Does Black Mold Need Different Treatment Than Other Mold?
No. "Black mold" is a color, not a species, and dozens of common molds are dark. The remediation plan for any mold is the same: protect the family, find the moisture and the likely sources, remove the affected material in a controlled way, and clean the fine dust afterward. The color of the growth does not change the steps.
What does change the plan is size, location and who lives in the home. If you want to know what you are dealing with, a surface sample identifies it: Mold Testing is $495. Includes the first two air or surface samples and the lab report. Most of the time, though, the right move is the same whatever the color: do not disturb it, and schedule a mold or water damage inspection.
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Additional Questions
What Is the Difference Between a Mold Inspection and Mold Testing?
An inspection is a trained person looking at the home. Testing is a laboratory measuring samples from it. Inspection finds where moisture and mold are likely; testing tells you what is in the air or on a surface and how much. Most homes need the inspection first, and only some need testing.
What Should I Expect During a Mold Testing Appointment?
Expect a full mold or water damage inspection of the conditioned home first, then sampling in the places the inspection points to. Air samples are taken in the rooms of concern and compared to the outdoor air. Surface samples are taken where there is visible growth or suspicious staining. The visit usually takes one to two hours, and nothing is disturbed or torn open.
What Does a Positive Mold Test Mean?
A positive test means the sampled air or surface held more mold, or different mold, than it should, compared to the outdoors and to the rest of the home. It does not by itself tell you where the mold is or how big the problem is. That is what the inspection and the next step are for. A single elevated reading in a basement after a wet week is a very different situation from elevated readings in bedrooms with no visible growth.
How Much Does Mold Testing Cost?
In the Washington, DC area, mold testing usually runs $400 to $900 for a visit with air sampling, tape lifts or swabbing, more for ERMI and other dust tests. Mold Relief's Mold Testing is $495. Includes the first two air or surface samples, the lab report, a full mold or water damage inspection of the entire conditioned home, and a follow-up call to walk through the results. Each additional sample is $45.
Experience. No One Has More.
Experience you can't get from a training course, and we still listen and learn on every job!
Water Damage and Mold Jobs
Water damage is the most common cause of mold, and we've worked on both sides of it for over 35 years. More than 15,000 jobs, and we still listen and learn on every one!
Happy Customers
As a former multi-state licensed general contractor, we completed more than 100,000 home service and repair jobs across every trade. That's where home systems fail, and knowing how they fail makes it much easier to find where mold is hiding and its likely sources.
Of Doctor-Referred Clients with Sick Homes
Doctors refer their patients to us. Many of those homes look spotless, yet test results point to an elevated-risk environment. If you or your doctor thinks your home is making you sick, we're the company for you.