To many, the Indoor Environmental Professional may appear a very specialized occupation. While it does narrow down the scope somewhat, the truth is that this field encompasses many smaller disciplines and is even more specialized. For example one Environmental professional may have undergone a broad range of initial training including some microbiology but may choose to specialize in office ergonomics, repetitive motion disorders, asbestos and lead exposure, or many other areas while a person of the same general backgroung chooses to focus on mold. We made a conscious decision to focus specifically on mold and bacteria as they are fundamentally related to other water driven services we perform.
If you’re viewing this portion of the site, chances are you have concerns about microbial issues at your home or workplace. We hope you find this site informative regarding your needs as well as descriptive about the services we can offer to help you with your issues.
This may prove to be one of the most crucial decisions you make regarding the quality of your assessment. Unless a cause and exact area are known, the mold investigation is the portion of the assessment that determines where, if at all, mold samples are to be taken and determines the cause of the moisture.
Water indicators and suspicious construction, or defect, are often the basis for the mold sampling that either confirms or denies the presence of abnormal mold. Knowing this, a seller may want to simply test, to avoid finding more. A buyer on the other hand, would do well to insist on a thorough mold inspection. Simply sated, the mold investigation is what leads to detailed findings and to shortchange the mold investigation portion of a mold (microbial) assessment could ultimately lead to omitted mold sampling which could cause an issue to go unnoticed.
In our professional opinion, the moisture source of the mold is misdiagnosed 25% to 30% of the time and reports with multiple moisture sources are misdiagnosed closer to 60% of the time by mold companies rushing inspections.
In 2003 we were asked to review 50 files in various stages of litigation that had already been inspected by respected mold & microbial firms around the Houston area and paid by a lump sum or square foot cost. In every case, the principal was not materially involved in the mold investigation. Our findings were staggering. We reported significant omissions in every mold (microbial) inspection and in the many of the cases, the omissions amounted to a 50% or greater end value.
This drives the point, less or poor mold investigation equals false negatives and unestablished contamination and colonization limits within cavities.
To learn more about the different types of Mold Testing and Investigation, please see our Types of Testing page.
Professionals within the mold (microbial) and water damage industry agree that mold inspection is a multi-disciplinary field. The mold inspector should possess a thorough knowledge in the fields of:
This is not as true for the mold (microbial) assessment technician engaged primarily in mold (microbial) testing. Calibrating a pump and taking a sample is a relatively simple procedure and requires very little training.
Most would argue that some details are lost when the Inspector hands the field notes to the consultant and then the consultant to the assistant. Only the generic portions of our reports are processed by an assistant. The consultant performing the field investigation is always responsible for the production of technical portions of the report. We believe this ultimately has a major impact on the quality of the report through omission prevention and other accuracy issues.
Mr. Riddle has completed operations totaling into the billions of dollars on 1000s of projects and investigations.
Mr. Riddle is licensed by the State of Texas as both a Mold Assessment Consultant and a Mold Remediation Contractor. He also holds WRT, ASD, CCT, and FRT certifications from the IICRC. Darryl is also board certified by the American Indoor Air Quality Council as a Certified Microbial Consultant (CMC) and a Certified Microbial Remediation Supervisor (CMRS).
Mr. Riddle has been named as an expert on dozens of cases involving mold and has helped settle many more disputed cases. His services range from homes to schools, to factories, to businesses of all types.
Miss Nancy Valenton aids Mr. Riddle and performs screenings, and basic testing. Miss Valenton is a biology major licensed by the State of Texas as both a Mold Assessment Consultant and a Mold Remediation Contractor. She also holds WRT, ASD, CCT, and FRT certifications from the IICRC.
When you are choosing a mold (microbial) remediation firm and quality counts, ask who will be performing the inspection, not which name will appear on the report.
| Fungal Screening (incl. 2 air samples) | $375.00 |
| Fungal Screening extra samples | $85.00 each |
| Investigation added to screening or basic (allow ½ to 1 hour per issue) | Call for Quote |
| Consultation, testing, other hourly | Call for Quote |
| Basic Investigation and report with up to four samples | Call for Quote |
| Extensive investigation and report | Call for Quote |
| Samples for extensive investigation | $35.00 each |
| Labor burden for rushed 24hr report | Add 50% to labor |
| Sample add for same day processing | Add $25 per sample |
| Next day samples | Add $10 per sample |
| Cultured samples | Add $15.00 per sample |
| Expert Testimony | Call for Quote (travel point to point 50%) |
| Other items | Call for Quote |
