Charlie:
Paul in the energy corridor writes to us this morning. He says, “My daughter’s doctor said that he recently had a patient who had a mold problem in their house that contributed to serious medical problems.” It can.
Tom:
Yeah, it sure can.
Charlie:
It certainly can. “Her doctor is recommending to all his patients that they get their houses checked out for mold. He recommended two do-it-yourself approaches.” Being that this is a do-it-yourself kind of show, he wants to know which one is the right one.
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Tom:
Okay.
Charlie:
One is some sort of collection device that attaches to the air conditioning air return and the device is subsequently sent to a lab for analysis on types and quantities of mold spores.
Tom:
That’s not really a do-it-yourself, but I can comment on that. That’s how it should be done. If you contact a lab they will send you devices to put around your home, not necessarily on the register itself. After a certain amount of time, they would like you to put some on the inside and the outside of the home. The mold measured on the outside is comparable to the one on the inside. You send it back to them, then they do their research on it. What happens is if you have more mold inside at any one time than outside then you could have a potential problem, so that’s how they check it. I wouldn’t really call that do-it-yourself cause it still has to go through the research lab.
Charlie:
Then, you really like the second approach.
Tom:
Yes.
Charlie:
The second one is a smartphone app.
Tom:
That’s absolutely the way to go.
Charlie:
That’s the way to go.
Tom:
I like that you can just ask your nest thermostat, it’ll tell you.
Charlie:
It not only helps you find mold but Pokemon too.
Tom:
Yes.
Charlie:
It says the smartphone app turns the phone into an infrared camera to detect where the mold or moisture might be behind.
Tom:
Infrared cameras don’t test for mold.
Charlie:
Wait, it gets better.
Tom:
Okay.
Charlie:
It detects where mold or moisture might be behind the walls. It’s not just an infrared, it’s an x-ray infrared camera. What part of this …
Tom:
First off, let me comment on infrared cameras. They are used for moisture detection.
Charlie:
Sure.
Tom:
They are not, everybody buys one and thinks they’re a mold expert.
Charlie:
Right.
Tom:
In Houston, you can point at your forehead and get a mold reading. I mean it is really wet sometimes out there.
Charlie:
That would explain some things with my teenagers.
Tom:
It is really not a good device. It is only something that will spark your interest into researching more into that area, but it is not an end all. We’ve used them in different examples when we teach our students this at HCC, but it is not something that says, “there’s mold, there’s mold”. In fact, it’s not gonna find mold. It only finds moisture. It has nothing to do with mold. The doctor is wrong.
Charlie:
Like every good story, this one has a turn.
Tom:
Okay, go ahead.
Charlie:
Paul continues, “However, we haven’t seen” … By the way, Tom says that about infrared and I’ll tell you this about apps. Give me a break. Don’t do that.
Tom:
I asked somebody what an app was, he said “it’s an application”.
Charlie:
The app idea. That’s from the United States of don’t do that stupid thing.
Tom:
Isn’t that like a Candy Crush app. That’s exactly right.
Charlie:
Anyways, he says, “We haven’t seen any sign of mold or moldy smell or visible mold in the house. We have a good roof and hearty siding put on by one of our home show pros with no leaks. What is your recommendation on detecting mold?” You say?
Tom:
First off, I don’t think you have a mold problem, but if you feel you do, call Nova testing in Conro, Texas. Doctor Paul Pierce, he’s always been my go to guy. They’re one of the leading researchers in the United States. They’re called in when people have severe mold problems and they’re pretty sure of it. He will send you a kit and he will test and chances are everything is going to be fine.
If you look at the real mold problem that was discovered in Cincinnati decades ago, it was in a low income housing that they had let the building go and the baby started spitting up blood and they were having brain hemorrhaging from the mold. That’s how this whole mold issue started. Then there was a lady in Austin that had some severe problems too. The bottom line is if you have mold sickness, you’re gonna know it. It’s pretty bad.
Charlie:
The fact that you recommend Nova testing is important because it goes to what we talk about Homeshow Pros. They’re not even a paid sponsor of the show. They’re somebody we just trust and we consider them a Homeshow Pro because they’re work.
Tom:
Absolutely, in many cases it’s just make you feel better because you find out that’s not the issue.