If you think that only your 2 year old kid can cause the maximum disaster in your home by breaking stuff, you are highly mistaken. A mold growth in your basement or attic does not only affect the look of your beautiful walls but also can be harmful to your health and that of your family. If the mold is only on a spot or two, you are in luck as this can be countered easily some simple methods. But if the mold has affected large areas, there could be much risk posed by that and without any delay inspection of the type of mold should be done. It is imperative to understand that different kind of molds have different solutions and hence inspection should be the first step in solving this problem.
There are many professional services which provide full scale and permanent solution to the problem and scientific mold inspection. But first the importance of the mold inspection should be considered and understood.
What it is? These molds originate due to increased moisture and bacteria content. During the inspection, the professional might check the exteriors of the home for broken pipes, water leakages, etc. They track the mold infection by specific odors, fungal growth and water problems. The reason being able to find if there is any other area affected by mold and what is the reason of development.
What Happens? As mentioned earlier, the basic reason for mold formation could be rising moisture in the walls. This could be due to leakage of water from any water sources. A visual inspection generally does the drill to locate leaking geysers, broken gutters and sinks. Further moisture can be measured by a specific instrument which has pins to measure the moisture level. The acceptable level is 17% and below and if the moisture exceeds the said level, it is pointed out by the investigator.
Sampling: After it has been ascertained that there is a mold problem and the probable reason for it, the next step becomes taking sample of the mold. These are the air samples to detect the percentage of mold in the air and the particular kind. You would be surprised to know that we breathe mold every day, but they generally are not harmful, nor they are in large quantities. The sample would suggest whether the air had a toxic mold and what was the ratio of the mold in the air. A comparison has to be drawn between the mold affected area and the exteriors, to know whether it is of the same kind and in which ratios.
The results: It takes 4-5 days to process the samples. The results would be delivered to you. The investigator might issue an interpretation of those results and also suggest solutions.