Inspecting Your Home for Mold with Brian Karr: Part 2

Join us for Part 2 of our conversation with Brian Karr! 

In this episode, we discuss three different types of inspectors and how your typical inspection is likely missing several important steps and giving you a false sense of security! 

This is a MUST watch before hiring anyone to inspect your home for mold and water damage!

  • In Part 1 we discussed the importance of the history of the home and the 5 signs of hidden mold growth. Now that we know what we are looking for, can you tell us HOW you go about inspecting the house and WHERE you look? What tools or testing assist you? (1:43)
    • Inspector #1 who relies only air testing and why this often gives a false sense of security (2:21)
    • Statistics 1: 70% of the time an air sample was take more than a few feet from a known mold source, the air sample turned up a false negative saying there was no mold (2:21)
    • Inspector #2 who makes it seem like they are doing a lot by hard selling you their reliance on tools like a moisture meter or thermal imaging camera (4:58)
    • Statistic 2: 80% of the time they did a wall cavity testing next to a DRY water stain, it showed a hidden mold problem behind the wall. (7:10)
    • The two goals of your inspection (8:48)
    • Inspector #3 takes a multipronged approach. Understanding the three levels of your home and how contamination moves through the house (9:06)
    • Why testing helps you validate your next steps (13:27)
  • What are some additional things you need to be listening to when you vet someone to inspect your home (16:15)
    • Ask about their process (16:40)
    • Ask about the length of a typical inspection (17:10)
    • Ask how they determine where the source(s) is/are (18:05)
    • Ask how they test the heating and air systems and more! (18:40)