Mold Inspection

Let Bay Area Mold Pros Do a Professional Mold Inspection

Do you need a mold inspection?

If you suspect you have mold growing inside your home or business, it’s best to hire a professional to do a thorough inspection. Bay Area Mold Pros has the proper tools and the expertise to check everywhere for mold growth, even in the areas where you may not see it.

What Is Mold?

Mold is a natural fungus found growing outdoors. It’s not a concern when growing outdoors. In fact, it serves a purpose: to break down leaves and other materials. If mold is growing indoors, however, it can affect your home’s structural integrity, as well as the health of everyone who lives there.

How Does Mold Grow Indoors?

Mold needs just one element in order to grow: moisture. This moisture can come from a water intrusion, from condensation, or even from excessive humidity.

If you have experienced a water intrusion, or condensation is present on walls, windows or other surfaces, you need to ensure that the water is dried out within 24 hours, or mold growth can occur. If your humidity is elevated, this too can lead to mold growth, and needs to be brought under control as soon as possible.

Water intrusion can happen in every home. Flooding, leaking or burst pipes, faulty roofs, malfunctioning sump pumps—all these can result moisture remaining on surfaces indoors. Once mold starts to grow on damp surfaces, it releases spores through the air. These spores can cause two major problems:

Health Issues. People living in the home will breathe in the mold spores. This can lead to cold-like symptoms, including sneezing, coughing wheezing, and headaches. These symptoms will remain until the mold is removed from the environment.
Structural Issues. Mold spores are microscopic, so they can reach areas you can’t see and result in mold growing there. Behind drywall, above ceiling tiles, underneath flooring—mold will continue to grow and cause damage to the structure of the home.

Signs of Mold Growth

There are indications that you may have mold growing inside your home. Some of these include:

You can see it. If you see mold growing on surfaces, it’s obvious you have mold. But you probably don’t know the extent of it. It could also be growing in hidden areas that you can’t see.
Musty odors. If you notice an odor that smells musty, you may have mold growth.
Humidity. If the weather is humid outdoors, it may cause excess moisture indoors. The moisture can settle on surfaces and cause condensation. If left unattended, the damp surfaces may start to grow mold.
Unexplained health issues. If you have lingering cold-like symptoms that won’t go away, it could be attributed to mold growing. Continuous exposure will make these symptoms worsen.

Know Exactly Where Mold Is Growing

You can’t get rid of mold unless you know everywhere that it’s growing. Bay Area Mold Pros will interview you at the time of the inspection to determine those areas that you are most concerned with in your home.

The scope of the inspection will be determined by both the information gleaned from this interview, and any construction and moisture issues that are seen by our inspectors that might result in mold growth.

Inspect Exterior. We start with an inspection of the home’s exterior to check for areas where water could be entering the home. Faulty window or door seals, leaking roofs, broken or missing rain gutters or rain leaders, and missing or improper drainage could all be causing mold growth. If these problems aren’t fixed, moisture will continue to be present indoors, and mold will grow.
Measure Moisture. We will measure the moisture and humidity indoors. Typical areas where hidden mold growth exists include behind drywall, under flooring, in crawl spaces, behind wall tile, and in garages and basements.
Collect and Submit Samples. We then collect air or swab samples from areas where mold growth is suspected. These samples are hand-carried to an accredited lab for full testing and analysis and the production of a detailed lab report.
Document Findings. All results of the inspection and testing will be documented in an easy-to-understand report and presented to you. It will include recommendations for remediating the situation. We will answer any questions you may have.

Best of all, you know what it will cost you for all these services BEFORE we begin. No surprises or “hidden” fees.

Hire a Trusted Mold Inspection Company

Don’t fall for scams from companies giving you a low-ball bid upfront, then adding hidden charges once they get their foot in the door. Hire Bay Area Mold Pros to do a thorough inspection and testing so that you can take steps to get rid of any existing mold and prevent new growth.

Bay Area Mold Pros is a local mold inspection company serving the San Francisco bay area. Contact us today if you suspect you have mold growing in your home.