Matt Kelly explains what the ERMI test actually measures: overall mold load and 36 specific species split into toxigenic and non-toxigenic groups. It tells you if your home has a mold problem, but it won't pinpoint where the mold is hiding. You still need a professional inspection to find and fix it.
How does an Ermie find my mold? If I'm using one Ermie on my whole house, on the upstairs of this two story main floor and basement, how does an Ermie tell me where the mold problem is? Because I want to remove it if there's a mold problem. That's a common question that comes up after talking about the Ermie. And it's a good question because we tend to simplify the process, which we want to because it's cheaper and easier if we can simplify this process. But the ERMI is not an inspector. An ERMI does not replace an inspection. And ERMI has a few individual purposes, very big purposes. The first one is to determine, is there a mold problem in my house? Yes or no? Okay. It is measuring the molds. It's measuring the total mold load on the home. Now, no test is perfect. This is by far the best test we have. But is there a mold problem in my home, yes or no? Remember, the ERMI is collecting dust from your whole house. Like 100 plus touch points. If you watch my video, you're going to test everywhere. You're going to test every room. Like my little office here. I'm going to test on the shelves. I'm going to test on the picture frames. I'm going to test on the window trim the door trim my sideboard, this cabinet, and then baseboard on each side. I've got 10, 15 touch points just in this room. Then you go to every room in your house. Right. But all that dust comes together to tell us, with a lot of data, is there a mold problem in my home? So the army's measuring 36 different molds. Group one has the most dangerous molds. Group two molds still have problem molds. Alternaria number one on group two, that causes respiratory issues, asthma in kids and adults, especially kids. Hippococcums in group two, you can have problems and infections with that. But we're focusing on Group 1 and the toxogenic molds in there, the toxinic molds that create mycotoxins. So the ERMI is saying, hey, what do I have in my home? If I do have problems, what are their concentrations? Do I have a lot of stachybotrys? That's a big problem. Okay, so the, the URMI is to figure out. Let me take sample from everywhere in the house. Are there high molds? Are those high molds? Toxigenic molds? I can make mycotoxins that create my body very. Make my body very sick. This is what the point of The ERMI is. Oh, yes. And the other advantage of the ERMI is that if you do this before an inspection, you can say to your inspector, hey, I have stachybotrys. I have a big stachybotrys problem. Can you find it? So now when your inspector comes and if he finds different sources and he can potentially swab them, there's a swab and find out what they are, can you locate that stachyform? If you know you have ketomium and, and neurological symptoms, you say to the inspector, I know I have quetmium in my house. It's affecting my health. Can you help me find it? There's a very big difference in inspectors. Ones just come in and do air quality tests, other ones cost a lot of money and do proper inspections and then everywhere in between. But the point of the ERMI isn't to locate. Even if you did one ERMI in every room, say you did the bathroom, say you did your en suite and you did an ERMI in there. And it comes up and says, okay, there's stachybotrys here, does that mean you rip out your shower? Does that mean you rip out your vanity? Is the mold behind it or under it? Is it behind the mirror? Is it under the toilet in that subfloor because of a slow leaking toilet? Is it behind the wall beside the shower? You know, it still doesn't tell you where inspection is still required. The ERMI does not replace an inspection. The ERMI is to find out, do you have a mold problem, do you have a toxigenic mold problem, what are those concentrations? And then you take that to the inspector to help them find it. And then after remediation in your small particle cleaning, you wait 90 days, you do another ERMI and then you can see how successful the remediation was and if your home still has a problem or not. So I hope that helps. I hope that clarifies a little bit. The ERMI is an amazing tool. The best mold test we have for the home for checking general mold levels, but it does not tell you where it is. It is not an inspection which still needs done. Hope that helps.
Do you have questions about mold in your home or body? Book a consultation with Matt, AKA the Mold man, to guide your home and body to the next level of healing.
