The Role of Mold Testing in Toronto for Post-Remediation Verification
When you’re finished with mold remediation at home, one the steps the MoldTech team recommends is to have follow-up mold testing in Toronto. Decades of experience with black mold removal and remediation have shown us that post-remediation verification is valuable on several fronts. In today’s article, we’ll share what we’ve learned about this topic and why we think you should consider this service.
What a Mold Test Detects
Mold isn’t always visible to the naked eye — in fact, most of the infestations MoldTech removes are hidden behind walls, under flooring, or behind unwieldy appliances or construction elements like insulation. Regardless of whether you’ve had a mold infestation or are concerned that there could be one, testing unearths hidden colonies and sees things the eyes often do not.
Mold reproduces via spores, which are very tiny one-celled reproductive cells that members of the fungi family use to grow and spread. It’s a much simpler version of a seed — one that can hitch a ride on clothes, fur, and through the air.
Mold testing detects spores in indoor air quality. When you have a mold infestation, the central infestation is constantly releasing new spores to help spread and colonize new areas. These minute spores can tell us a lot about what type of mold is present and how large the infestation is. Some types of mold produce mycotoxins that may travel with the spores, which is why prompt black mold removal is essential.
Why Are Spores Key?
The importance of testing for mold spores pre- or post-remediation can help identify key features about your mold problem. As mentioned above, testing before remediation can alert us to areas with high concentrations of spores, which can point us in the direction of a hidden colony. Spores can also make it easier to determine what type of mold we’re facing, which helps our team decide on remediation methods and strategies.
Immediately after your remediation, the MoldTech team will test for spores again. There’s nothing like the MoldTech clean, and we want to ensure that our HEPA filters and cleaning protocol have cleaned away every last spore.
Why Test After Remediation?
In the months following your remediation, we would like to recommend that our customers test again to ensure that the conditions that caused the original infestation have not reappeared. We can clean every last spore out of your home, but that won’t stop new spores from activating if similar growing conditions restart. One of the biggest problems with mold growth is that people remove the mold without dealing with the cause. If you have attic mold in Toronto and you simply remove the mold without fixing the roof leak, it won’t take long for a new infestation to spawn.
Testing post-remediation will let you know if your repairs and mold mitigation have worked and if there are further issues that need attention. Mold can be incredibly complex to solve, with multiple factors like age, material, moisture, humidity, and airflow affecting growth.
How Does Mold Testing Happen
Mold testing is a simple and generally non-invasive process. It’s a short visit, too — we won’t need to disrupt your routine, and we won’t leave a mess behind.
At MoldTech, we generally begin our testing with a complete visual inspection — this can tell us if there are any warning signs or symptoms of mold growth and direct us to priority areas. Next, we’ll take air samples and, if there’s visible mold growth, physical samples or scrapings. These samples are all sent to a third-party lab that returns a full report on the results, which we’ll help you understand. If there are further steps to take, we’ll help you sort them out, too, providing you with a range of options and suggestions based on the latest building code and best practices.
Full-Service Mold Testing and Remediation with MoldTech
At MoldTech, we pride ourselves on dedicated, full-service mold removal and mold testing. After over a decade in business, we have exceptional specialist knowledge of the intricacies of mold remediation in Toronto. We have helped thousands of people across the GTA eliminate mold in their homes. If you have questions about mold testing in Toronto or wish to know more about our other services, contact the team today.
