Spotting Signs of Mold

Look especially for black, grey-brown, grey-green, or pink mold areas. Pull back rippled, water-damaged wallpaper or wallboard paper to look at what molds may be underneath. Stop and call Mold Eliminators for a free consultation if you discover mold.

Suppose ducts are suspect; dab some tape into their interiors to sample the materials adhering to their surfaces. When you find suspected mold growth, impress it onto sticky tape (cellulose-acetate, e.g., Scotch brand) and examine it under the microscope.

Under the microscope, make sure you see conspicuous dark conidial types and less conspicuous hyaline conidia, especially small, roundish conidia in chains, signifying the presence of Penicillium or Aspergillus.

Look also for arthropods, their exoskeletal fragments, and their fecal pellets. Fungivorous (fungus-eating) mite pellets are rounded and usually full of conidia.

Booklouse, beetle, and millipede feces, at least when found in mold infestations, resemble short, broken cylindrical columns composed of masses of conidia. Sometimes arthropod pellets contain interesting mold elements not seen directly on the material sampled.

If there are continued complaints and mustiness, but no mold is found, consider whether or not there are any clues to where hidden mold may be.

If building occupants remember a substantial leak or flood (or similar incident, e.g., fire extinguished with water) in a particular area, consider inspecting the wall, ceiling, or floor interior at that place. The exterior of the damaged area may have been superficially repaired, leaving all the internal problems intact.

You have three options: call a certified industrial hygienist,  contact Mold Eliminators, or perform a more profound investigation yourself. If you plan to open a wall, wear gloves, eye protection, and a respirator that has been fit and tested by a professional.

Take out a ceiling tile or cut a 4- to 8-inch inspection port into the suspect area. The same may be done in areas where wallboard or ceiling tiles have become watermarked, but the exterior is not moldy.

The interior space, which forms a secret humid chamber facilitating fungal proliferation and a conduit for leaks, is far more likely to be moldy than the exposed exterior.

There is plenty of airflow between walls, ceiling and floor interiors, and the inhabited parts of rooms, especially at the joints. As a result, molds inside structural interior spaces are frequently sources of problems for building occupants.

If there is no vital clue as to where mold may be, this is the best time to try air sampling, performed by a certified industrial hygienist. Analyze culture plates or strips compared to an outdoor air control to determine if the building has an unusual mold buildup.

If there is, look up the mold’s general habitat characters in a reference work such as the Compendium of Soil Fungi.

Use the information given to determine what indoor microhabitat you will find the mold growing in.

It is best to use a medium such as DG18 (dichloro 18% glycerol) that is both osmotolerant fungi (drought-tolerating fungi such as Aspergillus glaucus) and mesophilic fungi (fungi such as Stachybotrys requiring high moisture levels) are known to grow on. In addition to viable air sampling, non-viable air sampling may be used (e.g., Rotarod).

It will detect significant dead elements such as effete Stachybotrys conidia. An alternative to this non-viable air sampling is direct microscopy of settled dust, e.g., from shelf surfaces. Dust from floors frequently walked on with shod feet may be difficult to analyze because of the deposits of outdoor mold spores.

Signs of Mold in the House

Below are some common signs to watch out for that could indicate you have mold growing in your house.

Allergic Symptoms from Mold

If you are having a problem with allergies, then there’s a good chance mold could grow somewhere in your home. Common allergic reactions to mold include sneezing, sore eyes, and a runny nose or nasal congestion.

Do you notice your allergic reactions are worse when you’re at home, but you feel better when you go out? If so, then it’s incredibly likely you could have mold.

If you find that your allergies are worse in some other building, like your workplace, then there could be mold growing there instead.

Smelling a Mold Odor

When you have mold growing hidden away in your house, a moldy smell might be the only clue that it’s there. Don’t ignore mold odors if you can’t see any mold. You should thoroughly inspect your home before any mold problems get worse.

Seeing Signs of Mold Growth

Visible mold growth might seem like an obvious sign of mold. However, many people don’t notice small amounts of mold growth or think it’s just soot or dirt. Sometimes people ignore visible mold in their house.

If you can see mold growth, even if it’s only small, you should take action immediately. Small mold patches can spread, and the fact that there is any mold shows that the conditions in your home are suitable for mold to grow.

If you don’t take care of mold, it will soon become a bigger problem. Visible mold growth could also be a sign that there is a much larger mold colony growing hidden away from view.

Sometimes you might not realize there is mold in your house, especially if it is unusual-looking mold. Some mold growth looks white and thread-like. Another mold appears as clusters of small black spots.

Mold can be black, gray-brown, gray-green, or white. Mold growing behind vinyl wallpaper can appear orange, pink, or purple.

Tips on Mold Safety