Mold…. ick!
February 28th, 2008 Categories: Alexandria Dirt, Arlington Dirt, Falls Church Dirt, McLean Dirt, Northern Virginia Home Buying, Northern Virginia Real Estate Dirt, Reston Dirt
What type of an image do you see in your head when you think about mold? Green? Slimy? Fuzzy? Black? Sticky? White? Health hazards… “sick houses”… Mold is so hostile!
I recently had a new experience. A buyer of mine wanted to do a mold inspection. Honestly, they aren’t done too much around here. Generally when you enter into a basement that smells musty or where you can see mold, buyers tend to just steer clear. So I was very surprised when my client wanted to conduct a mold inspection when there was so little visible evidence of mold or even indications that there may be issues.
Well, a mold inspection company had been recommended to her, so on that recommendation, we set up the inspection. They came with all sorts of interesting devices to measure temperature behind walls (indicating possible moisture), a device that measures moisture (indicating possible mold) and equipment to gather air samples, confirming what spores are indeed flying around the home. Now, mold IS EVERYWHERE! It’s a naturally occurring biological phenomenon, but it’s a matter of what spores are caught in your trap, relative to the outside sample, that becomes interesting. The inspector, while at the home, made many comments to the effect that he would be absolutely floored if “elevated mold results” were found at this property as he found very little evidence of anything suspicious.
So, in a few days I was delivered some lab results with spore counts. Interesting, but HEY, who can read this thing? I don’t know if 1 spore could kill pets and small children OR if it would take 100,000 spores for anyone to even take notice. So, we rely on the mold inspection company for interpretation. Well, guess what, folks… they are also the remediation company… hmmmmmmmmmm… so cautiously I enter into the world of mold inspection/remediation. It wasn’t fun. The inspection company recommended $10,000 of remediation services including men in clean suits and masks, dumpsters to dispose of toxic contaminated materials, super strength mold-fighting chemicals, etc… You get the drift.
Well, when I finally got to the bottom of the situation a few more tests, a few more days and many more dollars later, it turned out to be a small isolated EASILY treatable situation.
BE CAREFUL!
If you suspect you have a mold problem, OR as a buyer if you’d like to conduct a mold inspection – PLEASE get recommendations from people who have utilized the services and have been pleased with the outcome. There are some excellent companies out there and there are some who I believe are in it for the almighty dollar. Mold can be an extremely serious issue, one NOT to be taken lightly - but you should at least feel you can trust your sources!
Call if I can be of any assistance at all!
Happy Thursday!
Jennifer Klaussen
Serving all of your real estate needs in Arlington, McLean and the entire Northern Virginia Region!
Contact me today for a free home valuation or buyer counseling session! The Time is NOW!
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It can be a killer mold. The picture looks like those Hurricane Katrina homes after they sat for weeks in water. We had a toilet flood 3 rooms of a house and had to have a professional service come and dry out walls and pull up carpet. Thank goodness for insurance they covered but was thousands of dollars. One thing for sure we would have had mold if we didn’t have them to dry out walls and measure them daily.
Good Advice Jennifer,
Take the time to learn al little about mold before calling an inspector or attempting to remediate the situation.
Here is the link to the US EPA resource on mold as well, http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldresources.html
Mold can affect us in three ways
The effects of mold on humans depend on their physical receptivity to it.
Allergenic: In certain people,contact with mold, either by breathing it, eating it or touching it, can cause an allergic reaction. Reactions include red eyes, runny nose, skin rash, hay-fever type symptoms, coughs and fevers. This may happen whether the mold is dead or alive. Dry mold may cause as many reactions as active mold.
Pathogenic: This type of mold is very harmful. It is defined as an agent that can cause disease and perhaps kill. It can invade human tissues. Pathogenic mold thrives in persons with suppressed immune systems or those taking chemotherapy.
Aspergillus Toxic: This type of mold can produce fatal results, as well. While certain types of molds are toxigenic, that is, they can produce toxins–mycotoxins, they, are not toxic, or poisonous, themselves. Like pathogenic mold, its toxicity depends more on the individual’s immune system.
It is important to have your home inspected for mold and other unhealthy contaminants. Contact Inquiring Eye Home Inspections today;
http://www.inquiring-eye.com!