• July 07, 2024

How Much does a Mold Inspection Cost?

A mold inspection will typically cost a similar amount as a home or building inspection. They take a little less time to complete but have additional costs involved due to mold testing. National average is around $300 to $1000 for an independent mold inspection. The higher end of that is typically reserved for larger properties and/or extensive testing. Keep in mind commercial properties with multiple rooms, units or significant amount of square feet can be much higher than that.

Some companies charge based on the square footage of the property. MI&T prefers a more standardized breakdown that can be seen below:

Inspection Fee:

• Residential: $400-450 (Location Dependent) includes inspection, reports, and 2 Mold Tests (1 Control, 1 Inside)
• Commercial (Isolated Area): $400-500 includes inspection, reports, and 2 Mold Tests (1 / 1)
• Commercial (Entire Building): $500-650 includes inspection, reports, and 2 Mold Tests (1 /1)
• Each additional sample is $75-100
• Location Dependent
• Additional Trip Fee if Outside of Normal Service Radius

Inspector does a full visual inspection of the property. This includes areas of concern and general areas that typically have mold growth.

We inspect:

• All interior walls with a Moisture Meter and/or Thermal Imaging Camera to identify areas more likely to have hidden mold.

•  All closets, under sinks, under stairs, around windows/doors, or any areas where water is present. (Bathrooms, Utility Rooms, Kitchens, ETC)

After the full visual inspection of the property, a testing plan is suggested to the client. Our inspectors must suggest any sample that could be beneficial to you the client. It is then your decision to decide what is most important to your situation and what you would like collected and submitted for analysis. It is not uncommon for more samples to be suggested than submitted. We must do things in this way to avoid problems with a client figuring out they needed a sample that was NOT submitted; legal matters that need as much evidence as possible for example. 

Types of samples:

• Air Quality Sample – This is collected via an air pump and spore trap. Our traps collect 75 Cubic Liters of air and identify any mold spores present in the air. All homes have some levels of mold in the air, these samples determine if the airborne levels in the client’s home are normal or have elevated levels. We can collect these from any rooms/areas of concern, and we base them off an outside control sample.

•  Cavity Sample – This is collected with the same air pump, but with a tube connected to the end of the spore trap to allow a sample to be collected from within walls. These are collected whenever a wall shows signs of visual damage or if a wall has high moisture content. These tell us whether elevated conditions exist behind inaccessible walls to determine if removal is necessary.

•   Surface Sample – Surface samples can be taken of any visual discoloration or growth that is observed. We can do this by using a medical swab or tape lift. These will identify the species of any observed growth. This often helps when determining the source of any airborne levels.

The samples collected identify any mold types of present. Air samples give exact spore counts and concentrations. Surface samples identify the mold species and growth concentration. We always start with an outside air sample that serves as a control that sets baseline numbers for what is normal and acceptable. It is then compared to an inside sample from the area of greatest concern. This will basically let us know whether elevated conditions exist or not.

After samples have been collected, they are then sent to a third-party laboratory for analysis. Standard turnaround time is 3 business days but results are available the next business day at an additional cost of $25 per sample. Once the results have been reviewed, a full protocol of any required work is then created. This report tells you what samples were taken, what exact species and concentration were found, and what the next steps would be. All samples collected are accompanied by a photo for identification purposes.

If elevated conditions are not found to exist, a general findings report is provided stating the collected samples and that elevated mold conditions were not found to exist.

How Much Does Mold Testing Cost and How Many Samples Should I Get?

How much all your mold testing costs will be dependent on a number of circumstances. Primarily the size of the property, how many areas are impacted, whether there are multiple sources and of course your budget. You may look at spending money on mold testing as expensive, but most of the time you a spending more money up front to save money in the long run.

After the initial 2 samples, you can expect to be recommended 1-2 additional samples per problem area. The basic idea of our testing protocol is to determine the following…

1. Is there a problem?
2. What is the source of the problem?
3. How far has it spread?

Our inspectors will do their best to get the most amount of information from the least number of tests. At the same time, it is important to understand how each situation can affect the price. If you have multiple problem areas, you will need testing in each of those areas to get specific advice for removal. If a mold remediation company does not know exactly what needs to be done based off testing, chances are they will go overboard. You are spending extra money to ensure no unnecessary work is performed.

Regardless of the size of a building or any other factors, we only recommend samples that can be beneficial to you. For example, if it is obvious to our technician that an area has been unaffected by a problem in another area they will not recommend a sample be collected. Our goal is to get as much information as we need to create the most detailed protocol for professional mold removal with the least number of tests as possible.

Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to schedule an inspection, our phone number is 855-600-6653.