Mold testing and inspecting for mold is one of the most important things that can be done to a house.
Mold is one of the more serious problems that your home can have, and it’s sneaky about it. Unless you get your home tested for mold regularly, you could be living with it right now and not know.
There’s a reason that people make such a big deal about the health effects of mold: it can be deadly. If you have no underlying health problems, such as asthma, then mold by itself can cause anything from a stuffed nose all the way up to skin irritation. Annoying, but not quite at the deadly level.
However, if you do have asthma or weak lungs, then it has been shown that you’re at a high risk of serious infections of the lungs when exposed to mold. In addition, the Institute of Medicine has shown that having children in the same environment as mold can lead to upper respiratory tract infections, and can even be as severe as the development of asthma.
The other joy of mold is that it won’t always be able to be spotted until the problem is too late. For instance, mold can come into the house and make a nice little home for the spores in the insulation in your walls, which you wouldn’t know until much later. If you have a moisture leak inside the house at all, you could see mold appear on your walls or ceiling, which would allow you to clean it off.
When cleaning mold, you can use most commercial products. One thing to remember, however, is that you not only need to remove the mold, but you will then need to stem the moisture problem, otherwise you run the risk of running into a recurring problem.
If you notice that you or your family have been developing cold-like symptoms, but you can’t find mold anywhere in your house by visibly looking, then your best bet is to call out a professional to test for mold. Although the CDC has no regulations regarding mold, most industry experts say that even a little mold is too much mold, and recommend that it get removed as soon as possible.
An annual mold test is never a bad thing to do, as mold can appear at any time when there’s humidity and heat in the house, which means that it could even appear during the winter. Even the EPA recommends that you have a professional test for mold, since it can be in an area that’s not visible to the naked eye. If you want to have your home tested for mold, you should contact the best name in mold testing, Specialty Building Consultants.
*Specialty Building Consultants specializes in Home inspection, EIFS inspection, Stucco inspection and Asbestos testing in Birmingham AL, Huntsville AL, Decatur, AL, Cullman, AL, Athens, AL, Montgomery AL, Tuscaloosa, AL and Nashville TN.Mold testing
Specialty Building Consultants
500 Southland Dr
Ste 134
Hoover, AL 35226
(205) 683-6484
specialtybuilding@gmail.com
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/mold/dampness_facts.htm
http://www.medicinenet.com/mold_exposure/article.htm
http://blackmold.awardspace.com/mold-testing.html
http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html