I have had two different incidents where Building Inspectors took mold air samples for buyers of properties that put transactions in limbo. Both were for homes over $1.5 million, and each home was in mint condition and beautifully furnished. However, another inspection this week took the prize as the buyer considered backing out of a deal on the home his family loved.
The home, located in Ladue, was under contract, and the building inspector performed air sampling in two unfinished basement areas and one in the primary bedroom on the first floor. The inspector visually identified a small amount of mold in both unfinished basement areas, so we were called that afternoon to look at the spots and prepare a price to remediate. The buyer and his agent told me the building inspector also took air samples in the home, but the results would not be back from the laboratory for another day, and they would share the results once received.
An Inspection Gone Wrong
The next night the buyer called in a panic. He knew there were minor issues in the basement, but the air sample results for the primary bedroom were >3,600 spores/m³ and the lab report categorized the bedroom as a MAJOR concern. Based on the report, the buyer was considering backing away from the home with just 18 hours remaining on the inspection time limit clock.
I did not inspect the home; I was only called to look at the two identified spots in the basement the day before. However, I could tell the home was in great condition, and the caretaker is someone we have worked with many times previously, so I know he does an excellent job with his customer’s properties. After hearing the mold count in the primary bedroom, I asked the typical questions concerning such a high mold spore count reading; any dogs in the home, is there a door to the pool in the bedroom, are there plants in the room, a messy carpet, etc. Answer was NO to each question. The buyer emailed the report to me that evening.
The report showed the elevated reading in the primary bedroom, but I also noticed a POLLEN reading of 452 in the bedroom and just 40 in the outside sample. The two basement unfinished rooms had zero POLLEN detected.
I immediately knew something was wrong as I had never seen a POLLEN reading like this inside a home. Was it a typo?
Wellington’s Sample Results
I told the buyer I would like to re-sample the room and a few adjacent rooms to see if there is an issue with the reading or with the home in general. I knew the clock was ticking on the inspection and offered to arrive early and run the samples to the laboratory, requesting a three-hour turn around for the results. If the results ended up being similar, then further investigation would be needed, or the buyer would likely walk away from purchasing the home. However, if our sample result was different than what their report showed, then something may have gone wrong during the original sampling. Either way, the prospective buyer would have the information in time to make the decision that afternoon, so they agreed with the resampling plan and met me the next morning to begin.
While there, I visually inspected the bedroom, no issues. I inspected the adjacent rooms – no visible signs of mold or prior water damage. This home was in excellent condition.
My sample results came back from the lab early that afternoon, with a reading in the primary Bedroom of 220 spores/m³. The building inspector’s results had the room at 3,680 spores/m³, so there was clearly a significant difference!
More importantly, our pollen reading was ZERO. The building inspector’s report said the pollen in the bedroom was measured at 452. Again, something is wrong!
While taking the air samples, I asked the buyer, when did the building inspector take the samples? Was it after he completed his inspection of the attic or a crawl space? The buyer said the building inspector sampled at the end of his basic inspection and yes, he had been in the attic and the crawl space prior to setting up the air sampling pump in the bedroom.
After sharing our findings and diagraming the stark result differences, the buyer also told me he remembered seeing the inspector outside the home holding some of the garden mulch in his hands just before he took the air sample in the bedroom. All evidence points to the building inspector as the likely source for the unusual results.
Faulty Building Inspections Come at a Cost
Unfortunately, the buyer had to pay for the original building inspection, the air samples the inspector took and then the cost for us to take additional samples and rush them through the lab. The sale of the home was saved, but not without some additional unnecessary costs. Two spores (40) of Stachybotrys showed up in our primary bedroom total mold sample count of 220 spores/m³, so duct cleaning was recommended along with air scrubbing in the primary bedroom. The seller agreed to pay for this work that was likely caused by the building inspector’s negligence. Stachybotrys did not show up in any of the follow-up adjacent samples.
Weekly, we receive calls concerning mold air sampling reports that buyers receive from their building inspector. The laboratories used by the building inspectors automatically state on the report if there is a possible mold issue if indoor species are higher than the outside sample species. Buyers ask the building inspector what the report means and they are told to contact a mold specialist. We find most building inspectors do not know how to read the lab report, nor can they decide on what actions need to be taken to correct an issue.
We will not stop building inspectors from offering to take mold air samples when performing an inspection, however, we can continue to educate realtors to have their clients contact us when determinations on mold are needed. Being the mold expert for hundreds of agents is the position we want to take for their clients.
