Re: home depot mold analysis

[Guest guest]

From what I understand Dr. Lipsey charges close to 1,000 if not

more. Most can't afford this is our situation. I respect Dr. Lipsey

but most people without a lawyer can not afford him.

>

> I've been reading the posts on the Home Depot mold testing. Just

my opinion, but I would not recommend it if you want accuracy and

need it for proof of your exposure, especially if you are headed to

litigation.

>

> I highly recommend Dr. Lipsey and have used him myself.

If " do-it-yourself " testing really works, why did Dr. Lipsey spend 11

years in college to get the degree which qualifies him as an expert?

Any attorney I know would laugh if I wanted to prove I had mold and

DID NOT have a expert's report to back my claim.

>

> Again it's just my opinion, but if you think you have mold you

really do need an expert to come out and examine it and take

cultures. You need to know the specific types of species and the

count. You may find that you have mold, but actually have a higher

count outside than you do in your home. Mold is everywhere. All the

the factors need to be examined and asssessed.

>

> Armstrong - President Florida Chapter

> HomeOwners for Better Building (HOBB)

> www.hobb.org

>

>

[Guest guest]

I agree, but not everyone needs testing for the reasons you describe. I just

wanted to get an idea of IF I had mold, and what type it was. There is no need

for me to go to litigatoin because my landlords are being cooperative and

letting me transfer my lease. You can learn something from the tests, and since

it's relatively inexpensive I think it can be an acceptable way to start. I

didn't even send the last few culture plates in for testing, because to me I

found out what I needed from them.

There is nowhere in my apartment that we have visible mold, and the air analysis

and environmental testing services I called in my area were 2500 and up.

I think the culture plates are just a starting point and for some they can give

some answers. I am still awaiting the results of the culture plate I did send

in, because that one was highly suspect. It was a plate held up for ten minutes

to my air conditioner. The mold was all the same, was black colored and grew

very quickly, within less than 24 hours.

For the other culture plates I did, we did one outside, one in the new apartment

and one in the old all simultaneously. They took longer to grow, and when they

did the outside plate had about three times as much as the others, and they all

had a few different types of mold on them, none of which were black. None that

only black mold is dangerous, but they seemed to mimic more natural air than an

actual mold problem, and since the outdoor one was much worse, we didn't not

send them out for testing. Sure I'm not a scientist but since we can't see any

mold anywhere this seems to make sense to me. If we could afford the

environmental testing I might do it but we simply can't.

Certainly if one needed proof for litigation the Home Depot tests will not do.

But we are lucky that our landlords are responsive and cooperative. They could

not find any mold here, neither could we (except as I stated in our own air

conditioner possibly) but they are letting us move anyway.

Lori

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

This is an ongoing issue, dispute over using

these plates. Not every post is read so I will

repeat, I use them since I am only interested in

a count of mold to see how moldy house is to

check progress in remediation. I am not going to

court. I'm not looking to sue anyone or get lay

any blame on anyone. Some people, like myself,

are just cleaning up their own homes. In this

case, house has been in the family since it was

new in 1946, so noone to sue. It has held up

well but problems develope over that many years.

I'd have to literally DIG UP a relative to sue

them.

Also I DID have professional testing that backed

up the results I got from Home Depot, not exact

count or exact type, even professional testing

from one day to the next would be different, but

professional testing backed up general condition

of house and location of areas that needed

remediation. There was no difference in the 'big

picture' of condition of home but huge difference

in the cost. It depends on if you are going to

court or not. That's about the only difference I

can find, or if you are looking for 'toxins'. I

haven't any experience with testing materials in

home for toxins (yet).

Just because something is inexpensive, doesn't

mean it is unreliable.

--- Armstrong <hobbflorida@...>

wrote:

> I've been reading the posts on the Home Depot

> mold testing. Just my opinion, but I would not

> recommend it if you want accuracy and need it

> for proof of your exposure, especially if you

> are headed to litigation.

>

> I highly recommend Dr. Lipsey and have

> used him myself. If " do-it-yourself " testing

> really works, why did Dr. Lipsey spend 11 years

> in college to get the degree which qualifies

> him as an expert? Any attorney I know would

> laugh if I wanted to prove I had mold and DID

> NOT have a expert's report to back my claim.

>

> Again it's just my opinion, but if you think

> you have mold you really do need an expert to

> come out and examine it and take cultures. You

> need to know the specific types of species and

> the count. You may find that you have mold,

> but actually have a higher count outside than

> you do in your home. Mold is everywhere. All

> the the factors need to be examined and

> asssessed.

>

> Armstrong - President Florida Chapter

> HomeOwners for Better Building (HOBB)

> www.hobb.org

>