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ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS GUIDE AIR POLLUTANTS, COMMON INDOOR ALLERGEN TESTS for BUILDINGS ALLERGENS in BUILDINGS, RECOGNIZING ALLERGY TESTS for PEOPLE ALLERGY TEST ACCURACY ASBESTOS in Buildings Carpet Dust Carpeting and Indoor Air Quality FLOODS IN BUILDINGS-priorities FLOODS IN BUILDINGS-mold FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP GAS MEASUREMENT TOOLS Gas Toxicity Levels House Dust Analysis MOLD: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO MOLD MOLD INFORMATION CENTER ACCEPTABLE MOLD LEVEL ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT INDOOR MOLD AFTER THE MOLD CLEANUP ATTIC MOLD BATHROOM MOLD BASEMENT MOLD BASICS YOU NEED to FIND, TEST, REMOVE MOLD Basketball Mold Syndrome - BBMS BLACK MOLD, HARMLESS COSMETIC BOOKSTORE - ENVIRONMENTAL BUYERS GUIDE - home inspections for mold CARPET MOLD CONTAMINATION CARPET TEST GUIDE CARPET STAIN DIAGNOSIS CARPET TEST GUIDE CRAWLSPACE MOLD DIRT FLOOR MOLD CONTAMINATION DO IT YOURSELF MOLD CLEANUP DO-IT-YOURSELF WARNINGS DRYWALL MOLD ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT OPTIONS FIBERGLASS INSULATION MOLD FIND MOLD in BUILDINGS, HOW TO CHOOSE SAMPLE POINT ESSENTIAL STEPS IN FINDING MOLD FLASHLIGHT HELPS FIND MOLD SAMPLE POINT CHOICES FOR MOLD TEST SAMPLING DRYWALL SAMPLING MISTAKES USE A FLASHLIGHT USING LIGHT TO FIND MOLD FLOODS & MOLD CLEAN/PREVENT HARMLESS BLACK MOLD HIDDEN MOLD, HOW TO FIND Hidden Mold Behind Paneling Hidden Mold Between Framing & Sheathing Hidden Mold in Flooring & Subflooring Hidden Mold in Wall Cavities Light colored toxic molds Moisture Gradients and Mold Other Places to Look for Hidden Mold Recognizing Cosmetic Mold Spotting Hard-to-See Mold Use a Flashlight to Find Mold Wall test cuts to spot hidden mold INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE INDOOR AIR QUALITY METHODS COMPARED INSULATION MOLD ITCHY FABRICS MEDIA BLASTING for Mold Removal MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD MOLD APPEARANCE - WHAT MOLD LOOKS LIKE Black Mold Brown Mold Green Mold Red Mold Yellow Mold White Mold Invisible Mold Meruliporia Mold Photographs Recognize Cosmetic Mold Recognize Harmless Black Mold Stuff that is Mistaken for Mold MOLD APPEARANCE - STUFF THAT IS NOT MOLD HARMLESS INDOOR PARTICLES Basketball Mold Syndrome - BBMS Black stains from soot/thermal tracking Black stains from animals Black cosmetic mold Efflorescence & brown deposits Efflorescence & white or brown deposits House dust Pollen Sprayed foam insulation White stuff that is not mold Wood sap MOLD ATLAS & PARTICLES INDEX MOLD BY MICROSCOPE MOLD CLASSES, HAZARD LEVELS MOLD CULTURES MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD MOLD CLEANUP with BLEACH MOLD CLEANUP - WOOD FRAMING & PLYWOOD MOLD CLEANUP HEALTH RISKS MOLD CLEANUP MISTAKES to AVOID MOLD DETECTION & INSPECTION GUIDE MOLD DOCTOR NEEDED? MOLD EXPERT, WHEN TO HIRE MOLD EXPOSURE RISK LEVELS MOLD EXPOSURE STANDARDS MOLD FREQUENCY in BUILDINGS MOLD GROWTH on SURFACES, GUIDE TO MOLD INSPECTORS & MOLD TESTERS MOLD KILLING GUIDE MOLD LEVEL REPORTS MOLD LEVELS IN BUILDINGS MOLD by MICROSCOPE MOLD ODORS, MUSTY SMELLS MOLD PREVENTION GUIDE MOLD RELATED ILLNESS MOLD REMEDIATION CLEARANCE INSPECTION MOLD SPRAYS, SEALANTS, PAINTS MOLD STANDARDS MOLD TEST KITS MOLD TEST KITS for DIY MOLD TESTS MOLD TEST PROCEDURES MOLD TEST REASONS MVOCs & MOLDY MUSTY ODORS ODORS & SMELLS DIAGNOSIS & CURE RENTERS & TENANTS GUIDE TO MOLD STUFF THAT IS NOT MOLD STAIN DIAGNOSIS & GUIDE TECHNICAL & LAB PROCEDURES THERMAL TRACKING TRAPPED MOLD BETWEEN WOOD SURFACES USING LIGHT TO FIND MOLD More Information InspectAPedia Blog - News Updates Air Conditioning & Heat Pumps Bookstore Electrical Environment Exteriors Heating Home Inspection Insulate Ventilate Interiors Mold Inspect/Test Plumbing Water Septic Roofing Structure Accuracy & Privacy Policies Contact Us |
This is a 'how to' photo and text primer on finding and testing for mold in buildings using simple clear adhesive tape on suspect or visibly moldy surfaces. This document 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. Also see HIDDEN MOLD, HOW TO FIND for a discussion of important but non-visible mold reservoirs, see MOLD GROWTH on SURFACES for an index of what mold genera/species are frequently found on various building surfaces and materials and see TRAPPED MOLD BETWEEN WOOD SURFACES for a discussion of the question of need to remove mold from mated building surfaces. This procedure helps identify the presence of or locate the probable sources of mold reservoirs in buildings, and helps decide which of these need more invasive, exhaustive inspection and testing. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. CHOOSE SAMPLE POINT: Choosing the Right Spot for Mold Testing - Where to Collect Tape Samples of SurfacesPeople collect surface samples of visible mold or of settled dust to be screened for mold testing using clear adhesive tape to identify a visible mold on a surface, to screen settled dust for mold/allergens, or to test the cleanliness of a surface after mold cleanup. Regardless of the reason, the adhesive tape mold test method can be very effective, in fact more reliable than spot checks of airborne particles (which vary widely minute by minute) and far more reliable than culture samples (which only grow a small percentage of all possible molds). But everything depends on the selection of the sample location - "where you stick the tape." This document explains where and where not to "stick the tape" when sampling for mold. Random mold samples, tape sampling of arbitrary surfaces, or sampling the obvious "black mold" when investigating a building are practices which increase the risk of a serious error - missing what's important and finding what's not very important. The result of these errors is the waste of time and money as well as the possible failure to find and address the real problem, leaving a health or cost risk in a Building to be handled again, and again, until it's addressed properly. Mold is everywhere. You can't eliminate it. If you could we'd all be in trouble as nothing would ever decay and we'd all be so buried in junk and debris that nothing could grow on the earth. But we don't much like to see mold indoors and certainly not on our walls, ceilings, or furniture. There we remove it or clean it off. This paper describes the detection of mold in buildings by visual inspection of mold-suspect surfaces. A thorough building investigation for problematic mold needs to address hidden mold reservoirs, for which our approach is to complete a detailed inspection and building (leak) history as well as to record occupant observations and complaints. Knowing what molds are likely to be present indoors on building surfaces or in building materials, what they look like, and what they like to eat, in other words, knowing some mycology, can make a significant difference in what a building inspection for mold actually turns up. See MOLD GROWTH on SURFACES for an index of what mold genera/species are frequently found on various building surfaces and materials. Most common mold testing errors: the difference between what molds are found in buildings and what molds commonly grow on various building surfaces is that most mold tests and mold reports involve samples collected by people who are not expert at recognizing and sampling mold in buildings. So easy-to-see molds are over-reported and hard-to-see molds are under-reported in many consumer-generated mold tests and samples. This reporting error also confounds attempts to correlate mold related illness and sick building complaints with specific genera or species of indoor mold. Simple "mold screening methods" which omit the inspection, and "test only" sampling methods, such as air and culture methods can produce very unreliable results when used quantitatively - as we discuss at IAQ Methods and at other articles at this website. ... Technical Reviewers & References
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
FIND MOLD in BUILDINGS, HOW TO More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs
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10/26/2009 - 04/01/2002 - InspectApedia.com/sickhouse/lookmold.htm - © 2009 - 1988 Copyright Daniel Friedman All Rights Reserved - InspectAPedia® is a Registered U.S. Trademark