Re: Re: Mold Test Kits- PRO LAB

[Guest guest]

I did my home tests with a testing kit from Home Depot called, Pro Lab also. I

did my testing with petri dishes included in the kit. I did not get the accurate

results I got from professional testing. Some of the test reports came back from

Pro Lab stating that I had " hyphae " , which is basically an unidentified mold

which is actively growing.

The air tests I had done by a professional came back with thousands of toxic

mold spores in the air alone! I heard that 400 toxic mold spores in the air is

usual for a mold infested room. After remediation work is done, subsequent air

tests should not show any toxic mold spores in the air space.

For more than a few reasons, home tests are not as accurate as a test done by

a professional, and home tests will not hold up in court.

barb1283 <barb1283@...> wrote:

I believe the mold test kits at Home Depot are from Pro Lab and I

used them for my home. I got reports back stating the amount of

colonies in each test and the name of the mold involved. It doesn't

get down to *which type* of aspergillus but it was say it is

aspergillus or cladosporum, etc and give a count. I found that they

worked fine. Test came back that mold was within normal limits in

home, but attic and porch were too high. The count in home I was

not happy with though. I have read to try to get count down to less

than 4 inside the home if you have sinus trouble. It is on sinus

website that has been posted here before, an allergist's opinion and

some solutions.

I then got a professional air quality person because one of the

bedrooms that the mold count was okay according to ProLab had an

odor so I didn't believe it was okay. Professional mold test turned

out good for my home, less than one or two I believe in suspect

bedroom, so I think odor is from attic, as there is a crack in

plaster wall and ceiling there due to old water leak around

chimney. Since attic mold count was high, probably mold problem is

in attic due to now repaired chimeny flashing leak but mold is still

growing just from high humidity in attic I cannot control. From

that mycotoxins or VOCs are getting down into bedroom due to crack

in ceiling so professional test did not show anything different than

the mold test kit from Home Depot.

I will say that humidity conditions in your home can affect test. I

would do the test with humidity in your home over 50% for day or two

before (if you can take that), so any mold that is there is active

and not dormant.

I read somewhere that home test kits can be too stale to be good but

the ones at Home Depot from Pro Lab come in liquid that is sealed in

tube. You make the culture dish yourself by pouring liquid into

dish, covering dish and waiting an hour for it to gel, then take lid

off and set it in room for an hour, then cover it again and follow

the directions that come with it from then. Perhaps if dish is

already made into gel and you buy it like that it could get

contaminated or stale but the Pro Lab culture plate is made by you

so I don't see how it could be stale. It grew mold fine for me-

unfortunately.

I heard someone else say they bought one from Home Depot and it

didn't grow any mold caught in an hour. Well it may be that no mold

fell into it in an hour. Allergist at that website that I don't

have handy says you should aim for a count of 0-4 in a room if you

suffer from sinus trouble, so zero is possible. It doesn't mean you

have no mold in house at all, it just means the count is very low at

that time so that none fell into the plate. I wish I could get that

count. I have old air-leaky house and there is always some mold

floating around in here.

--- In , Your Friend <yor1friend2@...>

wrote:

>

> A home test isn't going to show you much.. it will identify if

there's mold or not, but won't tell you what type of mold you have.

If you need to identify the type of mold you have, you'll have to

have a professional mold test done.

>

> I purchased a home test at Home Depot. I don't remember the name

of the brand. It may have been simply called " Home Test " .

>

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