With more than 50% of UK homes falling victim to mould, especially in colder months, mould testing is a costly but necessary expense if you suspect there’s mould in your home.
What could prove more expensive, however, is if you ignore the warning signs that mould is growing and wait until it becomes a more invasive problem before fixing it.
You can end up spending thousands of pounds fixing a widespread mould problem, and that’s not just having it removed but having to potentially redecorate, replace furniture and even have floorboards replaced.
Which is why you should test your home for mould. There are two different routes you can go down when testing for mould in your house: the first is to hire a professional mould tester, with the second route to test your home for mould yourself.
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the differences between contracting a professional mould inspector and going the DIY route and testing for mould yourself, with an emphasis on cost, to help you make a decision.
Professional Mould Inspection
Contracting a professional mould inspector may seem like the better choice because it takes no effort on your part. You make a call, a date is booked in, and the mould inspector turns up and does his thing.
Depending on the type of mould inspection you go for, however, it could prove very expensive for you.
Types of professional mould testing
Basic mould inspection
A basic mould inspection will cost anywhere from £80 - £300 and will solely assess visible mould; it won’t include any specialist tools or equipment, and won’t uncover hidden mould.
The mould inspector will often take surface mould samples, as well as air samples (similar to our DIY testing device), to identify the type of mould and give you a fairly basic mould report.
A couple of things to watch out for when getting a basic mould inspection are the fact that you could pay up to £300 just for a report that is overcomplicated, yet won’t tell you about unseen issues.
With mould inspectors who offer cheaper rates, they may try to upsell expensive mould remediation services, again, when you can fix the problem yourself.
Full damp & mould survey
A full damp and mould survey goes beyond surface mould to find what is causing the mould and where it’s actually coming from.
Because of the specialist tools involved, it generally costs anywhere from £300 - £1000, depending on the size of your home and how many rooms you have.
The problem with getting a full damp and mould survey before you definitely know that you have an invasive mould problem is that it’s a huge expense when every room is being tested.
Professional mould testing waiting times
The waiting time for your professional mould inspection appointment can be long, especially in Autumn and Winter.
The average waiting time will generally be anywhere up to three weeks. Some mould remediation companies will have emergency appointments, but these will cost even more and should only be booked when you know there’s a threat of black mould.
Traditional DIY Home Mould Testing Kits
DIY home mould testing kits have been available for quite some time. They’re available on Amazon or in B&Q for a low price, usually around £20-30.
How they work is that you leave a petri dish out in the open, leave it for an hour or two and then seal it to see if mould grows.
The problem is that mould is always going to grow as mould spores are generally part of the air we breathe every day.
So, whilst a traditional DIY home mould testing kit will tell you that there’s mould in the air, it doesn’t have the ability to give you any in-depth insights.
For example, it won’t tell you the density or amount of mould spores in the air, so you won’t know if it’s normal trace levels or a dangerous amount. It also won’t tell you whether it's a harmless mould variety or a more threatening black mould.
In short, we can’t recommend that you use a traditional, cheap home mould testing kit as it can’t provide accurate results or tell you the extent of your mould problem.
The Untold Mould Home Mould Testing Kit
We launched the Untold Mould Home Mould Testing Kit as a middle ground. Our kit, which allows you to test for mould at home, allows you to conduct a professional-grade mould test, but without the cost of getting a professional mould inspector in.
We’re a UK-based HealthTech startup that’s passionate about making the UK healthier. We offer professional-grade mould testing at a fraction of the price.
You can buy the starter kit for up to three rooms, and refill cassettes for any additional rooms you want to test. Send the cassettes to us and we’ll provide you with an easy-to-understand mould report.
Once you’ve received your Untold Mould report, you can take action to prevent and remove mould in your home.
Take a look at the Untold Mould shop to find out more.
