Last week, we discussed the danger of jumping into a home purchase – even a new one – without properly educating yourself on the building’s condition. We recommended talking to previous tenants and hiring experts like a mold inspection company to ensure you’re not buying damaged goods.

But the pitfalls of buying a home go further than that. Sometimes, even a home inspection won’t protect you from disaster. The growing problem today is that too many inspectors commit to “non-invasive” jobs.

So what would qualify as a non-invasive inspection job? Traditionally, it’s a money-saving tactic for a new or prospective home owner. That person doesn’t want his or her home to suffer the inconvenience or damage of, say, drilling into drywall or tearing up carpet to look for toxic mold, as it could be expensive. Also, with the market for homes hot, people don’t want to wait the precious extra days or weeks that could be caused by an invasive inspection.

What those people don’t realize, however, is that they’re costing themselves more money by not being thorough. You may think you’re saving money by avoiding an inspection or having a second-rate inspector quickly gloss over your new home, but the cost of fixing major mold damage later is far greater.

It’s worth spending the extra money and time in the short term to have a mold inspection company check your entire home, leaving no stone unturned. Better yet, if you hire the right type of company, a trusted group of experts, the job won’t even be as inconvenient. A good mold testing company will do the job without causing too much damage, will repair any damage caused and will offer warranties on all work.

If you’re lazy with your new home, you’ll pay for it eventually. Be diligent about your mold inspection.

MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free buildings, condominiums, homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and Global TV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a quote at (416) 575-6111.

Toxic mold is becoming a Canada-wide epidemic, particularly in schools, and Prince Edward Island is the latest province to be hit hard.

Recent mold inspections found mold and moisture at 15 different P.E.I. schools. Three of the schools have major problems. Overall, the provincial government will commit $17.4 million in repairs to eliminate the mold.

Education Minister Doug Currie first ordered the province-wide mold inspection after toxic mold was discovered at Elm Street Elementary School. After the mold detection process, it appears no school is more afflicted than Spring Park Elementary School. The moisture and mold growth are so bad that the school has to be totally replaced at the cost of $11.5 million.

“In the case of Spring Park, the building is simply beyond repair,” Currie explained. “A mere renovation would represent nothing more than a Band-Aid solution.”

The case of P.E.I.’s schools is an important reminder to other Canadian regions such as the Greater Toronto Area. If left undetected, mold can take over important buildings like schools. It’s a major cause of youth respiratory problems such as asthma.

Whether you’re a school employee or not, consider talking to your local principal about the possibility of mold testing. The cost of repairs will greatly decrease if it’s detected soon enough. Even if mold hasn’t grown yet, a mold testing company may find moist conditions (say, in a basement) that will foster mold growth if not treated soon enough.

Think of Canadian youth. Follow the example set by P.E.I and get toxic mold out of our schools!

MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.

An alarming study, discussed in the Montreal Gazette, highlights how real of a threat toxic mold is to inhabitants of major Canadian cities.

More specifically, Montreal’s children are being affected. A public health study revealed that 1 in 4 Montreal kids suffer from lung disease. The main culprit: excessive moisture and the mold caused by it.

Here we see a direct quantification of the consequences of not undergoing proper mold testing. It’s not just that the threat is being ignored; it’s that the conditions of housing in Montreal are facilitating its growth.

Far too many homes lack regular maintenance; their commonly flat roof construction takes on too much water and the humid, moist conditions lead to mold growth. Of the Montreal children aged 6 months to 12 years, roughly a third of them live in homes with excessive humidity and mold. Lois Jacques, health department physician and principal investigator, cites mold as the top risk factor for respiratory illness.

According to researchers, mold is responsible for 26 per cent of respiratory infections, 17 per cent of asthma and 14 per cent of allergic rhinitis.

So how does Montreal – and any other major municipality suffering from a mold epidemic – address the problem? The long-term solution is for the government to put more money into improving affordable housing so that it doesn’t take on moisture. By doing so, mold can’t grow in the first place.

The shorter-term and perhaps more feasible solution is to commission a mold removal company to eliminate the problems from these homes. After that, especially in the case of poorly maintained buildings, regular mold inspection is a good idea.

Doing so isn’t an unnecessary frill or luxury. It’s ensuring our children are healthier. There are few things in this world more important than our youth!

Major mold removal could be in store as an eventual consequence of recent flooding in Manitoba and Quebec.

In Manitoba, the government made the decision to intentionally breach a dike on the Assiniboine River and flood more than 150 properties for the greater good of protecting 800 other homes. Just south of Montreal, roughly 3,000 homes were flooded by the Richelieu River earlier this month.

Some of the damage caused by flooding is easy to see and predict. Rushing floodwaters can mix with sewage containing both human and animal waste, contaminating drinking water or food with potentially infectious viruses, bacteria and other micro-organisms. One common threat is E. coli, as the people of Walkerton, Ontario learned the hard way when seven people died and more than 7,000 became ill in the now-infamous 2001 crisis.

But threat many flood victims often overlook is mold, and the kind that can’t be stopped pre-emptively by a mold inspection. The water damage caused by flooding causes increased moisture which creates a breeding environment for mold, explains Denise Koh, Manitoba’s medical officer of health dealing with environmental health.

“People who are sensitive to mold may experience increased asthma symptoms or difficulty breathing,” she says. “They can have irritating symptoms such as a stuffy nose, irritated eyes, wheezing, skin irritation and mold infections in the lungs.”

If you’re a flood victim, you should strongly consider commissioning a mold inspection and removal company to assess the damages and see whether your home has developed mold or is at risk for mold.

If you’re fortunate enough to live in a region not currently affected by flooding, such as the Greater Toronto Area, you can still learn a valuable lesson reading about the problems in Quebec and Manitoba. The flood damage highlights what mold can do to the human body. It’s thus imperative for all buildings to undergo proper mold detection.

Sometimes, we can’t fully understand the danger of a toxic agent like mold until it destroys something dear to us.

The Astrolabe Theatre on Nepean Point has long been one of the most beloved attractions in our nation’s capital, Ottawa, Ontario. It’s famous for the views it provides of the city and for its amphitheatre, which seats roughly 700 people.

But the City of Ottawa has to say goodbye to the historic building. The reason: proper attention wasn’t paid to mold removal. It’s too late now. The building is saturated with toxic mold and asbestos. The National Capital Commission has decided to demolish it.

As NCC spokeswoman Judith Gabois-St-Cyr explained, water infiltration was a key part of the building’s deterioration. The overly moist environment became a breeding ground for mold.

Could a proper mold inspection have saved the Astrolabe Theatre? It’s tough to say; the building is 30 years old. But an earlier commitment from building officials just might have caught it in time. Instead, the theatre is simply too overcome not just with mold, but also with carcinogenic asbestos fibres – especially in the service building and in the former dressing rooms for performers.

The site will be remediated; it hasn’t yet been decided what new attraction will replace the Astrolabe Theatre. The demolition schedule isn’t official yet but $1 million has been devoted to it for 2011-12.

Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area can learn a valuable lesson from the Astrolabe Theatre’s demise: historical buildings may be beautiful, but they’re also at major risk for mold and other hazardous materials. If we want to keep them intact and enjoy them forever, periodic assesments from a mold inspection and removal company are a prudent idea.

Doctor Ray Copes, Director of Environmental and Occupational Health for the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, recently gave a seminar detailing the dangers associated with Grow-Ops and, more specifically, remediated Grow-Op homes, or former Grow-Op homes that have been seized and repurposed.

It’s fairly simple for us to understand the immediate problems an illegal drug growth operation poses. In British Columbia alone, the number rose from 1,251 in 1997 to 2,802 in 2000. The Grow-Ops accounted for roughly $100 million in electricity theft in B.C. Grow Ops are associated with countless building violations and unsafe electrical setups. They also negatively impact communities because of the violence associated with them, whether it’s through rival dealers trying to steal the stash in “grow rips” or the booby traps often lining the houses.

However, as any mold inspector will tell you, the damage former Grow-Ops leave behind can be just as harmful. Once they’re seized, the federal crown assumes control of Grow-Op properties. But does the government do a good enough job of preparing those buildings for healthy living and keeping residents informed about the properties’ past?

Grow-Ops that housed drugs like marijuana often have poor breathing environments as a result of rampant mold and the use of tobacco and the harmful chemicals associated with it. Not surprisingly, former methamphetamine labs are particularly dangerous. Meth labs often have hydrochloride and ammonia residue among many other harmful agents. There were 29 meth labs seized in Canada as recently as 2005.

Should Grow-Ops be condemned entirely because of their poor conditions, be they chemical residue, water damage, mold and so on? Not necessarily. But the government needs to do a more thorough job with its mold detection, mold removal and general approach to cleaning these former Grow-Op buildings.

The process that went into creating the drugs once found in these buildings may have been complex – rocket science, even – but cleaning them isn’t. If the government showed a better commitment to remediating the buildings and did a better job informing new residents about the buildings’ past, it would go a long way toward ensuring that Grow-Ops’ days of harming their communities are over.

Health

Real Estate Transactions

Former Flooding

Drug Houses