WHEN DO YOU NEED A MOLD INSPECTION?

Whether you are moving into a new home or conducting annual maintenance on your own, one of the biggest problems you and your home inspector might not be able to detect is mold. Mold can be tricky to spot and even trickier to remove depending on its type and severity. Before you sign on the dotted line (or even if you signed on that line 20 years ago), make sure that you invest in a professional mold inspection.

Mold 101

Mold is something that occurs normally and naturally outside. It helps to break down dead organic plant or animal matter into materials that can be reused by nature. Mold is incredibly important to our ecosystem, but it should stay outside! You can naturally encounter mold and mold spores every day outside without having any negative results, as long as you aren’t allergic. Once mold moves indoors, it becomes less useful and much more harmful. Without the air circulation and outdoor environment, the mold and its spores will multiply (and you’ll breathe them in) in larger concentrations.

Why Does Mold Like the Inside if It Comes From the Outside?

Mold relies on dead organic material to stay “alive,” so it is constantly releasing spores to find new things to feed and live on. Homes are a restaurant for mold and mold spores, as they are made of tons of different materials that mold loves—wood, drywall, fabric, and paper to name a few. Regardless of how appetizing your home is, mold still needs water and moisture to thrive. If you can control and eliminate moisture, mold should not be able to grow in your home. A professional mold inspection can identify spots susceptible to mold growth and give you tips on preventing mold, even if they don’t find any mold currently growing.

Getting Rid of Mold is a Tall Task

Mold remediation or mold removal is the process that a professional contractor will go through to make your home safe to live in again after finding mold. All materials affected by mold need to be completely removed from the home, as spores are still living on them. As parts of your home structure may be affected, they will need to be replaced with the proper materials. The more damage mold has done to your home, the more you will need to pay to remedy the damage.

Trust the Mold Inspector on Mold, Not the Home Inspector

Part of your home-buying process is hiring a home inspector to walk through the home and identify any potential problems before you move in. However, most home inspectors are not skilled at identifying mold problems. Mold can be hidden away in moist areas like underneath baseboards, beneath carpet, or lurking behind a paint job.

Even when a home inspector can identify potential conditions that encourage mold growth, they cannot definitively identify the presence of mold and the type of mold that is growing like a mold inspector can. If you are worried about the cost of a mold inspector, remember that if the home has a huge amount of mold when you move in, you may have to immediately move out and sink tens of thousands into repairing the home.

Mold Inspection to Keep Your Home Safe for Your Family

If you are ready to get a professional mold inspection at a home you are looking to buy or the home you currently own, contact All Aspects Waterproofing, a Better Business Bureau A+ rated company with over 30 years of experience in the Washington, DC./Maryland/Virginia area. Contact us online or by calling 1-866-999-3110 or 301-766-4420.  To see what we’re up to, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Houzz.