mold spores and skin cells
Every year LCS Laboratory helps hundreds of families in Canada to complete air testing of their homes. In this article we explain how to plan for mold sampling.
1. Things to consider.
There are no governmental guidelines or a laws that tell you what is a “safe” level of mold in your home. Therefore, all results that you collect should be compared against samples from a place that you believe is “clean”. We have collected and published the typical level of mold in water damaged houses. They can be found in our article on mold in residential air
Please note, that mold is a natural micro-organism. It is normal to have some mold in the air of any residential house or apartment. At the same time, it is never a good sign when mold grows in your home.
2. How difficult is to take a sample?
High Flow pump for mold spores sampling
It is not difficult at all, and it only takes about 10 minutes per room. Anybody can do it. Please check our sampling procedure here.
3. Is it expensive?
You will need to rent equipment from us ($40) plus $35 per every room that you want to test (rate of 2018). Thererfore, if you want to test 3 rooms and take one reference sample elsewhere, the total cost will be around $180 CAD plus shipping. Please email us with your sampling plan, and we will reply with a detailed quote.
4. How do I prepare my house for testing?
Please keep your windows closed for a few days. This will minimize effect of outdoor mold in the sample.
5. Where should I collect the samples from?
We would recommend considering the following locations for sampling:
- Rooms with a potential for water damage: rooms where you see mold stains; where you suspect water leak or condensation; or a room where you sense a musty smell
- Rooms where family members with mold allergies feel sick (bedrooms, basement, and so on)
- A reference “clean” room where the family member does not experience allergy symptoms
- An outdoor sample, as a reference of what is a typical mold level in your area. Note, you do not need an outdoor sample in a winter time, since there is virtually no mold in the air.
6. How to order an air sampling kit
For example, if you want to collect air samples for mold in 3 rooms and 1 sample outside of the house. Please visit our online order center and select 4 samples. You will be asked to provide your shipping address and pay for the order. Once the invoice is paid, we will calibrate the equipment and send it to you.
You will need to collect the samples, and return the kit to our lab for testing.
Please let us know if you’d like to order mold kit or perform any other tests.
