How Do You Test for Mold?

Why this question keeps coming up

Radon taught York homeowners to expect a number. Mold marketing sells the same feeling. The repairs are usually obvious without the number.

What it looks like in York County

Closings in Spring Garden and Downtown are where we see the petri-dish kits come out. The inspector already photographed the joist. Another dish on the kitchen counter does not negotiate the crawl.

What to do

• Inspect and photograph.
• Compare any air sample to an outdoor sample taken the same day.
• Ask what decision the test will change.
• Fix the water either way.

What makes it worse

• Pay for a test that only leads to a pre-sold fogger.
• Sample a room while someone is actively demolishing.
• Trust a single number with no method.

Details: testing versus inspection.

Questions people also ask

These pages are homeowner education from Radon Mitigation of York, written by Dave Kessler. They are not a medical diagnosis, a species identification, or an insurance determination. Color does not tell you which mold you have. If someone in the house is sick, talk to a physician. EPA's homeowner guidance treats roughly 10 square feet as the line where many people stop DIY cleanup and call a remediation crew — sooner if sewage, HVAC, or anyone immunocompromised is involved. We are a radon and basement crew. When we are already under a York house we will tell you what we see and what we would do in our own place. We do not pretend a radon fan is a mold remedy.