The house you live in now makes you sick—stuffy and runny nose, coughing, itchy, and watery eyes are just a few symptoms you are experiencing. You suspect that mold is causing the problem. You now want to test for mold in your house but don’t want to hire a professional to do the work. To save some money, you want to use a home mold test kit from a big box store, but are they accurate?
How to test for mold
The home mold test kits that you can buy at your nearest big box store are very affordable and offer the ability to find out if there is mold present in your house. These kits typically use a Petri Dish to collect the mold spores that are present in your home. The dish has an AGAR substance that is gelatin. You uncover the container and let it sit out where you suspect the problem, and wait until the mold spores settle in the dish. After a while, you will begin to see mold growth in the plate. You will then place the container in a shipping package and mail it back to the mold testing lab indicated on the instructions to have the spores analyzed for mold.
Drawbacks of home mold test kits
While these home mold test kits offer convenience and low price, they are susceptible to some drawbacks. The first problem with these home mold test kits is that the AGAR may have already expired by the time you get it. They don’t offer an expiration date on them. The other issue is that since mold is always present in the air, it will grow mold, but only viable mold. Non-viable mold can also cause health problems, and it will not provide this data. You won’t get the whole picture. Some mold spore colonies will likely not show up because it would require the ability to control the airflow rate to capture these other spores. The only way to accomplish that is to use an electric or mechanical pump with a flow rate valve, an attached media cassette, with an internal filter. When you ship back the kit, temperature extremes from one point to the other can damage the kit, making the results unreliable.
How much does mold testing cost?
You can buy a home mold test kit from your local hardware store or online for about $10. There will also be mold testing lab fees of about $40 per sample, which is why these are so popular. But in our experience, most people hire a professional to handle the job as the customer is not satisfied with the results and is often unable to interpret the results and is unable to figure out the next steps in solving the problem. These are all things a professional can help understand. Hiring a professional can cost about $155 for a service call plus $50 per sample. The expert will conduct a thorough inspection, take samples, produce a report with professional recommendations, and interpret the results.
Same day mold testing
If you need assistance with mold testing, 5 Microns Inc. can help. We are happy to serve you Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 3:30 pm. We offer a same-day mold testing service. Contact us for details.
Where to send mold samples for testing
Mail in samples to the following address:
5 Microns Inc.
7100 Fort Dent Way #100
Tukwila, WA 98188
IMPORTANT-MUST READ FIRST: All mail-in samples must have a tracking number and include our general chain of custody form to be processed. If the chain of custody form is missing, your sample(s) will not be accepted and processed. Drop-offs MUST have the COC form inside your package but not in the sample bag. DO NOT MAIL YOUR SAMPLES BY FIRST CLASS MAIL. Send your sample(s) via USPS Priority Mail, UPS, and FedEx. It is essential to closely follow these directions so our asbestos testing lab can promptly process your sample(s).
*PLEASE NOTE FOR ALL DROP-OFFS: All samples must be dropped off at the back of the office building located at 7100 Fort Dent Way Tukwila WA outside the Tabor 100 Office and placed inside the black drop-box pictured below. Do not take your samples to the front desk. The front desk will not accept drop-offs over the counter, NO EXCEPTIONS!
