we are well aware of the importance of addressing the tank.   The same is true if we find an area where tank as removed and not tested.  Now the project is soil sampling to ensure the tank didn't leak.  Hey we are also environmental consultants so we are also capable of reviewing and understanding reports provided on tanks to let our clients know if the data is sufficient and when it is not sufficient, what needs to be done next.

Oil Tank Liability Fact

When an Oil Tanks leaks, they can contaminate the soil and  groundwater. If the property is purchased with a leaking tank, the new buyer is responsible for all future environmental cleanup cost.  Environmental cleanup costs can range from $10,000 to over $100,000 depending on how much fuel oil leaked and how far it traveled.

Understand the process of a tank sweeps and what happens after a tank sweep.

The best situation regarding a tank sweep is finding a tank, therefore it can be removed and soil tested to prove that no soil remediation (cleanup) is required.

A hidden or an underground oil tank is a major financial liability when buying a home, because rust never sleeps and oil leaks from the tank. Soil remediation from leaking oil tanks can easily cost into the tens of thousands of dollars.   A tank sweep of any property is always recommended unless you can document the site never had oil heat, unfortunately older homes had oil heat since it was the only option after coal use.

Should I buy a house with an underground oil tank?

An underground oil tank can make a home harder to sell or worth less to a potential buyer, how does a $32,000.00 oil tank cleanup ding the value of a home?  How about a cleanup over a $100,000?  They happen as well.    A known oil tank can also increase the chances of complications with getting to the closing table and the home sold. Mortgage lenders are wary of buried oil tanks and may refuse to lend on a home with an underground tank.  Appraisers and insurance companies may also flag the tank as a liability and want it addressed.

What is the life expectancy of an underground oil tank?

The average life of a UST is about 20 years (if you bought a middle of the road tank today, that is your warranty.) However, with the tank buried, other factors will influence the lifespan of underground tanks, including the gauge of its steel, geology, corrosivity of the soils, etc. 

FACT:  most tanks were used past their design life expectancy and left in the ground unused past their life expectancy as well.

How do you manage the liability with an oil tank?

The liability of an oil tank pertains to leaks that occur and the state mandated cleanup of the oil leaks.   The best situation regarding a tank sweep is finding a tank so it can be removed and tested to prove that no cleanup is required.

What happens if the tank sweep does not find a tank but points to a tank being removed?

This is not your best scenario because now you do not know if the tank leaked or where the tank was located. Clearly not finding a tank means your investigative work is not complete, because you do not know if the tank leaked.   Tank sweeps cannot find removed tanks, so you are tasked with historical research on who removed the tank.    So you will be tasked with doing soil borings with laboratory testing to ensure there is not residual oil contamination from the removed tank. 

The best approach is to assume the tank leaked until proven otherwise.

Bottom line you have to make an effort to find where the tank was located.   Sometimes owners get a conscience  and will admit that a tank was removed, they just did not think that knowledge was relevant at that time. Sometimes a tank sweep can point to a likely area of where the tank was located.

We had a case where an owner removed their own tank in the backyard without a permit.   They eventually were going to sell the home and did not want the tank as an issue. The final cleanup was around $40,000. Someone admitting to a bad thing is not common, but we do see it happen.

Sometimes we can find the tank grave, other times we have to do a grid of soil borings in the suspected area to try and find the tank grave and to test soil.

Tank sweeps that point to a removed tank will lead to soil testing in the area of the removed tank, unless of course a report exists of the tank removal with testing and a clear statement that the tank did not leak. Best case you find no contamination, worst you find contamination, which is reportable to the state and further work would be necessary.

The following two photos show where a tank was removed 20 years ago, so we had to do soil borings to evalaute for oil.  One of the two sites had oil contamination, do you know which one?

Be aware there have been many tanks that were removed, that leaked and were not cleaned up. Owner hoped no one will look or test the area.  If you don't have  a report that includes laboratory data saying the tank did not leak, you don't have what you need to remove the liability of the tank.

What about if a tank sweep finds a tank?

Well if the tank was not previously disclosed it is news to both buyers and sellers.  And since no one knew about the tank, the tank needs to be removed and tested.

What about if a tank sweep finds a tank, can I test the tank?

Realistically, since you will not be using the tank, (ever) the smart move is to remove the tank and test soils where the tank was removed from.    Soil borings can cost almost as much as tank removal and you cannot test under the tank so you will not be $100%.  You can have contamination under the footprint of the tank which can require remediation.   To be fair if you have contamination under the tank depending on where the tank is located, you won't have a $40,000 cleanup, but you could spend $5000 to $10,000.  

What about if a tank sweep finds a tank, can you pivot and then tell me if the tank is leaking?

Tank sweeps use mobile radar units (see below photo on the left).  These units are carried in a SUV.  To perform soil borings you need a drilling unit which is carried on a trailer and towed by a pickup trucks (see photo on the right).    Both pieces of equipment are over $50K and are not brought to a tank sweep typically as you do not know if you will need to drill and if you read the above question you can see why removal is better.  In addition every state requires that you obtain a underground utility markout before you drill or dig, this can take 3 to 4 days and is not obtained for a typical tank sweep.    You also typically do not have permission from the property to drill on their property, tank sweeps are non invasive. 

Need to learn more about tank sweeps? Click here. 

If we didn’t have mold, the leaves, mulch and grass clipping would never decompose, so mold is an essential part of our ecosystem.   Since minuet concentrations of mold spores can be expected to be found almost everywhere, indoors and outdoors, removing all mold from a home or business is just not impossible.  Since mold is only regulated in 11 states, you will see many businesses advertise “mold removal” and may even guarantee to remove all mold, which is really just not possible.

Visible mold is a sure sign that there is a mold problem. When we say mold is everywhere, it’s not visible to the naked eye. Your ultimate objective of addressing mold is fixing the source that fueled the mold growth and  then removing (remediating) the mold. In truth, you are going to aim to getting mold levels back to normal, natural levels (background, nothing visible, no odors).

Ever buy anything from Amazon?   Probably, they grew from an online book seller in the 1990's to a superstore, movie studio and video channel to name a few things.   An underlining mantra at Amazon is when a problem is found, they will "walk backwards" to find the cause so it can be fixed and the problem will not reoccur.   Mold remediation requires you to "walk backwards as well to diagnosis the cause and prevent it from reoccurring.

Clearly you want to remediate the mold in the photos, but you also want to fix the cause.

Understanding what caused the mold is the key to the remediation of mold. Case in point, the photo below is an excellent example of selective mold growth.  Look at the ceiling, some beams have a light brown wood color (no mold growth) and some are a greyish color (mold growth).  Mold Remediation is needed for sure but you have to also fix the cause.  I am not going to explain the cause, but we see it a lot, it always gets addressed during remediation.

New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware do not regulate mold businesses, so hiring a competent ethical company that understands the science behind mold and mold growth is harder than it should be.  Curren Environmental is a full service environmental company and has been for over 20 years experience with mold.  Let’s explain what you can expect to address your mold problem either in your home or business. Even though every project has some unique attributes there is a foundation that you follow to successfully address the mold.

• Step 1: Mold inspection with emphasis on the cause of mold. You have to find the cause so it can be fixed and the mold will not return.
• Step 2: Develop remedial plan and make repairs to cause of mold. You need a plan to ensure you address the mold issue thoroughly. Most likely the person inspecting the mold will not be remediating so you need a clear set of steps (instructions) for the mold remediation crew.
• Step 3: Mold Containment of work area from non work area. As bad as any area with mold is, mold spores will get airborne when demolition or movement of mold impacted items from the space. You need to be able to maintain clean areas outside the mold work area.
• Step 4: Air Filtration of area to contain spores. We use industrial grade air filtration to clean the air during remediation to prevent cross contamination.
• Step 5: Clean and save items as possible, wrap fixtures in space if present.  Trust us the mold on the treadmill in your basement can be cleaned and saved.  That box of old magazines, probable not. 
• Step 6: Physical remediation, hep vacuum to clean mold growth, fungicide application and apply fungistatic coating of remaining porous surfaces this prevents future growth and comes with a 10 year warranty. This is the meat and potatoes of the project.
• Step 7: Final walk through, what should you expect? You should expect any space that had mold remediation to be cleaner than before remediation.  Expect that organic wood surfaces are now treated with a fungistatic coating. You may have also found other sources/drivers of the mold during the remediation and this would need to be expressed to the client. (Finding hidden water leaks or termite damage is not out of the ordinary.)

You have mold because you have moisture and possible from more than one source. We have completed thousands of mold inspections and mold remediation.  Our crew is trained to find problems and provide solutions.

Signs of Mold? Call Today 888-301-1050

NJDEP No Further Action Letter or "NFA"

An NFA is a document, typically one page, that is issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP’s) Heating Oil Tank (HOTs) program to close out the contamination issue of a heating oil tank discharge.

Basically, the No Further Action Letter is an environmental release of “No Further Action” from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the culmination of a property's environmental remediation, which can include tank removal, remediation and testing.

Historically the NJDEP would issue NFA letters for both commercial and residential sites. This has changed with the enactment of the Site Remediation Reform Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10C-1 et seq on May 7, 2012.   After this legislation only residential sites receive an NFA.

Can an NFA be rescinded?

Unfortunately, an NFA can be rescinded or withdrawn if it is found that the subject site that received the NFA has contamination that is above applicable NJDEP standards for either soil or groundwater. Rescinding an NFA is rare but does happened.

Will every residential oil tank receive an NFA letter?

To be applicable for an NFA letter you would need a site with a tank that leaks.   You would then need to document that the leak as it occurred is to the extent (minimal) that petroleum levels are below NJDEP standards or remediation was performed that reduced petroleum levels to be within NJDEP acceptable standards.  If your oil tank does not leak, you will not obtain an NFA.

How do you obtain an NJDEP NFA?

You must employ an NJDEP licensed firm and an individual for the work and submit documents in the from of a report with applicable NJDEP forms to NJDEP with a $400.00 review fee. The NJDEP will review these documents, typically within 30 days, and issue an NFA if applicable. If the NJDEP reviews submitted documents and finds site is not in compliance, the NJDEP will not issue an NFA and will list what is lacking and needs to be performed.

NJDEP Soil standards have changed including soil testing methods including TPHC, DRO and now EPH. Will the NJDEP issue an NFA for work that included older testing?

On a case by case basis NJDEP can review older reports that utilized the older testing methods and can issue an NFA if the data shows compliance with standards at the time the work was completed.

Can a site receive two NFA letters?

If the site has two leaking oil tanks (may properties had 2 oil tanks), then yes two NFA’s can be obtained.

Can a property be sold without an NFA letter?

There is no law that prevents the sale of a residential oil contaminated site.

How can I obtain a copy of an NFA for a site where an NFA was issued?

First if an NFA is issued, the property owner should hold a copy of the letter and the NFA should be issued to subsequent property owners during the  sale of the property.

Pro Tip  - during Covid-19 the NJDEP issued NFA's electronically, so involved parties would be expected to have a digital copy of the NFA letter.

An NFA is a matter of public record so a copy can be obtained via an OPRA.  An NFA is issued to the responsible party (RP), typically the property owner, a copy to the local Board of Health and to the municipal clerk of the city, township or municipality where the property is located.  The NJDEP also has a copy.

aka How Did Covid-19 affect Mold Remediation?

About 45 days into the Covid-19 situation, we saw an uptick in mold remediation at residential properties.  In short,  Covid-19 drove mold remediation up by 27% from 2019. How did Covid-19 drive mold remediation?

Typically, home inspections (home inspector) for the sale of a property discover possible mold growth and the buyer requires that the mold be addressed. Mold is not a selling feature and it's typically not promoted on the home listing information.  

Buyers finding mold in a home is your typical mold remediation driver.

Because of Covid-19 we found there were also many homeowners performing their own home inspections prior to putting their property on the market to sell. Sellers want to know what would be some of the problems in their homes to proactively make repairs. This ensures a smoother, quicker real estate transaction. What are the top repairs? During our work, we saw a lot of plumbers, and electricians doing work.   So some homeowners found mold on their own and wanted it addressed prior to listing the home.  We had quite a few remediate mold and never sell their home as they found searching for a new home too much of an ordeal.

So Covid-19 Made People More Aware of Mold?

Covid-19 put people on lockdown, on work from home, exercise from home, cook from home, people were just home more because of Covid-19.  Being home more made people aware of their homes.  Musty odors were more noticeable, discolored wood that you didn’t think twice about but would totally pass over at the lumber yard made people think about the possibility of mold being present in their homes.    Before the Peloton bike was put in the basement,  the white powder on the ceiling made  sense. 

Working in the home office in the basement, made you smells things you didn't smell before.    Is that musty smell active mold growth?  (YES). 

How about moving those boxes out of the basement to the attic so we finish the basement.  Hey what is that dark staining in the attic?   (mold)

The basement that would get wet occasionally was now a concern.  We removed a lot of sheetrock in basements during Covid. 

Read more at Curren's Mold Frequently Asked Questions.

Mold Inspection & Testing. What to know before you have work performed.

When purchasing a property, for due diligence a home inspection is meant to uncover defects or areas in need of repair, a mold inspection however, is performed to evaluate for mold, either the  entire dwelling or an area of concern such as a basements, crawl spaces, attics, living rooms, etc.

Everyone thinks that they are a mold expert and, in truth, few people know tons about mold. Since most states don’t have licensing for mold inspections, it is simple for someone to proclaim themselves as an expert and do mold related work such as testing and remediations.

Some of these so called "proclaimed mold experts" provide mold testing  and once the testing is complete the samples are sent or delivered to a laboratory. The laboratory tests the sample for mold spore types and provides multiple pages of the test results with filler material consisting of an explanation of different types of mold. The lab may also use colors to point out mold levels that the lab (not the mold expert) are saying are of concern.   This lab data is typically the complete report that the "mold expert" provides. 

Example of a Mold Report. No analyzation.

We see this on 90% of the mold reports we are provided to peer review or to provide an estimate for remediation.  The problem is the mold expert provides no narrative of what they saw, why they tested, condition of the room, photos of the area or of the area sampled and lastly and really most important what the test results mean.    

The by product of a these type of mold inspections gives you a very vague document, which many "mold experts" have told me they do on purpose.   These people don’t want to give a lot of detail and then be held responsible if its incorrect. In all actuality, you pay for a professional opinion, but do not get one.

You get what you pay for and the quality of work is directly related to the skill set of the inspector, which we have found  can have varying degrees of quality.

Lets be clear, you want a mold inspection because?

Clear project objectives are important from the start of any investigation.

Where a home inspection is meant to uncover defects or areas in need of repair, a mold inspection is performed to evaluate for mold, either an entire dwelling or a specific location.

When evaluating for mold be it visual, or by laboratory analysis, explanation of observations (what was found), if mold was visually detected (why was mold present?) and when testing is performed what would be an acceptable or unacceptable results?

Surface Sampling

Example of Photographing sampling area. 

Case in point when you have a discolored area say on a wall and/or ceiling, that you suspect is mold you can test the area to confirm if it is or is not mold.    Surface sampling is performed by either "tape" sampling  or taking a "swab" of the area. This sample goes to a lab where they look at it under a high powered microscope to see if mold spores are present. This is typically a pass fail test, either you Got Mold or you don’t.   

But you also need to know the following:

• Why is mold growing?
• Was the cause of the mold growth fixed or is it still active?
• What will it take to remediate the mold?  
   
  You won’t have successful mold remediation without questions 1 & 2 being answered.

Air Sampling or Spore Trap Sampling

Air sampling is how you can find mold that is not visible (behind a wall) and it can also tell you if mold found in a basement or other areas is affecting air quality on the first floor.  

When air sampling is performed, it is a sound practice, as a mold inspector, to photo document and provide a narrative description of sampling activities.   The reason the results can be biased depends on sample collection technique, height, location, room conditions, etc.   Results can also be amplified based on room contents. An empty dwelling can have a different reading than one that is occupied with possessions.

Imagine a freshly painted room with new carpets have an elevated air mold spore count. The conclusion likely to be drawn from this is that there is hidden mold, likely behind an outside wall or other area where water events may have occurred.  The painting of the room may have been performed to cover mold damage to the room.

In both air and tape mold samples certain “marker” species of mold can indicate interior water damage (as opposed to an outdoor mold) and subsequent microbial amplification.

What causes Mold?

Mold is only going to grow in the presence of moisture in a built environment. Any assessment when mold is noted or suspected, needs to determine the source of the water and often times there is more than one source.

Water intrusion due to faulty downspouts and landscape grading. 

When should you remediate mold?

Initially any visible mold growth is a driver for remediation, in this case only water staining was noted, no visual mold growth. The EPA agrees that testing is not required when visual presence is noted.

 What is the minimum you want from a mold inspection?

It is critical in any mold inspection to document the condition of the room and reference the contents. This is important because items in a room can affect test results.

When mold is found, the likely cause should be identified.

If the whole room has mold it should stated, if mold is limited to day the lower section of a well, well that needs to be stated. All to often we read a report that says mold was found in the basement.   Our question is where and why?

Without regulatory reference values for mold concentrations (no federal guidelines), it is generally accepted that the following conditions should be satisfied:

1. No hydrophilic mycotoxin producing fungi should be present above the detection limit of one spore (such as Stachybotrys or Chaetomium),
2. The water-damage indicator mold species (such as Penicillium/Aspergillus) concentrations should not exceed 1000 structures per cubic meter unless room contents (possession) could cause amplification.
3. If outdoor or background air sampling is performed, you typically want indoor samples to have lower levels than outside and similar types.   Outdoor spore count can vary greatly though out the year.   Comparison of indoor to outdoor mold levels, that each type of mold in the indoor sampling should typically be less than the same type of mold on the outdoor sample (if applicable – 10% differential).

Mold questions?  Learn more about mold frequently asked questions.