Home mold test anyone?

[djc3317]

I realize this is a totally random post, but I figure maybe someone will have bought one of these things before or dealt with the subject...

My dog has gotten sick twice this summer since an issue with an air conditioning leak dripping out of the attic and through my ceiling. On Sunday, she really seemed to be on death's door and I woke up both Saturday and Sunday with a really sore throat that went away once I left the house. The dog, however, is pretty much inside the house close to 23/7.

Anyway, I became concerned about the air quality in the house. So much so that I took the dog to a hotel and stayed Sunday night and then Monday morning took her to the vet, where she stayed Monday and Tuesday nights while they tested her and treated her with antibiotics. Brought her home today and she's doing better, but still not 100 percent, and they didn't find anything too concerning except for a swollen lymph node in her neck that they want to check again on Monday.

So here's the question/issue: Has anyone dealt with mold in their homes or an issue such as this? The landlord came and checked the attic and said there is no mold where the leak occurred, but I went to Lowe's and bought a home mold detection test and it does have a couple of small white spores growing on the test petri dish. I'm supposed to seal it up and send it in for analysis now, but I was wondering if anyone has dealt with this kind of thing before. I read a little about mold in the home and it's nothing to play around with apparently. Kinda has me a bit concerned.

 

[User 1019]

Sorry. No help here.

 

[bigpern23]

No help here either, but I definitely thought the title read "Home molest anyone?"

 

[93Devil]

This would be a much easier answer if you owned the home.

Check the ducts the AC air flows through. See if that is an issue. Do you have a crawl space under the house?

There is a wet spot on the roof of one of your rooms? Am I reading that correctly?

 

[Buck]

The mold associated with toxic mold poisoning is stachybotris, and it would appear as a black spot.
Moisture in ventilation ducts is often seen as contributing factor for stachybotris.
What is needed is an air sample. Stachobotris has to be ariborne to be a health problem.

Also, mold-related illnesses and symptoms tend to be over-reported. I'm not saying toxic mold does not represent a health problem; I'm saying it tends to be overblown.

 

[93Devil]

Oh, and mold is everywhere.

 

[Stitch]

The Troubleshooter Tom Martino has said many times that you can never get mold out of a house.

 

[djc3317]

Thanks. One of the spots might have been black. it definitely wasn't white. Shipped the test to be analyzed today, so we should know results in a couple days.

I've wondered whether I was making too much out of it, but the dog getting so sick twice is particularly what has me kinda concerned.

The mold associated with toxic mold poisoning is stachybotris, and it would appear as a black spot.
Moisture in ventilation ducts is often seen as contributing factor for stachybotris.
What is needed is an air sample. Stachobotris has to be ariborne to be a health problem.

Also, mold-related illnesses and symptoms tend to be over-reported. I'm not saying toxic mold does not represent a health problem; I'm saying it tends to be overblown.

 

[Buck]

Got it. I misread the portion of your post about the white spores. Those are on the petri dish, not at moisture source.

The catch 22 with stachy is the airborne issue. You can do an indoor air test and come up clean. At that point, it's extremely unlikely that you are experiencing any health problems related to stachy.
However, you find a black spot. Test the material directly and get a positive for stachy. Now, even though it was not airborne or dangerous, you have to remove it. The removal is expensive and, perhaps ironically, it makes the mold airborne, increasing the health risk in the short-term.

 

[leo1]

93Devil is correct. Mold is everywhere. Everywhere.

I'm a lawyer and a lot of my cases are about property damage from mold. If your house is infested with mold, you're in big ****ing trouble. And don't hire someone to search for mold from the yellow pages. The guy with the ad in the yellow pages will bring a dog to search for mold. Seriously. And it's a ****ing joke. It's not a test that is validated by any legitimate scientific standards. If by chance you live in South Florida and want the name of a legitimate mold inspector (an actual scientist who will take air quality samples and analyze them in a lab) PM me and I can hook you up with my guy.

 

[93Devil]

93Devil is correct. Mold is everywhere. Everywhere.

I'm a lawyer and a lot of my cases are about property damage from mold. If your house is infested with mold, you're in big ****ing trouble. And don't hire someone to search for mold from the yellow pages. The guy with the ad in the yellow pages will bring a dog to search for mold. Seriously. And it's a ****ing joke. It's not a test that is validated by any legitimate scientific standards. If by chance you live in South Florida and want the name of a legitimate mold inspector (an actual scientist who will take air quality samples and analyze them in a lab) PM me and I can hook you up with my guy.

Where I work pays about a grand for a mold test.

Mold and asbestos are two words I never want to hear spoken.