Scott, Thank you for taking the time to put together this great resource!
Will you please comment on companies that are rebranding and repackaging ERMI with significant upsells, up to $724/test, like TheDustTest.com?
They provide their own "Mold Code" results - Code 1 to Code 5 with different percentile ranking of Mold in your home vs "Other Homes"
Their marketing claim why their test is better than ERMI:
"The Dust Test gives you better actionable data such as, how many sources of mold does my home likely have? How likely is it that my home contains mycotoxins? All based upon years of real home inspection and testing data to provide you contextually relevant information that you can actually use."
I’m a 4-3-53 (Shoemaker’s “dreaded genotype” that he claimed he could never get well because any exposure will always again trigger the inflammatory cascade - note: that’s not accurate as I AM well after a long journey back to health, even in the house that made me sick), but to stay well I do have to live in a clean house - I am the most blessed to have one now after my family believed me and did about $100k of remediation. But because of my sensitivity, I can tell (depending on how bad the problem is) within 1 second, 5 minutes, an hour, or after symptoms that night, if a building is safe for healing or not. (Though some people can heal in places I cannot be, like a friend who has a fairly high amount of Stachy (per the ERMI) in building materials in the walls - she is getting well but I tank after 5 minutes in her house - likely due to that genetic difference). So far, the HERTSMI-2 scores seem to be a visual representation of what I feel in a space, with a very high correlation to whether or not I could stay in a building very long. Air tests, on the other hand, had “normal” levels of mold, according to one inspector, while our house was literally killing me. I would argue the HERTSMI is useful for those without my spidey-sense to get some kind of information about what they are looking at with a building. But it definitely can’t be the only thing relied on…when inspecting a new home, after the initial boxes you mentioned are checked, the sensitive person needs to spend some hours there and watch for symptoms during and afterward, or you can end up like my friends who tried to move cross-country based on a good ERMI, but within a week their most sensitive family-member was so sick she was in the hospital!
So, essentially, a renter is screwed and can’t do a reasonable home test. I see areas of paint bubbling, and a kind plumber said that there had been major leaks under the house that the landlord would have to do major repairs for-yet with no actual test “proof”, I have no recourse? Moving again is not an option.
Assessing mold is difficult even for the "professional" mold inspectors that you find in your area. They are rarely properly trained - except to take some simple samples.. Rarely are they better than the novice who knows nothing but what they ran across on various naturopath/functional sites or some remediator insta posts...
Mold "sampling" is NOT a DIY endeavor - BUT marketing and sales of diy "kits" and labs selling direct to the public have a great interest in making it seem ez and straightforward.
Assessing - see my short blog discussion, "Four Basic Steps for Assessment"... that is a good place to begin..
Thanks Scott. Without reading. The common sense scruff of sight and smell doesn’t convince the landlord of doing a damn thing but saying, “I looked, there’s no mold.” After atmospheric rivers and a leak that made the 1930’s walls soft. Marvelous.
If not to use ERMI/HERTSMI-2, what are we to use? Often hear what not to do or use, but lacking on what is to be done. For myself, I live in a largely rural state with minimal services/quality inspectors of any kind actually, how ought we to test to get even a glimpse if we have an issue or not? Granted none of those tests are 100% accurate as data can only be based on what is collected. Truly asking as we had 3 home inspectors say no issues, home is great, no molds or possible issues if any nature based on their cassette sampling, both disturbed via fan, and not. Then I did a swiffer and got insight into why I was sick with CIRS. Did remediation after addressing some known and found issues. Doing better here now. What do you recommend to do to follow up test this and my elderly mother’s home? Thank you!
Whatever samples someone takes they should always be AFTER the analysis of the other 3 (or 4) steps of the assessment.
1. Visual, full building/apartment inspection.
2. Review of building/apartment history - including water events and remodeling, maintenance, repairs, etc.
3. An analysis of the functions and operations based on the design, components, era of construction, materials, and with a GOOD building science understanding. Air flow, temps, etc.
I know that "everyone" wants a simple test to tell them what to do. It is never like that.
Scott, Thank you for taking the time to put together this great resource!
Will you please comment on companies that are rebranding and repackaging ERMI with significant upsells, up to $724/test, like TheDustTest.com?
They provide their own "Mold Code" results - Code 1 to Code 5 with different percentile ranking of Mold in your home vs "Other Homes"
Their marketing claim why their test is better than ERMI:
"The Dust Test gives you better actionable data such as, how many sources of mold does my home likely have? How likely is it that my home contains mycotoxins? All based upon years of real home inspection and testing data to provide you contextually relevant information that you can actually use."
I’m a 4-3-53 (Shoemaker’s “dreaded genotype” that he claimed he could never get well because any exposure will always again trigger the inflammatory cascade - note: that’s not accurate as I AM well after a long journey back to health, even in the house that made me sick), but to stay well I do have to live in a clean house - I am the most blessed to have one now after my family believed me and did about $100k of remediation. But because of my sensitivity, I can tell (depending on how bad the problem is) within 1 second, 5 minutes, an hour, or after symptoms that night, if a building is safe for healing or not. (Though some people can heal in places I cannot be, like a friend who has a fairly high amount of Stachy (per the ERMI) in building materials in the walls - she is getting well but I tank after 5 minutes in her house - likely due to that genetic difference). So far, the HERTSMI-2 scores seem to be a visual representation of what I feel in a space, with a very high correlation to whether or not I could stay in a building very long. Air tests, on the other hand, had “normal” levels of mold, according to one inspector, while our house was literally killing me. I would argue the HERTSMI is useful for those without my spidey-sense to get some kind of information about what they are looking at with a building. But it definitely can’t be the only thing relied on…when inspecting a new home, after the initial boxes you mentioned are checked, the sensitive person needs to spend some hours there and watch for symptoms during and afterward, or you can end up like my friends who tried to move cross-country based on a good ERMI, but within a week their most sensitive family-member was so sick she was in the hospital!
So, essentially, a renter is screwed and can’t do a reasonable home test. I see areas of paint bubbling, and a kind plumber said that there had been major leaks under the house that the landlord would have to do major repairs for-yet with no actual test “proof”, I have no recourse? Moving again is not an option.
Assessing mold is difficult even for the "professional" mold inspectors that you find in your area. They are rarely properly trained - except to take some simple samples.. Rarely are they better than the novice who knows nothing but what they ran across on various naturopath/functional sites or some remediator insta posts...
Mold "sampling" is NOT a DIY endeavor - BUT marketing and sales of diy "kits" and labs selling direct to the public have a great interest in making it seem ez and straightforward.
Assessing - see my short blog discussion, "Four Basic Steps for Assessment"... that is a good place to begin..
Thanks Scott. Without reading. The common sense scruff of sight and smell doesn’t convince the landlord of doing a damn thing but saying, “I looked, there’s no mold.” After atmospheric rivers and a leak that made the 1930’s walls soft. Marvelous.
If not to use ERMI/HERTSMI-2, what are we to use? Often hear what not to do or use, but lacking on what is to be done. For myself, I live in a largely rural state with minimal services/quality inspectors of any kind actually, how ought we to test to get even a glimpse if we have an issue or not? Granted none of those tests are 100% accurate as data can only be based on what is collected. Truly asking as we had 3 home inspectors say no issues, home is great, no molds or possible issues if any nature based on their cassette sampling, both disturbed via fan, and not. Then I did a swiffer and got insight into why I was sick with CIRS. Did remediation after addressing some known and found issues. Doing better here now. What do you recommend to do to follow up test this and my elderly mother’s home? Thank you!
Whatever samples someone takes they should always be AFTER the analysis of the other 3 (or 4) steps of the assessment.
1. Visual, full building/apartment inspection.
2. Review of building/apartment history - including water events and remodeling, maintenance, repairs, etc.
3. An analysis of the functions and operations based on the design, components, era of construction, materials, and with a GOOD building science understanding. Air flow, temps, etc.
I know that "everyone" wants a simple test to tell them what to do. It is never like that.