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(877) 363-6653
Serving Orange, Riverside
and San Diego County
since 1990
Clearance/Post-Cleaning testing
is $349 for the first area
Mold Links
Clearance or post-cleaning testing is critical to ensuring that mold remediation has been successful.
Homes that pass our mold level clearance standards are issued a Bio-Clearance Certificate.
Clearance/Post-Cleaning Testing Protocol:
▪ Testing is conducted by a 48-Hour Certified Mold Inspector.
▪ Samples are taken from areas that have undergone mold remediation to confirm all traces have been removed.
▪ Price includes samples.
▪ A Bio-Clearance Certificate is issued upon verification that the area meets our mold level clearance standards.
Click here to order clearance or post-cleaning testing
or call (877) END MOLD
the inspection process
Clearance or post-cleaning testing begins by identifying the area (or areas) that have undergone remediation to remove previously discovered mold growth. The difference between clearance testing and post-cleaning testing is as follows: clearance testing is conducted when 48-Hour performed the initial inspection that led to the discovery of mold growth, while a post-cleaning inspection is conducted in remediation areas where we did not perform a prior mold inspection.
Our 48-Hour certified mold inspector will visually assess the remediation area to confirm that the work appears to have been satisfactorily completed. Our testing protocol requires two samples from within each remediation area plus one outdoor air sample for comparison purposes.
Our preference is to be able to conduct our testing in remediation areas that are still encapsulated. This means that the plastic sheeting used to isolate the area from the remainder of the property is still intact and that any building materials that were removed to expose the mold growth (carpeting, drywall, etc.) have not been replaced.
Sampling procedures
Our certified inspectors are qualified to take a variety of sample types depending upon the conditions observed that led to the recommendation that samples be obtained. Our protocol when conducting clearance or post-cleaning testing is to take at least one air sample.
The goal of air sampling is to compare the air quality indoors with that found outdoors. Molds are present in almost every environment, so our goal is to determine 1) if there are different molds found indoors compared to outdoors or 2) if the same molds are noted in both areas, whether the indoor levels are higher than the outdoor levels. Both of these scenarios would suggest that there is still mold within the remediation area, especially if the area is still encapsulated in plastic sheeting to isolate it from the remainder of the property.
If indoor air samples are taken, then an outdoor baseline air sample must also be obtained for comparative purposes. To obtain the air samples we use the Cyclex-D MegaLite Pump with mounted 3-30LPM Rotameter that pumps air at a steady, controlled rate through a Cyclex-D air cartridge. Samples are collected at respiration height - mouth level - which is why it is important to know if children live in the home.
The inspector will often take a swab sample of a surface in the remediation area that was cleaned of mold growth to confirm that all traces of mold have been removed. Other surface sampling methods include tape samples (in which tape is applied directly to the mold, causing the mold to stick to the tape) and bulk samples (in which a piece of the mold is actually removed from the surface on which it is growing), though these methods would be highly unusual for clearance or post-cleaning testing since we would not expect to find visible mold in an area that had just been remediated.
Carpet sampling is another testing method that can be used to evaluate effectiveness of the remediation work. If the carpeting was not removed as part of the remediation, it should have been vacuumed multiple times by the remediation company using specialized machinery to ensure that mold spores that may have landed between the carpet piles were removed. The same air pump used for air samples is utilized for taking carpet samples, though the air cartridge that gets sent to the laboratory is different.
Our inspectors use exacting chain-of-custody procedures to register any samples obtained and to ship them overnight to the laboratory for analysis.
Laboratory Analysis
The
laboratory we use is Aerotech
Laboratories, Inc., a full service indoor air quality testing facility
specializing in the analysis of mold, bacteria, allergens and chemical
testing. The laboratory is accredited through the American Association
for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) and the American Industrial Hygiene
Association’s (AIHA) Environmental Microbiology Laboratory Accreditation
Program (EMLAP) and Industrial Hygiene Laboratory Accreditation Program (IHLAP).
Aerotech’s BTOX division is also certified under the Clinical Laboratory
Improvement Amendments (CLIA) Program.
The laboratory generally needs 3 - 5 business days to complete their analysis and send us the results. However, faster turn-around times are possible for an additional charge.
the 48-hour Mold Inspection Report
In addition to containing the laboratory results, the clearance/post-cleaning test report issued by 48-Hour is a comprehensive document in excess of 30 pages on average, designed to address any and all issues and concerns that might result from the testing.
Our
report begins with the Summary of Findings. The first question every client
wants answered is whether the mold has been satisfactorily removed. Our
graphical, easy-to-read summary lets the reader know right away if the
remediation area passed or failed our mold level clearance standards.
The report goes on to provide some historical information about mold to give context to the findings.
The results of the inspector's findings are then presented. The conditions at the time of the inspection are carefully documented. The report contains all of the inspector's observations and recommendations, including photographs when possible, to help the client understand the results of the testing.
A glossary is included that provides
detailed information about all of the molds that may have been identified by the
laboratory. The letter detailing the laboratory's protocols, analytical
methodology and findings is also included. It should be
noted
that no government agency has published
"standards" on what level of molds are unsafe or unacceptable.
Therefore, our methods of interpreting the laboratory results is based on both
what is generally utilized in the mold inspection industry as well as the
protocols established by our certification provider; Environmental Solutions
Association.
Every report also comes with our exclusive Bio-Clearance Certificate. For properties that may later be offered for sale in which a prior mold problem must be disclosed, this certificate is ideal for showing prospective buyers that the remediation efforts were successful.
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