The Importance of Inspecting for Mold When You Buy A New Home

If you’ve ever stayed at an older beach house, you’re likely familiar with the distinctive musty smell of damp and mold. However, not all homes with mold show their cards with nose-scrunching smells. Mold poses both health and structural hazards, which is why it’s important to have a mold inspection completed before purchasing a new home. 

Health issues

We’ll start with the obvious reason why you want to find out if a house is infested with mold, and that’s because mold exposure is often harmful to humans. Allergy sufferers and those with asthma or other related breathing problems are more susceptible to the effects of the often fuzzy culprit, which can cause a slew of respiratory problems. 

However, mold spores can cause even normally healthy individuals to experience a multitude of respiratory illnesses, including asthma, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and additional nose and throat irritation. Where there are damp spaces, mold is sure to follow.

Structural hazards

If you’ve ever seen a felled tree with wood rot, you know just how brittle and fragile it can be once damp and decay attack. The wood framing in your home is no different than that tree in the wild, as prolonged water exposure can severely compromise the structural integrity once decay and mold work their way in. 

In much the same way you’d treat a house with termite damage, homes with mold damage -- not always visible -- become hazardous as the frame and floors become brittle. If you’ve ever snuck into an abandoned old home, you may have revealed in the fact that you could see through the floor -- or maybe you even put your foot through the floor. What you experienced was the effect of damp, decay, mold, and wood rot; exactly what you’re trying to avoid by having a mold inspection carried out before purchasing a home.

Who to hire 

Sometimes you can work with the general home inspector or your realtor to find a trusted company. Whatever route you go, make sure you hire a certified and experienced mold and moisture detection specialist. 

When the mold inspector arrives, they’ll begin testing surfaces and sampling the air in the home. Air is tested with something called a spore trap, which contains a sticky surface to “catch” airborne mold spores and other particulates, which are later tested in a lab. Surface samples are taken several ways, including surface swabs, using tape to pick up samples from surfaces, and also physically removing sample pieces to be tested (carpeting, drywall, etc.).

While you may be reluctant to add another item to the long list of things you need to get done to purchase your new home, getting a mold inspection completed is extremely important. Because sellers are not required to disclose mold damage in all states, a mold inspection will save you from a potential headache down the road.