Do I have mold damage ?

That’s good question !

My name is Jeffrey Cohn and I’m the owner of SI Restoration. We are certified mold re mediators that remove mold damage. We get many calls a day asking the question, “ I think we have mold damage”. Or “ can you test if we have mold damage in our place?”

Before I answer that question, let me educate you on mold damage and what you’re options are to remove it. I do apologize but on our site for legal reasons, we can tell you what to look for if you have mold.

I can tell you that there are many types of mold, some that are good some that are bad.

To actually know whether you have “ bad” mold or unhealthy mold you need a licensed educated professional to test to see. As you search for answers, you will stumble upon may options. These are options are:

A. Mold Dog

B. Mold Remediators who test for mold

C. Mold Remediators ( yes there’s a difference )

D. Industrial Hygienist




Well let’s start off with my favorite, the mold dog. Yes, there is a mold dog and yes for the cheapest alternative, the mold dog will find mold. I have seen with my own eyes, the dog does find mold damage ( signs of mold ). The problem you will face after spending the money, is that you will still need to find out how much mold you have and what kind of mold it is. Think about, if the dog found blue cheese ( a kind of mold ) inside your walls that would be great. But blue cheese will not hurt you ( unless you don’t like blue cheese LOL ).

That brings us to another mold damage remover the mold remediator who tests for mold. The mold remediator hopefully certified, is trained to remove mold without spreading it through the house. The processes they use combine containment and negative air pressure. The major issue with these folks, is that they do both services. What’s the problem? Well if you were to build a building and then make the final inspection and say that your work was great, would that sound fair?

Of course not just like the student that tests himself and says he passed. The issue is that if you these companies to remove mold damage, you’ll never know if the work was done completely correct.

The third option is the same as the second, except that there is no testing. That is going to be your best option on many levels. To explain this process correctly let’s use an example:

Let’s say you have discovered mold damage and you hire a mold removal expert or remediator. Before the mold remediator comes in, they will tell you that the mold damage issue needs to be tested for what kind of mold it is and how many spores you have. You see it’s the mold spores ( like pollen in a flower ) that the mold colonies use to make more mold. If the count is to high, it is recommended that the mold be removed.

Now as you remember it’s not good for the mold damage removal company to test, because of incorrect testing and in case this is a legal matter, the court may not agree with the tester being the removal company.

So does one do ?

To protect all , it is wise to hire an Industrial Hygienist ( IH ). An IH has been trained and certified and is recognized in the legal system. There testing is more accurate because they really are scientist.

The IH does the testing, and if they find high mold spore counts, they will make mold damage removal tactics called a protocol list.

The mold remediator ( mold removal ) expert will follow these protocals to remove any mold damage that has been seen by the IH.

Once the mold removal is completed, the IH comes back and performs a clearance test. The clearance test is the final test to make sure the mold issue is contained. If the mold damage removal company is successful, then the mold removal project is successful.

Good luck in finding your solution to your mold problem


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