How a home test kit works
Most kits are a settle plate: a dish of growth medium left open in a room for an hour or so, then sealed and watched for a few days. Some include a swab for a visible patch. Whatever lands or is wiped on the dish grows, and you count the spots.
What a kit can tell you
- That mould spores are present in the air or on a surface.
- Roughly whether a patch you can already see is mould or just dirt.
What a kit can’t tell you
Mould spores are in almost all indoor air, so a dish left open will grow something in nearly every home. A positive result is expected, and it doesn’t mean there is a problem.
- It can’t compare indoor levels with the air outside, which is how a real problem shows up.
- It doesn’t identify the type of mould with any reliability.
- It doesn’t find the moisture source, and without fixing that the mould comes back.
- It can’t see inside a wall cavity, under flooring or above a ceiling.
- Its result is not accepted as evidence by a landlord, an insurer or a tribunal.
When a kit is enough
If the mould is a small patch on a hard surface, the cause is obvious, such as a shower with no exhaust fan, and nobody in the house has health concerns, you don’t need a test at all. Clean the area, fix the ventilation and watch for regrowth.
When to call a professional
- A musty smell with no visible mould, which often means growth inside a wall or under a floor.
- Mould after a leak, a flood or a burst pipe.
- Patches larger than about one square metre, or mould that keeps coming back.
- Someone in the home has asthma, allergies or a weakened immune system.
- You need a report for a landlord, a sale or an insurance claim.
What a professional inspection covers
A mould inspection starts with the moisture, not the mould: moisture readings and a look at where water is getting in. Samples are taken where they are useful and sent to NATA-accredited laboratory partners, and the findings come back in a written report with a remediation scope if one is needed. An inspection is $350 including GST.
Elite Restoration is an IICRC Certified Firm (certificate 70100265), certified in S520 for mould remediation, and part of the Elite brand, operating since 1984.
Mould testing questions
Are mould test kits accurate?
They grow what lands on them, so they show that spores are present. Because spores are almost always present, that result rarely answers the real question.
How much does a mould inspection cost?
An inspection is $350 including GST. Remediation, if it is needed, is scoped and quoted separately.
Can I test for mould inside walls myself?
Not with a kit. Hidden mould is found by tracing moisture, and that needs meters and access a kit doesn’t give you.
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