Re: Store bought mold test kits- work or not?

[Guest guest]

Hi Jill,

That's exactly what I did, and it did help our situation. I used the

Pro-labs mold test plates I got at Home Depot because I wasn't working (due

to being sick,) and couldn't afford testing. My landlord refused to pay for

the testing, so I had no where else to turn. I could see the mold in the

hole that I cut into the wall, because I felt moisture in the carpet, coming

from in between the walls. I used a swab to place the visual mold on the

plate and I placed another one in our air vent for awhile to catch air

samples. I sent both of them off to the lab, and while the results were

very vague (no counts or extra information) it did confirm that I had stachy

aspergillus, and about 10 other types of mold. That was all I needed to

take the results and light a fire under my landlords butt. When I had lab

printed proof of the type of mold, it was more fuel for me. They still

tried to refuse, but when I threatened to get a lawyer, they finally caved

and got a good hygienist to test it. When my full test results came back

from the environmental hygienist, I compared the results to the Pro-labs

report. They both did have the same types of mold. So the mold plates test

was correct, and it gave me a starting point to know what I was dealing with

BTW my counts of stachy and aspergillus were in the millions.

Obviously, not everyone is renting and can pass the ball to the landlord.

And you may not be able to rely on the store bought tests for everything,

but if you have little money and few resources, it can be helpful. I

honestly think that in our case, if I hadn't had the mold plates, I may not

have gotten the results at all. I would have probably had to go ahead and

sue my landlord to get any action, and I couldn't afford to do that either.

So I would have had to move out of the house, and they wouldn't let me back

in later to do testing if I didn't live there anymore. So I would have

probably never known exactly what I was exposed to. So it worked for us!

-- [] Fwd: Fw: SNiPER Information

Re the mold plates, I was going to run them to see if ANY stachy showed

up since if it did, than I'd know there was definitely a bigger stachy

[Guest guest]

Angie,

You did an excellent job with an appropriate way of using the

settling plates. You didn't try to make them absolute or definitive.

Rather, as initial evidence to try to convince the landlord to take

responsibility and do what was right.

This type of subtlety is hard to communicate in e-mails. If I

advocate sampling which is not accurate it will still be interpreted

as proof of the problem they are having. Even if mold isn't really

the issue.

You did an excellent job of convincing and sharing.

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

-----

>

> Hi Jill,

>

> That's exactly what I did, and it did help our situation. I used the

> Pro-labs mold test plates I got at Home Depot because I wasn't working (due

> to being sick,) and couldn't afford testing. My landlord refused to pay for

> the testing, so I had no where else to turn. I could see the mold in the

> hole that I cut into the wall, because I felt moisture in the carpet, coming

> from in between the walls. I used a swab to place the visual mold on the

> plate and I placed another one in our air vent for awhile to catch air

> samples. I sent both of them off to the lab, and while the results were

> very vague (no counts or extra information) it did confirm that I had stachy

> aspergillus, and about 10 other types of mold. That was all I needed to

> take the results and light a fire under my landlords butt. When I had lab

> printed proof of the type of mold, it was more fuel for me. They still

> tried to refuse, but when I threatened to get a lawyer, they finally caved

> and got a good hygienist to test it. When my full test results came back

> from the environmental hygienist, I compared the results to the Pro-labs

> report. They both did have the same types of mold. So the mold plates test

> was correct, and it gave me a starting point to know what I was dealing with

> BTW my counts of stachy and aspergillus were in the millions.

>

> Obviously, not everyone is renting and can pass the ball to the landlord.

> And you may not be able to rely on the store bought tests for everything,

> but if you have little money and few resources, it can be helpful. I

> honestly think that in our case, if I hadn't had the mold plates, I may not

> have gotten the results at all. I would have probably had to go ahead and

> sue my landlord to get any action, and I couldn't afford to do that either.

> So I would have had to move out of the house, and they wouldn't let me back

> in later to do testing if I didn't live there anymore. So I would have

> probably never known exactly what I was exposed to. So it worked for us!

>

> -- [] Fwd: Fw: SNiPER Information

>

> Re the mold plates, I was going to run them to see if ANY stachy showed

>

> up since if it did, than I'd know there was definitely a bigger stachy

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much Carl. I'll tell you the truth, I was actually interested

in seeing if you would be one of the people to respond to what I said. I

really respect the amount of knowledge you have and what you share with

everyone on this group. I think I have a good idea about how you feel about

the mold plates, so I was hoping that I did not come across as advocating

the plates as an end to the means, which they should not be. So it means a

lot to me for you to say that. I am always interested in what you have to

say, and you are right, it can be very difficult to explain things properly

and get across your true meaning and intent. But I think you do a good job.

Thank you.

Angie

-- Re: [] Store bought mold test kits- work or not?

Angie,

You did an excellent job with an appropriate way of using the

settling plates. You didn't try to make them absolute or definitive.

Rather, as initial evidence to try to convince the landlord to take

responsibility and do what was right.

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

What are you trying to accomplish with the mold test? Do you want the landlord

to fix the mold? He should. Yes, it's an expensive nuisance to fix the mold.

However, if the landlord wants people to pay him money to live in his building,

then he ought to fix it morally, if not legally.

 

Laws vary from state to state. However, our present legal system is beginning to

recognize that mold is a health hazard, and some states have put that into their

building and state codes. Check with your local Code Enforcement office for your

town or city.

 

When I spoke with a local code inspector, he said that mold kits did not hold up

in court because they were not placed in the building by technicians. That's why

you have to hire a company to do it, he said.

 

He also reminded me that there are thousands and thousands of mold species and

few are harmful. If my roommate and I hired a mold inspector and he found a

problem, THEN we could go to the landlord and ask him to do something. And if he

didn't, the inspector said, they would force him to do it by taking him to

court.

 

Hope that helps,

[Guest guest]

I have used the store bought mold kit to test the mold in my office at work. It

worked very well and I got results back in about a week. The kit I used was made

by Pro-Lab