Additional Mold services include:

Air sampling:

Air sampling may be necessary if the mold growth is suspected (for example, musty odors), but cannot be identified by a visual examination. The purpose of such air sampling is to determine the location and/or extent of mold contamination as well as a simple confirmation that mold growth exists somewhere in the building. All mold spores have a source, and identifying the source is the goal. Samples of the indoor air and the outside air should be taken for comparison. There should not be any mold inside the house that is not found outside. The concentration of mold inside a home should not be higher than the concentration of mold outside.

Carpet sampling:

A carpet tends to contain a history of any mold that has been growing in the building. The carpeting sampling is performed to reveal previous mold problems. A carpeting sampling can also reveal undetected mold growth that may have been covered over or cleaned up. Even after cleaning, there can be mold spores discovered deep in the carpet.

Tape sampling:

A tape system provides a quick way to sample visible mold. A tape-lift system is the most common surface sampling technique. It can be used instead of a swab sample. Many samples can be collected in a short period of time. Samples that show hyphae fragments and reproductive structures can provide proof of mold growth.

One of the most popular tape sampling products is the Bio-Tape™ system. There are many advantages of using tape lift systems such as the Bio-Tape™ instead of using regular tape. Bio-Tape™ is easier to handle, the tapes are individually numbered, it requires less laboratory preparation time, and the slides are flexible and will not break.

The sampling result is not quantitative. The presence of fungi can be confirmed, genera can be identified, and possibly a semi-quantitative estimation of the amount of each genus can be determined.

Swab sampling:

A swab comes inside a plastic tube container. The cellulose swab is moistened with a liquid preservative stored in an ampoule at one end of the tube container. Any bacteria collected with the swab are transferred via the swab into a tube. The tube is sent directly to a laboratory for analysis.

A swab provides immediate determination of the presence of fungal spores as well as what types of fungi are present.