Most people know what mold looks like, we’ve seen it growing on food long expired in our fridge. However, for the average person, determining if mold is in fact Black Mold (stachybotrys chartarum) by your eyes alone is not easy. For a professional mold expert, it is easier to identify a mold as stachybotrys because of its distinguishable MOLD appearance in its mature state. A slow-growing mold, Black Mold can be thick in context and black in color. Yet, if you do not know the various types of mold, it may not necessarily look much different from other mold species, which are black in nature. The only way for us to say with certainty that a specific mold is, in fact, black mold, is for us to take a swab sample for confirmation.
Using a qualified and experienced professional mold inspector that has been trained to know all of the places where black mold grows and has the knowledge and background to find all instances of mold is important. The inspector should be testing for all mold variants, not only for Stachybotrys specifically. An experienced Mold Inspector knows black mold is not easily airborne unless it becomes disturbed, which is why surface sampling (not just air sampling) should be done when visible growth is present, to ascertain whether Black Mold it is present. Using a swab sample is the only way to confirm for sure that Black Mold is present. When Black Mold has not yet become airborne, some mold remediation costs can be saved by containing the work area and avoiding the use of the costlier equipment. H.N.S.T. suggests you have mold testing performed after remediation to ensure the mold problem was handled properly and the indoor environment is in its normal state.
Preparing For Mold Inspection