Two Companies Said Mold. The Testing Said No.
A pipe had leaked under this Las Vegas home and come up through the wood flooring, which was discovered mid way through replacing that flooring with tile. Four companies came out. Two of them quoted fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars to tent the house and remove the mold, without taking a single sample. We tested it. It was not mold.
This is the case study we point people to when they ask whether a second opinion is worth the phone call.
What the homeowner said
“I called 4 companies when I thought had a possible mold issue after having a leaking pipe under my house that came up under my wood flooring. Was in the process of replacing wood flooring with tile when it was discovered. Of the 4 companies that came out to inspect the potential mold, Mold Eliminators was by far the best, fairest, most honest. I was at my wits end with 2 companies telling me I most certainly had mold and to give them $1500-$2000 and they would tent it and remove it. Mind you, no swabs were taken or instruments used, this was all just by looking at it. And then there was Oliver, who came over a few hours after I called. He took one look and said ‘you are so lucky, you should go play the lottery’, this is NOT mold. He then confirmed with the cameras, etc. He checked again, and again nothing. I then called the tile company to tell them it’s not mold and they didn’t believe him, said they are NOT coming out to finish tile until ‘the mold is all cleaned up and gone’! So, Oliver came out again, the next day to help me. This time he did swabs, in several areas, once again, proving it was NOT mold and took pictures for the tile company.”
Maria R., Google review
Two quotes to remediate, given on visual inspection alone. One visit with instruments that found nothing, and a second visit the following day to take surface samples and produce documentation for a third party contractor who would not take a verbal answer.
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What we would do if you have been told you have mold
You are not expected to know whether the dark staining under your floor is mold. You are entitled to see how somebody reached that conclusion.
What else comes up when the answer is no
Not all dark staining is mold. Water staining, mineral deposits from our hard valley water, adhesive residue under old flooring, and general soil discoloration all look alarming under a lifted board. Under a camera and a swab they are not the same thing at all.
Somebody else may need convincing. This is the part people do not anticipate. Tile setters, flooring installers, realtors, property managers and buyers routinely refuse to move on a verbal all clear. Written, sampled documentation is what unblocks the trade that is standing in your kitchen refusing to work.
Under floor moisture in a slab home has a short list of causes. Las Vegas homes are slab on grade with no basement or crawlspace, so water coming up under flooring usually means a supply or drain line in or under the slab. Those signs are covered in our page on slab leak warning signs.
A tenting quote should raise your eyebrows. Tenting is a fumigation method associated with termites. It is not how mold remediation is performed under the S520 standard, which is containment, removal of affected material and verification.
The spread between quotes is information. When four companies look at the same house and two say thousands and two say nothing, that gap is telling you something. What drives it is explained in why mold remediation quotes are so different.
Sometimes it is mold, and small. A negative is not the only good outcome. Plenty of jobs come back positive but confined to a few square feet, where the honest answer is a limited scope rather than a whole house project.
The service this job used
Everything above is mold inspection work. No remediation was performed here, because none was warranted, and the deliverable was documentation proving that.
Our inspection is free for property owners and managers. If sampling is needed it goes to an independent laboratory, and you receive the result whichever way it comes back.
Been quoted for mold you are not sure you have?
Free on site inspection for property owners and managers. Instruments, independent lab sampling when it is warranted, and written findings you can hand to anyone. Since 1996.