Matt Kelly explains how to verify mold is actually gone after remediation. ERMI testing detects residual mold DNA from past growth, and targeted surface swabs of previously contaminated areas give the clearest answer. Covering mold with insulation instead of removing it leaves contamination that can come back.
All right, Leanne has an interesting situation here. And she says, we found mold behind an uninsulated electrical panel my friend remediated without proper procedure and insulated behind. I do feel better since it's out, but still wondering what is the best test to verify that it's gone completely. I know the ERMI will detect previous mold, so would a swab or tape test be better? Will it work even though it's gone? The drywall and wood or dry concrete and foam? All right, so this happens a lot. In fact, I was just dropping off a homeopathic remedy to a person yesterday, and while I was there, he wants me to take a look at his basement. And he's super nice guy, I can't say no. And I look at his basement and you can see it's, you know, way over 100 years old. You can see there's been water damage, but it doesn't smell bad. You don't see active growth, but it needs work. And he told me that he had a friend that was going to come and insulate it all for $3,000. And it was clear that this person wasn't going to clean anything first. He was just going to cover it with insulation and it would disappear and there wouldn't be anything to worry about. And sadly, this is what happens. And it's not because people are trying to do anything wrong. They just don't know. And nobody knows because nobody's taught anything about mold toxicity and about proper mold remediation. Very few companies know how to do it right. And when people DIY or someone comes, a friend comes over to help, it can often end up making things worse or just perpetuating a problem that it goes down, but then it comes back later. And I think that's what you might run into here. I'm not sure you said they remediated, but you do feel better since it's out even though they didn't do it right. So number one, I'm glad you feel better because what did, what did they do? They at least lowered the toxic level of the home. If you feel better sometimes if something's cut out, like a walls open that's full of mold and someone tries to help, you know, a friend comes over, tries to help, it can release, you know, open Pandora's box and everything comes out, it makes it worse. But if this was already a somewhat open area and they remove the problem and you feel better, that's a win. Did they, if they didn't do it right, could it come back later? Absolutely. So you were going the exact right place with your question. The ERMI could detect if you didn't do a fine particle cleaning on the whole house. You did an ermie. You could be picking up the spores and fragments and therefore DNA from past mold that those colonies could be removed now. So it would be doing a swab. I have some swabs from immunolytic sitting down there. I should have grabbed them. You can do swab or tape test. So you would have to actually remove that insulation they put in and look to see wherever the previous mold growth was. And you're going to do tape or swab there, sent into the lab and it'll tell you if there's mold on it and what species it is. So it's kind of the balls in your court if you want to, you know, open it up again and do any further treatment on it. Could it come back later? It's possible. Could it be fine? It's possible too, without seeing it, you know, we don't know. But if you're feeling better, that's the main thing. You lowered the toxic level in the home and if you're feeling better, that's a win. So anyway, that doesn't give you a clear answer, but I hope it helps a little bit.
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.
