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Photograph: moldy fiberglass insulation contaminated with Aspergillus sp. mold spores -  © Daniel Friedman Insulation Mold: How to Find and Test for Mold in Insulation
InspectAPedia®  -    

  • How to inspect & test various types of building insulation for toxic or allergenic mold contamination
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This document gives advice on how to find and deal with mold in building insulation. This is a chapter of "How to Look for Mold" which describes how to find mold and test for mold in buildings, including how and where to collect mold samples using adhesive tape - an easy, inexpensive, low-tech but very effective mold testing method. Readers of this document on finding moldy insulation should also read Mold in Fiberglass Insulation on mold hazards in fiberglass building insulation.

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How to Inspect &Test for Mold contamination in building insulation

Photograph moldy fiberglass insulation in a basement - it looked clean but it was not -  © Daniel Friedman Even when there is no visible mold on building surfaces or on visible areas of building insulation, don't ignore fiberglass insulation as a possible mold reservoir.

A basement which was previously moldy or wet, or a basement which stored a collection of moldy boxes or cartons of moldy papers and files may have been may have left behind a large mold reservoir in the basement fiberglass insulation and in settled dust.

In the first photo shown here the basement insulation looked clean to the naked eye, but a history of basement flooding led us to test the insulation.

We often find very high levels of Aspergillus mold spore contamination in this fiberglass insulation (such as in this photo) even though to the naked eye, the insulation looked quite clean.

Photograph of extensive basement Stachybotrys chartarum contamination -  © Daniel Friedman If there is visible mold on other basement surfaces, don't forget to also check the condition of basement insulation that your insurance company, mold consultant, or mold remediator may want to leave in place because it "looks clean".

In the photograph shown here, not only was there extensive Stachybotrys chartarum contamination visible as "black mold" on the basement drywall, a special vacuum test of the fiberglass insulation in this basement ceiling disclosed high levels of Aspergillus versicolor, Aspergillus sp., & Penicillium sp..

It would have been smart and simple to discard all of the fiberglass insulation in this basement ceiling, given its exposure to high levels of problem building mold from other sources.

Photograph of extensive basement Stachybotrys chartarum contamination -  © Daniel Friedman Photograph of extensive basement Stachybotrys chartarum contamination -  © Daniel Friedman Photograph of extensive basement Stachybotrys chartarum contamination -  © Daniel Friedman

These three photos of fiberglass insulation, drywall, and a wall cavity which was cut open show the value of exploring building cavities where there may have been leaks from above, regardless of whether we're exploring in above-grade level living space or below-grade level basements.

A roof leak had wet these wall cavities, leading us to test the insulation for mold and to inspect further for moldy drywall. The photos also illustrate that luckily not every building leak into every building cavity is going to cause visible mold growth on the hidden surfaces of drywall.

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