When buying a home, the word ‘mold’ evokes needless fear in many home buyers.
In the last 10 years, the question of mold in a home has taken on national attention. It’s a very important topic as mold in a home can create certain health issues in persons staying in a home. That’s not to say that any mold in a home poses a health risk. This simply isn’t true. The level and type of mold is important to understanding if there is a mold issue in the home you want to buy or sell.
“I Have Mold in My Phoenix Home, What Do I Do?”
We often fear what we don’t know and have been told to fear. Mold is something that stories in the media tell us to fear and avoid without exception. However, if a homeowner or home buyer detects mold in a home, the first thing they should do is get an assessment of the problem.
It is critical to understand what is the real impact here.
How Do I Get Mold in My Home?
Any type of moisture environment can contribute to mold in your home. However, the most likely culprit is some type of water leak in the home. This could be from a roof leak, a plumbing leak, or any number of sources where water is seeping into the walls and internal areas of a home.
The following resources are great for explaining about mold.
Environmental Protection Agency Mold Guide
Arizona Department of Health Services
What Are the Health Implications from Mold in My Home?
Significant amounts of molds and the types of molds can lead to allergies and other reactions. From the Arizona Department of Health Services…
“If the contamination is extensive. When airborne mold spores are present in large numbers, they can cause allergic reactions, asthma episodes, infections, and other respiratory problems for people. Exposure to high spore levels can cause the development of an allergy to the mold.”
Many of the symptoms are consistent with allergies - runny noses, itchy eyes, and other associated irritations. However, the implications for further respiratory ailments is always something to watch for.
Tips for Reducing the Risk of Water Damage in Your Home
- Watch for yellowing stains on a ceiling or obvious drips through drywall. Sometimes water will seep between paint and drywall and create a ‘liquid’ look in the paint. This is a tell-tale sign of some level of water damage.
- As well, check that any faucets that run from the stucco of the home on the exterior are not leaking water. These can be prone to breaking as they sometimes get banged up outside. Their piping is running right through the wall of the house which could make any leak a disaster.
Make sure you have heavy-duty metal tubing for your washing machine connections. Cheaper tubing is prone to wear and breaking and any rupture could mean many gallons of water in your home.- The same is true for dishwashers. Make sure that your dishwasher uses heavy-duty hoses to reduce the liklihood of a rupture.
- Water heaters can also cause water damage when they expire. So, make sure your water heater sits in a drain pan and that it will drain into the garage and street rather than through the wall into the home.
Overall, you want to work to reduce the moisture in your home wherever there is a chance for mold to grow. This further includes plants that take a lot of water, humidifiers, showers, baths, etc.
A Real World Example
A home had a water leak from upstairs. The moisture contributed to the development of mold in the home. A professional remediation company was brought in and the company replaced all impacted drywall and surfaces. The company certified that the home was now remediated.
How the homeowners handled this is the right way to go. Instead of just having a repair done by someone not trained in mold remediation, they chose to hire a company that specialized in and was certified to do this type of work. They wanted to make sure that the problem was completely rectified.
From a future resale perspective, this is critical. Imagine if the repair hadn’t been done properly and mold was allowed to proliferate through parts of the home. A future home inspector would likely pick up on this and call it out to the buyer who in my estimation would walk away from the home rather than take on an unknown, untreated risk.
A year and a half later, the homeowners found themselves moving and needing to sell the home. They disclosed the prior presence of mold in the home and its remediation. The buyers felt comfortable with moving forward.
The buyers had a home inspection performed. But on recommendation, they also had a mold inspection done by a qualified mold inspector.
How Does a Mold Inspection Work?
In the case above, the mold inspector came performed samplings throughout the home. This is a non-invasive test of the air quality and the unseen components in the air. The inspector brought three ‘traps’ to test for mold. One of the traps was placed outside while the other two were used indoors. The outdoor trap helps to serve as a benchmark comparison of the home. The rule of thumb indicated to me was the use of one trap for every 1,000 square feet or so.
The traps were allowed to sit in the home for a short time and then collected.
They were then sent off to a lab that performs analysis of the samples and reports back on this. By the way, the total process takes about 48 hours - so this is definitely doable within the typical buyer inspection period assuming they mold inspector is called out early enough.
Given the incidence in the past of mold in the home, doing a sample can make very good sense.
However, if there is no reason to believe there is mold in the home and there were no signs such as a musty or wet smell and visible signs of mold (through home inspections), then having a sampling performed is likely not useful or beneficial.
How Much Does the Mold Inspection Cost?
In this case, the cost of the test was around $254. Not bad for getting a more fact-based peace-of-mind on your hoe purchase. One can imagine that if mold was present and not known by the buyer until later, that the buyer would have incurred much more cost than this to remediate it.
Example Lab Results
Never had a mold inspection performed for a client? Here is what an actual report looks like. There are two sections. First is the Summary. Second is the detailed report on findings in the home.
Now, it is important to keep in mind that mold exists everywhere and that tests done this way will detect molds. However, it is the type and levels that should give clues as to whether there is a problem or not.
Trust the Interpretation of the Mold Inspector and Lab, Not the Realtor
When getting a mold report, make sure to address any questions to the Mold Inspector and Lab and not your Realtor. Your Realtor is not an expert in mold identification and analysis and shouldn’t be talking to you about what the test results specifically mean. The Realtor’s question to you should be, “Do you feel comfortable with everything you know and want to move forward, or do you want to cancel your agreement?”
Get Educated About Mold and Obtain Facts To Make a Decision
As highlighted above, it is critical to understand if there is a mold problem with a home or not based on testing and sound knowledge of the issue. What types of molds are present in the home is just as important as how much as many molds don’t present the health-related issues that the media has been quick to sieze upon.
If you suspect mold in your home or the home you are considering purchasing, then by all means perform a mold inspection for the home. Peace of mind on this issue is definitely worth the money and can help you to avoid a potential large expense later at the same time.
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