Are you planning on having your ducts cleaned? Have you had them recently cleaned? You need to know the proper process to avoid being ripped off. When discussing options with a cleaning company make sure they are licensed contractors and ask what standards and methods they use. The entire system must be cleaned using NADCA standards or you’re getting ripped off. Yes, use a brush to clean the dirt off, not airflow. Airflow is how the dirt got there in the first place, how is it going to clean the dirt off?
Any claims of mold should be checked by a competent inspector (not a remediation or cleaning company) who performs testing!!! I’ve seen dirt patterns that look exactly like mold and also the type of fungi sometimes tells more about what the water issues are. DO NOT USE “FREE INSPECTIONS”!!!!!! I can’t stress this enough, they are a business, not a charity.
Author: Sean Myers
Military housing & mold
I just saw a video about the deplorable conditions our military and their families are dealing with regarding sub-standard homes that aren’t suitable for occupation. The contractor for the housing “Corvias” was blasted for not taking care of the properties and video clips of standing water, warped siding (inside and out) as well as new, broken appliances. Reuters has undergone an investigation over a year showing more than 200,000 houses were negatively affected. Excerpts from the EPA were posted regarding mold and your health. https://www.epa.gov/mold/mold-and-health indicating you may experience allergies, headaches as well as other health issues. We know certain fungi are opportunistic pathogens and can grow on humans. If you live in the Las Vegas, NV to St. George, UT area please contact us to assist with determining the conditions and helping you with getting corrections.
Photo credits: Aegis Mold & Environmental and was taken during an inspection.
Allergens
Fun facts:
1) The first time you are exposed to a potential allergen you are not allergic.
2) We are noticing more people are having allergies vs. years ago.
3) As people get older they tend to have lower allergic responses.
4) There are no allergic sensitization exposure thresholds set by the government and individual entities vary.
Home test kits
Where do I start with the fail that is this kit? Sampling is easy yet useless due to too many variables and no real control. The media used is designed to grow most types of fungi however some do not perform well in this type of media or take too long (analysis is performed prior to their ability to even colonize the media). Another serious defect is that there is no way to determine how much area was sampled. Imagine taking a traffic survey to see if more lanes are needed on a freeway and the only result is “there were 100 cars”. Great, now is that in 50 yards? Definite problem if it’s only 3 lanes. How about 100 cars per hour on a 6 lane highway? Not even close to a problem. Now you’ve wasted time and money on useless data that could have also been contaminated. Here’s another scenario, the fungal growth in your house is wet. What happens to dirt when it’s wet? Nothing, just like the usefulness of the home test kit. Did you walk through the grass on your way in to test? Might have spiked your results. Fresh fruit or seasoned firewood close by? Open trash can? I’m sure by now you can see the failure of this product. I can tell you that every house has fungi present.
Time to turn on the mold distributor
HVAC systems not properly installed, maintained or balanced can cause a myriad of problems. Two of the most encountered problems I’ve observed were the glass fiber insulation inside blowing apart which can cause respiratory aggravation and itchy skin. The second issue is water based and can often cause fungal growth in the system.
Is your HVAC making you sick
Through the years I’ve inspected quite a bit of air conditioning systems from window mounted to large capacity where several people were able to easily stand in one section and one thing is a constant – contamination. From fiberglass inside (a condition I seriously think is a bad idea) water loss, almost useless filters and dust/debris infiltration. The filter in the photo is considered by some to be almost useless in capturing small particles. This filter was also cut down to fit and not fully secured.
Rains are coming
The rains are coming, are you ready? Rain water damage can vary from any point in the structure and the higher that entry point is the more damage it can cause. Once water intrusion has been observed please do not hesitate to take actions for correction. We can perform a pre-inspection to check for issues such as grading, landscaping, building penetrations and other critical areas are suitable. We cannot guarantee drainage and irrigation defects due to numerous factors which may present themselves after the inspection or are hidden.
Not a mycologist!!!
Anyone performing work or performing an inspection who is not a certified mycologist should absolutely refrain from identifying fungi! This prevents incorrect assessments and possible scares based on an incorrect identification. I’ve been performing inspections for 19 years now and have seen water damage with inorganic particulates that mimicked fungal growth in pattern and structure with lab results indicating no fungal spores present. In addition to causing fear this can cause other problems including law suits and trust me, you don’t want to be in the seat getting roasted because you incorrectly (and not qualified) commented. Please use the term “possible” or suspect when commenting on suspected fungal growth and save a major headache.
Black mold
The term “black mold” is used (sometimes called “toxic black mold”) by the media to sensationalize the mold scare. Sadly this is misapplied to other fungi which are black in appearance. There are several fungi which appear black in color and range from no known human health effects to hazardous. Additionally, fungi can appear different in color depending on the life cycle, substrate and color of the materials it is present on. In reality this must be tested to determine species before any comment is made.
Is your inspector qualified
It is important to ensure your inspector is qualified. I’ve worked with and against many who couldn’t find obvious visible damage and fungal growth that was literally right in front of them. Additionally some inspectors do not have the experience to interpret lab results and apply them to the conditions present, including sensitivity of the persons exposed. Ask your inspector how long they’ve been in the industry, how long they’ve been interpreting results and what type of training they’ve undertaken. Continuing education is also important.