ERMI Cloth Test vs Air Quality Sampling For Mold Testing in Springfield Missouri

If you suspect that you might have a mold problem in your home, then you’re probably wondering what’s the best way to determine if it’s really something to be concerned about. There are a lot of options out there for mold testing with a wide range of prices.

The best thing you can do would be to call a licensed, insured, certified mold firm to send out a certified and qualified mold inspector. A visual mold inspection of every inch of your home from the bottom to the top is better than any kind of sampling you can do on your own. That being said, samples can still be helpful in assisting your mold inspector in assessing your particular mold situation.

But when it comes time for your mold inspector to decide what kind of test will be helpful for your inspection, the answer is going to be air quality sampling. As we’ve written about before, ERMI cloth tests are for research purposes only. They don’t help you assess a mold situation you are presently experiencing. And in all fairness, air quality sampling by itself without an inspection is only slightly helpful itself. But air quality sampling is still much more helpful than an ERMI cloth test for mold testing in Springfield Missouri.

Ultimately, if you don’t have a qualified inspector performing a mold inspection for you as well as taking samples, then you won’t be getting a clear assessment of what needs to be done. Sampling of any kind, on its own, is not the way to go. All sampling should coincide with a visual mold inspection, performed by a certified mold inspector.

But why is air quality sampling so much better than an ERMI cloth test? Because when taking air quality samples, you get results of what you are actually breathing in your home, right now. Not possibly finding mold on top of a door jamb from a previous mold problem that is no longer an issue.

So if your air sampling lab results come back extremely elevated and/or have toxic mold present, then you know that a mold mitigation of some kind needs to be performed to get those levels down to appropriate counts. Only air quality sampling can assist your mold inspector in determining a proper mold mitigation plan, if one is even necessary at all.

An ERMI cloth test can’t determine if a mitigation needs to be performed, or if you have moisture problems causing mold growth, or what steps would need to be taken to fix said problem. Only a combination of a mold inspection with air quality sampling will get you the accurate assessment you need.

So don’t waste your money performing an ERMI cloth test on your own, even if your doctor recommends that kind of mold testing. You are only going to be throwing your money away and delaying a resolution of the actual problem you are experiencing. Call the mold professionals at Dog Gone Mold to guide you on the correct path with proper mold testing.