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There’s getting sick, and there’s what this guy had: a decades-long struggle with a mysterious illness that short-circuited his nervous system and ransacked his body, testing his patience, his marriage, and his resolve. Then he built the house that just might save his life.

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At the lab, the spore trap cassettes are opened and analyzed by a microbiologist who counts and classifies the different spores present in each sample.

Our software then takes the analysis and determines if there are unusual types and/or quantities present, which might indicate indoor growth. These results are displayed on your final report as green (not evident), yellow (slight evidence), orange (moderate evidence) or red (significant evidence).

You won’t need an expert to interpret our report; you are given clear and concise results in an easy-to-understand format, along with the raw laboratory data, which might be useful in the event that your situation requires professional help. In that case, your inspector or home professional will have the necessary information to proceed without having to repeat testing.

Our reports are color-coded Green, Yellow, Orange and Red, with a simple explanation for each color.

For example, if your indoor air samples analyses are similar to your outdoor reference sample, your readings will be green, indicating no evidence of indoor mold growth was found in your samples.

A yellow reading means slight evidence of indoor mold growth was found (an Alert Condition); you may want to consider further investigation.

An orange reading indicates moderate evidence of indoor mold growth — another Alert Condition; you should consider further investigation by a professional.

If you receive one or more red readings (our highest Alert Condition), that means we found evidence of significant indoor mold growth, and we will urgently recommend that you consult a mold assessment professional and take immediate actions to minimize exposure.

In all cases, regardless of the readings, if you or anyone else is experiencing symptoms which you believe are mold-related, we recommend seeking medical advice.

Generally speaking, one cassette will cover one room. So if you are testing two normal-sized rooms, two cassettes will do the trick. Three rooms, three cassettes, and so on.

If, however, a room is quite large, e.g., a big basement of approximately 2000 square feet or more, then two cassettes — possibly even three (left, middle and right) — are required for accurate results.

For bathrooms or any other small room that has a door or is set apart from a normal-sized room, e.g., the master bathroom, use an individual cassette.

As an overall example, if you would like to test three bedrooms, one bathroom, and one closet, we recommend using five (5) cassettes.

Refills can be purchased here.

Mold is a normal part of our environment, with mold spores being present in the air almost everywhere. As you might imagine, these differ widely and wildly in type and quantities, from place to place. Even in a building that doesn’t have a mold problem, there are still mold spores in the air, arriving from the outside through doors and windows, cracks and crevices, or tracked in by people and pets. This is known as infiltration.

Once the lab gets your samples, the results will be available in three business days.

Once your report is ready, your results will be available immediately online at gotmold.com and through our GOT MOLD? mobile application (iOS and Android devices) You will be notified by text (SMS) and/or email, depending upon what you selected as your preferred delivery method during the kit activation process.

Remember, every home and building has mold, but not every home and building has a mold problem.

The first, and most important step is to always determine exactly what the cause of the moisture is and correct it. After all, a mold problem is really a moisture problem.
The next step is to determine the extent of the repairs and cleanup.

If these steps are beyond your ability, we encourage you to find an independent, qualified, mold assessment professional in your area. That professional should perform a thorough physical inspection, additional testing as needed, and provide a full written report with specific observations, detailed recommendations, and a remediation plan, if needed.

Finding a mold inspection professional who is not also a remediator can be a challenge, but it’s important that you do. Mold inspectors should never be remediators too, especially on the same project, and
here’s why.

You can, but it’s not recommended. With doors and windows opening and closing regularly, the inside of your car has a far less consistent environment than the inside of your home.

We recommend instead that you use your nose: If the inside of your car has a musty smell, you likely have mold and do not need the test.

If you do decide to sample the inside of your car, we recommend:

• Keeping the doors and windows closed for 2-3 days prior to testing.
• Having your A/C on during testing, since mold growth can occur behind the vents.
• Performing the test where the car is normally parked.

The GOT MOLD? Test Kit is not designed to be a replacement for a mold inspection performed by a qualified professional; its purpose is to be a cost-effective first step. You might compare it to a pregnancy test kit, since you wouldn’t start buying baby furniture if a pregnancy test came up positive, right? Please use the same common sense here. You should not make major life decisions, such as planning remediation, filing lawsuits, relocating, etc., based solely upon the results from this, or any, DIY mold test kit.

If there are Alert Conditions detected using this kit, and you intend to take action, we recommend that you pursue a qualified mold assessment professional to perform a thorough physical inspection, additional testing as needed, and to provide a full written report with observations, recommendations, and a remediation plan, as necessary.

Our test kit includes the reusable BioVac™ Air Sampler, using uses spore traps which collect the microscopic particles floating around in the air in the immediate area being sampled — at the time of sampling. These conditions can be different minute-to-minute, depending upon many factors, such as ventilation and movement in the building. Since air is a constantly changing landscape, the results from this kit are not to be considered a measure of exposure or risk, and shouldn’t be used to determine whether the building is “safe.” Also, since spore traps capture spores in the air, if there’s a hidden mold problem in a wall, for example, this method may not detect it. Similarly, if the air in the room has been still for quite some time, spores may have settled out of the air, which may create misleading results.

You must carefully follow the instructions in the Quick Start Guide. Not doing so may lead to inaccurate results.

In all cases, if you are experiencing health issues that you think may be building-related, please seek medical advice.