Lancey

Robert, I was not having health problems with the mold because it wasn't a large amount of mold. I tried killing it with the water/bleach solution but it's come back and is now starting to affect me somewhat. Sorry for not making that clearer, but I did say that my asthma was undr control and now I'm starting to notice it as the mold is coming back this time.

You guys scared me so much about these mold company practices that I decided to use two to see what each said. I know you have been warning me against professionals, but I have noticed lately that my asthma has been acting up as the mold has grown back after I tried the bleach solution. My asthma was under control before so I want to have the mold completely removed to be safe. The initial inspection didn’t cost as much as I thought. To be safe I got a second opinion from GVH Environmental here in the Bay. They both did a really good job and gave me a report of their findings along with an estimate for repairs. Indoor Restore seemed to be more thorough, though. They spent an extra half hour looking around, they looked at the crawl space and attic around the problem area and they used an infrared camera to find where the water was coming from – a leak in my room. Much more friendly guy, too. The Indoor Restore report included a lot of other things, too (some I probably didn’t need, but it was good to know), like how our water heater was heavily rusted and maybe should be replaced, our carbon monoxide levels, and their evaluation of our air filtration and duct cleanliness for our heater/AC. GVH did an okay job, but they seemed to rush through it and didn’t locate the leak. Both gave me estimates for mold remediation. I also found a general contractor who said he could do the work. As it stands, GVH is the most expensive, the contractor is in the middle, but much cheaper than GVH, and Indoor Restore is the cheapest. I’m probably going to go ahead with Indoor Restore. I’ll let everyone know how it goes.

Caoimhín - really all I can say is WOW!!! You pretty literally blew my mind I will absolutely bring up a lot of the points you gave regarding some of that stuff on their website, and see what they have to say about it. Thank you for your insight and your huge amount of research. RE the last few comments: I haven't had any health concerns because of the mold (is it supposed to be mould?) but I was just wanting it gone because of the damage it can cause the house and because it's ugly. I was hoping to make sure it was all completely gone, and therefore putting my trust in IndoorRestore to get the job done, but if it's not really a problem and I can at least partially if not mostly or completely get rid of it all by myself for a lot cheaper than they would charge me, and if they're feeding me BS on their website, I will just do this by myself. I'll let you all know how that phone call goes

P.S. your last quote on me I wrote as a response to Les because he said he didn't know and it could a reputable company and I was basically saying that so far they have acted like a reputable company to me.

I say that I'm thinking about using them because, well, I'm not convinced I shouldn't because they just sound like a legit and good company. And maybe it's just people like me who have a mold problem and saw them? Or had a mold problem and used them? Maybe they're just a company that puts up a good facade to make people think they're good. I don't know.

Les, IndoorRestore says that they have their own lab in order to cut down the time and costs of exporting that part of the remediation to an independent company, and so they have an accurate assessment in order to do a complete remediation. They're sounding like they know what they're doing but I'll definitely ask for the lab reports myself to make sure they aren't ripping me off. So far, it seems like they've been thorough with their pre-remediation process. It's also been nice that they've kept me informed, had great customer service, and generally given me a good impression of them so far. I'll keep my guard up though.

Wow guys, thanks for the thorough answers (especially Ahis). Still on the topic of samples, shouldn't they take them so they know if somewhere else has been effected with the mold? And they didn't just do wall samples, they took air samples also. I'm still thinking that taking the samples for the purpose of finding effected areas is necessary for a complete remediation (which I definitely want of course). Thoughts?

Wouldn't they have to take samples to know what type of mold it is and to see if the mold has spread to other places? I think it's totally logical they would have take samples.

Les, before I saw this message I'd agreed to have IndoorRestore come and do an estimate and get mold samples. So far, they've been very helpful and thorough, and the full remediation will be cheaper than I was expecting. So far I'm very happy with them and don't see a reason not to go with them. I'll let you all know how this goes with them. Thanks for all the thoughts and comments everyone!

I used a mold testing kit on the section I thought was mold and the test kit said it was mold. I think I'm just going to use the professionals on this. Like I'd mentioned before, IndoorRestore looks like it's a great option. I've read some good things on them and it looks like I'll be using them.

Wow guys, thanks for all the comments. That was all a lot to take in The mold is on an interior wall, starting where the carpet meets the wall/baseboard and up the wall a few inches. This also means it could be in the carpet. I don't know what the source is, since it's an interior wall. I've been looking around for possible leaks and just possible culprits in general and haven't found anything, but something obviously has to be there. I think I may just go with a remediation company. Thank you for all your advice on making sure they're indoor air certified and all that stuff; I've been making sure the companies I research have that. I ran across a company that seems really good: IndoorRestore. Has anyone heard of them? I checked with the Better Business Bureau and they checked out as legit, and seem really good. So, anyone heard of IndoorRestore or have any experience with them? Once again, thank you for all the comments!

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of mold besides using the bleach/water solution? I've got a pretty bad infection of mold in my house. Thanks!