Mold is an important and integral part of the world's ecology. Mold spores are everywhere including in your home. You could sanitize your home but as soon as you open a door or window new spores will enter. Fortunately, just having mold spores in your home is not usually a problem. Active mold growth requires several things. First you must have mold spores which you will always have. Secondly you must have a food source. Although cellulose based products such as wood and the paper on drywall are excellent food sources the dust on masonry block can also be a food source. Mold requires air and finally mold must have the right moisture level in the food source to grow. In your home you cannot control mold spores, food source or air but you can control moisture levels. Mold spores can lie dormant for years and then water is introduced and now you have an active mold growth.
People have different sensitivities to mold. There are thousands of different species of mold. A specific mold that causes a reaction to one person may have no affect on another person. Some molds such as penicillin are beneficial to some people and actually lethal to others. Molds produce allergens, substances that can cause allergic reactions, irritants, and in some cases, potentially toxic substances (mycotoxins). There are no standards as to what type or quantity of mold that presents a problem. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Department of Health have stated that mold may be hazardous to your health. The New York State Mold Assessment and Remediation Licensing Law(NYSMARL) states that mold exposure can cause pulmonary, respiratory, neurological or other major illnesses. Infants and young children are more susceptible to mold than adults. Long term or multiple exposures to mold, even in adults, can increase a person's sensitivity to mold.
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Under the NYSMARL, a home owner is allowed to assess and remediate a mold problem themselves. If you are going to hire a contractor to do mold remediation, a mold assessment must be done by a licensed mold assessor prior to hiring a licensed mold remediation contractor. A post remediation assessment must be done after the remediation work is done.
Remediating the mold, although it can be expensive, is the easy part of the job. Under the NYSMARL, the mold assessment plan should determine, where possible, the underlying source of the moisture causing the mold growth. The best person to determine the cause of the moisture intrusion is someone who knows homes and how the different systems within a home interact with each other. Syracuse Inspections and Property Services has done over 16,000 general home inspections and has done multiple inspections on exclusively water intrusion problems within the home. We will do surface sampling and air testing as needed. We will use diagnostic tools such as an infrared camera, moisture meter and hygrometer. We will tell you what caused the mold problem and how to prevent it from happening again. We will provide you with a detailed work plan to correct your mold problem.
We offer two types of mold services. The first type is the actual mold assessment which will comply with all of the provisions of the NYSMARL. This may but does not have to include mold testing.
The second service that we offer is a mold testing. This includes air sampling and/or surface testing. Depending upon the circumstances this will include a minimum of three samples. You do not need to test all homes for mold. Reasons for testing a home for mold include:
