This is where the trouble started.

The homeowner hired the drywaller to remove the mold damaged building materials and thought things were taken care of. The homeowner later became ill and went to the doctor who suggested they have mold testing done at her Carlsbad, CA home. When we were called to do the mold inspection, our consultant found the ceiling void space was still open to the rest of the house and that the drywaller had left some of the removed moldy ceiling drywall inside the ceiling void space.

We also found additional moldy ceiling drywall.  Our mold consultant collected a surface sample from inside the ceiling void space and the sample showed Stachybotrys, Penicillium and Aspergillus mold growing in the ceiling void space. Our inspector also collected spore trap air samples throughout the home and the analysis showed that Stachybotrys and Penicillium/Aspergillus mold spores had been spread from the ceiling void space throughout the rest of the house!

mold growing in ceiling void space

Our recommendations in the written report for the homeowner were to hire a professional mold remediation contractor to contain (isolate) the mold from the rest of the house and to remove the moldy and water damaged building materials.  We also recommended a thorough deep cleaning of the rest of the house and the use of HEPA filtered air scrubbers to capture and lower the levels of Stachybotrys and Penicillium/Aspergillus spores in the air. Thankfully, the homeowner followed our recommendations and hired a professional mold remediation company.

A containment, plastic room with HEPA air filtration equipment, was set up to isolate the moldy ceiling area from the other areas of the house. They removed the moldy and water damaged building materials and air scrubbers were set up throughout the rest of the home to capture and lower the levels of Stachybotrys and Penicillium/Aspergillus spores.

A professional deep cleaning (HEPA vacuuming  and damp wiping) of the rest of the house was done. We returned for a follow up inspection called a post remediation verification or clearance inspection.  Inside the containment, we verified the mold had been removed properly, the work area was clean and dry and the air sample spore levels were acceptable. We also repeated the spore trap air sampling in the rest of the home to verify the deep cleaning had returned the spore levels to be similar to the outside air. Our results showed the mold remediation company had removed the rest of the moldy ceiling materials correctly and had cleaned up the contamination in the rest of house.

If only the roofer had referred the homeowner to a professional mold testing company and mold remediation contractor in San Diego, the job could have been done correctly from the start!  Not only was the health of the homeowner affected, but there was the additional cost for medical care, the additional work done by the mold remediation contractor to clean up the mold contamination to the rest of the home and extra mold testing by our company.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, please consult with mold inspection and mold remediation professionals.  This is definitely a case where using the right professional for the job would have made all the difference!

For a free phone consultation call Environmental Testing & Technology (ET&T) at 760-424-2259 or leave us a message on our Contact Form and one of our mold experts will get back to you shortly.

Thanks for reading! I hope you found this blog post helpful.

Do your drains look like these?  

If you had to answer yes, they need some serious maintenance! You may already have a mold problem brewing!

If this is already your situation, we can help! Give Environmental Testing & Technology (ET&T) a call at 760-424-2259 or email us at info@etandt.com for a free phone consultation.

A key part of our mold and moisture inspection is the visual inspection outdoors to check on the exterior walls.  In addition to plugged and damaged drains like the ones in the photos above we also look for:

• Planters or planter boxes right up against the side of the building.
• Puddles from watering for too long or too quickly. The ground or drainage system just can’t handle that much water at one time.
• The ground slopes towards the building instead away from the building and creates puddles of standing water.
• Moss or algae growth near the exterior walls.
• Worst of all, No drainage system at all!

These photos show a wet patio can lead to a wet wall inside the home.

Even though we think of the walls as being a barrier from the outside, they can still absorb water. Once the outside walls get wet and stay wet for some time, the indoor walls get wet also. Sometimes there is a damp musty smell inside but you can’t figure out why it would smell damp in that area. We usually expect the dampness to be from plumbing, but the dampness might be from outside!  This may lead to mold growing inside the walls affecting your indoor air quality.

One of the many services ET&T offers is a mold prevention plan specific to your property’s needs where we address preventing water damage from sprinkler and drainage issues.

For a free phone consultation call Environmental Testing & Technology (ET&T) at 760-424-2259 or email us at info@etandt.com to see if you need a mold inspection or a mold prevention plan prepared.

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Mold Growing on Walls

An important part of a mold inspection is a visual inspection where the mold inspector is looking for mold growth, water stains, color changes or warping to the walls, ceiling, flooring and baseboards.  They need to look outside too, because sometimes the water problem started outside, not inside.

Moisture Meter

If the inspector finds what might be mold, they will take a surface sample with tape or a swab to have it identified by the lab. The mold inspector will also take moisture measurements to see if there are wet building materials. Mold needs water, moisture or dampness to grow.

The mold inspector may take air samples inside and outside.  To collect the air samples the inspector will use a pump that pulls a specific amount of air into the sampling container.

The sample is then sent to the lab to find out what mold spores are in the air samples. It is important to take several air samples so there is enough scientific information to decide if there is a mold problem or not.

Some mold testing companies take one air sample inside and maybe one outside and based on that little bit of information tell you everything is fine or everything is horrible.

It probably isn’t enough data to make that decision.

You want to have a written report that has all the information from the visual inspection, the laboratory report and an explanation of what it all means and what actions you need to take. Some mold inspection and testing companies in San Diego just give you the laboratory report and don’t help you understand what it means or what to do next.

If the inspector finds a mold problem in your building you may need to have a professional company called a mold remediation company remove the mold safely. You want to make sure the mold is removed correctly so it doesn’t cause problems in other areas of your building.

The mold inspection and testing company can write instructions, called a Scope of Work for the remediation company to follow.  Once the mold remediation company removes the mold, but before they remove their equipment, you should have another mold inspection done in the work area.

This inspection is called a clearance or post remediation verification (PRV) inspection. This inspection makes sure the mold remediation company removed all of the mold and damaged building materials and that the air in the work area is clean enough for the mold remediation company to take out their equipment without causing problems in the rest of the building.

During the clearance inspection the mold inspector should do a visual inspection to insure that all the mold growth was removed, that any water damaged materials have been removed and take moisture measurements to make sure the building materials are dry.

Air Sampling in a Properly Contained Area

Air samples inside the work area and outdoor air samples are collected to verify that the work area has mold spore levels that are acceptable.

Make sure they give you a written report that describes the area that was repaired and says it is dry, the damaged materials have been removed and the mold spore levels are OK. This report is the disclosure paperwork you may need if you sell your property in the future.

Thanks for reading! Let us know if you found this helpful.

ET&T is a certified San Diego mold inspection and testing company who offers mold testing, a customized plan for the appropriate mold removal (Scope of Work) and clearance testing. Call ET&T at 760-424-2259 for a free phone consultation or send us an email at info@etandt.com .