Mold testing is about making sure your spaces are healthy, and that you don’t have uncontrolled mold growth on your property. Mold testing and inspection services are now available for residents of Victoria, Duncan, Cowichan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Comox, and Campbell River.
Mold awareness among the general public is growing and the demand for mold testing services is on the rise as people are beginning to realize just how big of an impact exposure to mold can have on their health.
Black mold in particular is a health concern which needs to be addressed quickly, before it can spread throughout your house or office.
The first step to controlling any kind of mold is considering testing. Not all black spots are mold. In fact, black spots on surfaces can be caused by a number of things including dirt, soil, paint and insect fecal matter.
The best way to find out is through professional mold testing in Victoria, Duncan, Cowichan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Comox, and Campbell River
We offer a number of testing services for mold – from instant testing to detailed laboratory analysis. Testing for mold will answer four important questions:
Do you have a mold problem?
What species of mold is present?
How bad is the contamination?
What is the best way to proceed with remediation?
Our reliable services are available in Victoria, Duncan, Cowichan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Comox, and Campbell River, and all our testing is done by certified labs. We even offer rushed testing if you want to speed up your mold removal.
What causes mold?
Should the results of the mold testing or
inspection, reveal a mold problem, our experts will determine the exact cause
or source of the mold growth.
Mold is most often associated with a moisture problem such as
Cracked roof or foundation
Burst pipes
Leaky taps, faucets and toilets
Old windows and doors
High humidity
Leaky appliances
Benefits of mold testing
A mold test, be it Instant, 24 hrs, Particle, DNA, ATP, Surface sample or an Air quality test, has several purposes:
Assessing fungal ecology
Confirming the presence of mold
Locating source(s) of moisture
Assessing potential health risks
Eliminating potential health risks
Planning a mold remediation
Providing evidence for insurance claims/litigation
Verifying job completion
How to tell if you need a mold test?
One common reason people decide to get professional mold testing is that they notice persistent smells or recurring symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, skin or eye irritation and headaches.
Although many of these symptoms are associated with and point to seasonal allergies, it’s possible you’re actually experiencing an allergic reaction to mold.
It’s also a good idea to get a mold test if you’re thinking about buying a home. Know that the home you’re investing in is free of harmful air pollutants that will cost you down the road.
Finally, if you’ve never had your home tested for mold, there’s no better time to start than today.
Book now with Pacific Decontamination Services! We offer a variety of mold testing packages, some that include a full report specifying the exact species of mold found and their concentrations. Also included is our professional recommendation for how to proceed with remediation, if necessary.
Testing for mold in your apartment or house
Not all mold can be seen by the human eye, and so it often remains untreated. Mold spores then continue to make their way through the air and cause respiratory harm. We highly recommend that you have a mold inspection prior to moving in. When you walk around your new property, you probably won’t notice damp areas where mold could be growing.
Pacific Decontamination Services will carry out a thorough investigation using sensitive equipment, including thermal imaging and infrared cameras. This equipment works to detect areas of damp, excessive temperature changes, water leaks and mold growth that you can’t see. Using this equipment, the technicians can get the job done without needing to remove walls or floorboards. They can and will test for mold in attics, basements, crawl spaces, around windows, under carpets and, of course, in the most susceptible areas of the bathroom and kitchen.
Mold releases spores into your indoor air. These spores carry bacteria that will damage your health and the health of anyone else under the same roof, including family, friends and any animals in the house. Black mold can develop and, if it does, know that it’s toxic and will cause more serious health conditions, such as asthma and bronchitis.
Pacific Decontamination Services is experienced in completely removing mold. Calling us will ensure that you move into a clean, mold-free home.
Mold Testing vs. Mold Detection
If you’re trying to figure out if you have a mold problem in your home in Victoria, Duncan, Cowichan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Port Alberni, Courtenay, Comox, and Campbell River, you can choose from a number of different services that will help determine for certain whether or not there’s anything to worry about and whether or not remediation is the next, best step.
Mold Detection Service
Mold detection is a much broader term than
mold testing, and it encompasses not just a physical test, but also any other
method used to detect mold. This may or may not include a visual inspection of
the affected area and the use of a variety of detection/inspection tools.
Check out the tools we
use
Mold Testing Service
Mold testing, on the other hand, is strictly limited to field or laboratory tests performed on a material to determine whether or not mold is present. There are several ways to test for mold, including surface sampling and air quality testing. The results will tell you if the material tested actually contains mold and, if so, how much. The problem here is that mold content in the air is constantly changing from hour to hour, day to day, and room to room.
Considering the air and other indoor conditions do change often, mold detection may be a more effective option, if you want a bigger picture of the mold situation in your home. Due to its thoroughness, mold detection is critical in maintaining a healthy home or office environment.
Our Mold Testing Service
How Can Mold Testing and Detection Help in Reducing Mold Related Symptoms?
Some homeowners want to monitor the air quality inside their homes to prevent mold from becoming a major threat. In this case, mold testing is the perfect tool because it can give you an accurate representation of the number of mold spores present in the indoor air.
We know that prolonged exposure to mold can cause health problems, but we know very little about how each individual is going to react to a mold problem. For example, some people may experience a mild mold allergy, while some people may develop serious respiratory illness. Others, still, may experience no symptoms at all.
What we do know is that several species of mold are known to cause respiratory problems to the point it’s toxic. Mold testing allows us to identify if the mold growing inside our homes is allergenic, pathogenic or toxigenic. It also helps us determine the extent of the problem and plan for an effective mold removal.
To conclude, both methods (mold testing and mold detection) are an effective and highly recommended means of finding mold problems in your home. The method you use should depend on your specific needs.
A mold test will confirm the presence of mold and the extent of the contamination. If your home’s been tested for mold and it’s present, the next step is mold remediation.
Should I rely on home mold test kits?
Unless you are a professional, you should
avoid direct contact with mold.
Testing can release mold spores that can cause allergies to act up, and can
spread mold to other parts of your home. Using an at-home mold test kit has
other downsides:
Mold samples are often misleading or the results are read incorrectly
Visual inspections are not included in home mold testing kits, and visual inspections need to be done by a pair of trained eyes. Professional mold services don’t just focus on treating the mold itself, but on its causes too.
Since mold spores are present everywhere, less sophisticated home mold testing kits can be wrong.
What Can You Do?
We Perform 7 Types of Mold Testing Options With Our Initial Inspection:
- Instant Results – Surface Sampling for Black Mold (Viable and Non-Viable)
- 24 hr Results Air/Surface Sampling for Living Mold (Viable)
- Air Sampling for Mold (Viable and/or Non-Viable) – Laboratory Analysis
- Surface Sampling for Mold (Species Identification) – Laboratory Analysis
- DNA sampling (ERMI Test) for Mold – Laboratory Analysis
- Instant Results – Surface Bacteria (Including Mold) Testing for ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
- Instant Results – Air Laser Particulate Counter Testing – Air Quality Assessment
We Also Neutralize Mold
In most situations, Pacific Decontamination Services can neutralize your mold up 99.99999%. If our spray, fog or foam can touch it, we can neutralize it. Our services come at a fraction of the cost as compared to the expensive approaches like soda / dry ice blasting, hepa vacuuming, scrubbing, removal of insulation and deconstruction and reconstruction of the attic and roof.
We neutralize the mold in your attic by applying
our eco-friendly, safe chemical everywhere within your attic, focusing our
efforts on the visible mold areas. Depending on the job, we apply our formula
by spray, mist, foam, or fog. We further kill all airborne mold
spores in your attic. The average time of our on-site service
is approximately one hour. An additional four hours is required to achieve
maximum effectiveness. We ask that you stay out of the attic for approximately
5 hours in total. Read more about how we work.
Pacific Decontamination Services uses the world’s strongest, most effective and safe antimicrobial disinfectant, deodorization and chemical decontaminate. Our professional application will eliminate up to accepted levels of any allergen, germ, bacteria or fungus that it touches. AND as powerful as it is, it is also completely safe.
What do you do next? How do you solve the challenge of mold and associated health hazards?
Call Pacific Decontamination Services at 778-269-0208 or email us!
Serving All of Vancouver Island: Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni.
