When it comes to mold growing in your house, there are several ways to tell if you have the problem. But first, you should know that mold is a natural material that grows everywhere, even in your house. You can never get rid of mold. With that being said, what you want to avoid is having a high concentration of mold inside your home that is allergenic, pathogenic, or toxigenic.
Suppose you notice that when you are home, you sneeze a lot, you start having a runny nose, itchy and watery eyes. In that case, there is a musty odor, or you see black spots on walls, around windows, or on any other surface, there is a highly likely probability that you have mold in your house.
How to test for mold
Sometimes the mold is not visible, and the only way to tell if you have mold in your house is to conduct an air test. There are a couple of ways to do this. Using a Petri Dish, you will leave sitting open and allow the mold spores to settle in the plate. If mold is present, then you will see mold growing inside the dish. The other method is to use an electric or mechanical pump with a mold trap or an attached cassette media with a filter. The other way is the direct sample. In this scenario, you can use a cellophane piece of tape that you will place on to or the surface with the visible mold and gently remove collecting a sample of the visible specimen. You have the cotton swab technique in which you will swab the surface area of visible mold to collect the sample. You can also take a piece of the suspected material by cutting it. Once you have collected your model, you can send them to a mold testing lab for analysis.
Mold testing cost
Prices for mold testing may vary depending on where you live, but here in Seattle, mold testing can cost about $155 for a service call plus $50 per sample if you hire a professional. And if you want to send a sample for mold testing to a lab, it will cost about $50 per sample, but you won’t get a thorough inspection from a professional and his advice.
Same day mold testing
If you suspect mold at your house, you can hire the experts at 5 Microns Inc. to help you figure it out. We have the experience and all the tools necessary to perform the work. You can also send us a sample to test for mold. We offer same-day results from receipt as an option, but the standard turnaround time is 2-3 business days.
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!
