Air Quality Test for Mold in San Diego

Many homeowners don’t realize the severe risk posed by mold inside their homes. It can impact your health and have a deleterious effect on your furniture, home structure, and belongings. Moreover, because mold spores can quickly become airborne, they spread easily. Therefore, even if you can’t see signs of contamination, your home may still have mold lurking behind walls and under floors or floating in the air you breathe. This makes an air quality test for mold an essential part of your home maintenance plan.

Mold and mildew result from water damage or moisture incursion. Bathrooms, basements, and attics are prone to leaks and condensation that can result in mold growth. Flooding and other natural disasters can also cause serious mold infestations. This makes it crucial for property owners to quickly detect moisture problems, even when the location isn’t obvious.

While some mold is harmless to people and pets, other mold, such as black mold, can aggravate health conditions and cause serious illnesses. Over time, bronchitis, allergies, and asthma can result from mold spores entering the lungs. In more serious cases, certain molds can cause cancer and heart conditions.

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Types of Air Tests for Mold

Air sampling measures the mold in the air you breathe. It can quickly assess whether mold in your home poses an immediate health threat. Viable mold sampling involves incubating mold spores in a petri dish and waiting for colonies to form. This allows us to identify the specific fungi in your home. There are thousands of mold species and it’s important to identify the exact microorganisms at work in your sample, particularly if it contains toxic molds.

Mold Air Quality Testing

There are two types of air quality tests for mold, viable and non-viable sampling. Our mold inspection professionals can help you determine the advantages of each, and which one will work best to ensure your home’s indoor air quality.

Why Invest in Air Testing for Mold Spores?

A viable air sample provides important information about the type of mold and the risks it poses to your home and family. However, growing cultures takes time and certain types of molds may not germinate in a sample. Cal-West Property Inspections only works with highly creditable laboratories with many years of experience analyzing mold samples from Californian homes.

What Is Mold, Anyway?

Mold is a single celled organism belonging to the fungus family. It survives by absorbing organic material in the surrounding environment. Mold, mildew, yeast, and mushrooms are part of the same large family of organisms.

While most molds are not harmful to plants and animals, others cause serious health damage. Some colonies are too small to see with unassisted vision. Others appear as pink, black, purple, or green splotches on walls and other surfaces. Mold can also grow on fabric and this type of mold is called mildew.

What Mold Needs to Grow

Mold needs water, oxygen, and a ready food source. It’s incredibly adaptable and can grow in temperatures ranging from 40 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. However, mold needs wet organic material to thrive. At a relative humidity above 80%, some molds pull moisture directly from the air.

What Do You Need to Know About Mold?

Mold can negatively affect your health and damage building materials. Some species produce mycotoxins that make people sick. Others cause allergic reactions, especially when hidden in fabrics or construction materials and released into your indoor air.

Because we only perform mold testing, there is no conflict of interest. If you have a remediation company perform the inspection, they may be tempted to charge you for unnecessary mold removal.

If you discover signs of mold in your home, contact our team immediately to schedule air quality testing. Our pros also perform inspections following mold remediation services to ensure that the company you hired removed 100% of the harmful mold.

Mold inspections consist of comprehensive testing inside and outside the home. We start with a visual inspection to find signs of moisture intrusion due to plumbing leaks and other events. Our inspectors also test your heating and air conditioning components, including vents and ducts since mold often thrives in these environments.

After collecting samples, we submit them for laboratory analysis. Once the lab results are ready, your inspector will put together a comprehensive report for your review.

Top Air Quality Testing for Mold

At Cal-West Property Inspections, our certified inspectors will perform a thorough inspection of your home. You can count on prompt responses to your questions and fast results once we receive the laboratory reports. If you have any questions about next steps, we will do our best to help you locate mold remediation companies and other resources in your community.

Contact us today to schedule air quality testing for mold in your home! We also offer home buyer inspections in San Diego.

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