Free Mold Inspection – Homeowners Beware

I want to share my experiences with companies in the mold inspection, mold abatement, and asbestos abatement industries. I’ve found myself deeply unsatisfied, and I’ve had to blow the whistle on poor practices in the industry. Here are 5 signs that the commercial mold removal & asbestos abatement company you hired didn’t do the job you paid them to do. Know these 5 signs when mold or asbestos inspectors come to inspect your property – for the sake of your health, safety, and wallet.

I got into the Mold Busting business only recently, and that meant I had a lot to learn – fast. I wanted a good education and thought: “Who better to learn from than mold fighting experts around the city?” I figured paid professionals had skills I needed to mimic.

I got a willing friend to loan me his unfinished basement in one of his houses with my intent established. In return, I was about to get him the best (and worst) comprehensive inspections of his property.

所以我拿了一个空的地下室，把它变成了我的教室。我准备学习了。我计划邀请协调商业模具拆除和石棉减排服务的公司提供检查和/或报价。

这些访问将与我认为在商业模具的标准中的标准进行鲜明对比。我想看看大多数是否测量，上面，或低于服务质量官网入口abides by, upholds, and delivers.

To kick off this educational process, I assessed the room for signs of mold and asbestos myself. Let me warn you right here: Things are about to get ugly.

我的初步检查

I treated this basement very seriously. First, I took note of common problem areas like around windows and around the furnace. We identified some duct wrap potentially contaminated with asbestos (this was common on furnace systems built before 1990), which I needed to send off to the lab. Indeed, they confirmed the presence of asbestos. Yikes.

Elsewhere we found evidence of leaky windows, efflorescence (moisture marks) on a section of the concrete, and indications of past flooding in the spare room. Despite the fact that all of this our comprehensive analysis of the basement showed no signs of mold contamination.

With my assessment complete, all that remained was to invite companies. I prepared the space with a couple of security cams and was ready to take notes.

I’m not perfect, and my colleagues at Mold Busters aren’t perfect. We hoped some mold inspector was about to teach us a lesson – show us how it’s done.

我们邀请了11家公司进入了地下室，我们将公司命名为“A”通过“k”。被邀请五项进行模具检查，并为石棉检验/估算剩余6。某些公司在这两个领域的专业知识 - 更多以下是。

Sign #1: They don’t show up on time (or at all)

A公司未显示预约，也没有呼吁任何解释。糟糕的开始。

等待40分钟后，我打电话给他们，只能得到他们需要重新预订的答案。我让他们知道我会通过电子邮件联系，以确认新的预约时间。几天后通过电子邮件伸出后，我从未听过他们。粗略开始。我还没有学习这些商业模具清除专家的检查。

标志＃2：他们不使用适当的手电筒

B到E都被邀请检查模具。我将它们定向到地下地板的地板上的变色，并对该地区表示一般担忧。

B公司之后抵达了15分钟的时间 - 没有抬起头 - 但他们确实出现了，足以承认变色实际上，而不是霉变。凉爽的。

But what about flashlights? I had learned that cell phone flashlights shine at much lower strengths and have a very wide spill, meaning they cannot be depended on to provide adequate lighting. Company B used his cell phone flashlight to inspect the area. Given that the basement had dismal lighting, this wasn’t a very reassuring start. It didn’t get better. The following 5 COMPANIES did the same bad job (or worse) at illuminating the floor joist.

最后，对公司的信心真正失去了什么是他们为我提供了他们的服务小册子，说明他们专注于石棉。他们检查了整个地下室并错过了石棉。现在，任何检查员都知道，除非它被打扰，否则石棉通常不是问题。即便如此 - 我至少会让客户知道他们家里有石棉。即使他们看到石棉而且没有说什么，至少有礼貌地说些什么。

Sign #3: Free inspections

Companies C and D? They did much the same except worse. The unifying theme of these horrible mold inspections? They were free.

Company C also didn’t point out the asbestos, but they also deemed the discoloration to be mold on sight (and with no testing). That’s pretty shady for a commercial mold removal company. I also got no mention of the moisture damage in the adjacent bedroom. In the end, they submitted a $300 quote to clean dirt and dust off the floor joist, which anyone could do in about 5 minutes.

Company D also missed all signs of water intrusion in the adjacent bedroom, and then when it came to the estimate, they didn’t get back to me within the promised week, with no acknowledgment thereof. You’d think these people would want to get paid.

他们说，您可以获得商业模具删除所支付的费用，以前的公司提供免费检查 - 所以也许有偿评估将是答案？在支付检查服务时，您应该得到的是全面的诊断和视觉评估：采用技术仪器收集的数据组合，以及经过培训的经验丰富的技术人员的视觉专业知识。在模具官网入口破坏者，我们相信您需要诊断和专业知识, because there’s way too many variables and unique circumstances to leave it to one or the other in our industry.

Sign #4: They give you a quote before getting lab test results

Okay, so I had hoped the paid mold inspections would hold higher standards of professionalism. I was wrong.

Company E’s inspections were priced at $100, so I thought maybe we’d finally found someone worthwhile. The inspector was the most thorough of all that had visited, and I learned a little about doing a visual inspection. He even brought a real flashlight!

Unfortunately, that was pretty much the extent of it. No technical instruments were used or samples collected. It seems their price tag gets you nothing more than a glorified visual inspection. The inspector did识别卧室的水损坏材料,但不能真正衡量是否these materials and the ambient conditions could foster mold growth. Like Company B, this company also claims expertise in asbestos inspection and removal, and also like Company B, skimmed right over the duct wrap. In the end, they deemed the adjacent bedroom contaminated and submitted a whopping $1,900 estimate for commercial mold removal and remediation.

这是修复一些水损伤的很多钱。

符号# 5:他们never looked for other signs of moisture, leaks

接下来你有石棉减排检查;公司F到K。

我希望这些公司持有更高的标准，而且他们通过了。毕竟，石棉处理，减轻和处置比模具更严格地监管。

Each company communicated and arrived in a timely manner, with the majority providing thorough assessments to establish adequate removal recommendations. However, there were still a couple of exceptions:

Company F provided great service but also employed the use of a cell phone flashlight and consequently missed heat shield cover contaminated with asbestos and some problem ducts that went into the garage and would need to be disconnected and sealed off.

As for Company G, I like that they did not bring a flashlight inside at all. The technician noted when he entered the basement that it was dimly lit, and still opted not to get the flashlight he claimed to have in his vehicle.

I don’t think I need to tell you, but they missed the same stuff as Company F. Furthermore, I wanted to know more about the “mold” discoloration— a service they also provided—which he brushed aside and provided misguided information regarding why it wasn’t mold. To top it all off, when he was describing how the mold removal would work, he didn’t include any sort of containment of the work area, which goes against safety guidelines.

What did I learn about commercial mold removal?

最后，有一些关键要点可以从这种体验中注释。Here are 5 signs the company you’ve called is about to provide poor quality commercial mold removal and asbestos abatement:

1. First off, get a professional. They should show up on time, answer your calls and emails, and report details and plans to you in writing.
2. It may seem like a tiny detail, but trust me when I say a cell phone flashlight does not provide sufficient lighting for these kinds of inspections! If a company does not understand this or is willing to miss crucial information – it simply does not bode well.
3. Saving a few bucks on inspections is simply not worth it. A paid inspection is通常a good idea. You are paying for an evaluation of your space that goes beyond the surface (quite literally) but don’t get screwed over: ask about what the inspection entails. You want your inspector to be bringing visual expertise, collecting technical data, and testing samples at a certified lab.
4. 询问问题，即使你知道答案！技术人员是专家。如果他们不愿意回答问题，无法解释任何东西，或者带你通过这个过程，这并不是一个好兆头。他们还应该能够提供来自认可的实验室的实验室结果，以验证您的模具或石棉问题不仅仅是一些灰尘。
5. 最后，我想要一个商业脱模公司愿意采取额外的一步。我邀请了这些检查员用于模具或石棉，但我在地下室的其他部分中存在非常明显的问题。作为一家企业，您必须真正重视客户，并在需要帮助时照顾它们。

I want you to save money on your repairs and construction, but are a few bucks worth the peace of mind? An asbestos ormold inspectionthat isn’t thorough can snowball into a bigger problem down the road – a more expensive problem.

我想为这个原因分享我的故事。我喜欢我的行业，我不希望人们感到被骗。您可能没有专业知识，我必须看到模具或石棉检查出错的地方，如果我错过了家里的任何东西，我会觉得负责。客户在我手中施加健康，幸福和金钱，重要的是我做正确的工作。

Use the lessons I learned next time you call up a mold removal expert. Don’t leave anything to chance. Even the most qualified people in commercial mold removal & asbestos abatement make mistakes, so make sure you know the signs that an inspector has done a thorough job. The question is whether your inspectors are following criteria, standards, and guidelines that will maintain a safe and healthy environment in your home or business.