| HOME | AIR QUALITY TESTING | MOULD INSPECTOR | MOULD DOG | FAQS | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | IN THE NEWS |
- Indoor Environmental Testing
and Consulting - Mold Assessments
- Mould Remediation Protocols
- Mould Inspections
Toronto and GTA
(416) 414-56901-888-406-7682
Toronto and GTA
(416) 414-5690
Have you had a water leak?
Don’t let it get this bad.
A proper mould inspection is the first step!
Our mould detection dog and our mould inspection process can accurately find your mould growth problem.
Call us today.
See Us On:
Fri, September 19, 2003
Pup's nose like no other Super-sleuth dog sniffs out moulds that make us sick
Having a mould detection dog allows us to pin point the exact location of the mould growth inside a wall or floor. In the past, this was very difficult, if not impossible, with air testing alone.
The result is less laboratory sampling, less cost to you and faster results.
There is no other tool like it!
We use a variety of instrumentation to determine if a building has mould.
For more information on mould,
click on logo
We are now the first Approved Certification Course Provider for the IAQA
for Council Certified Mould Remediator and Council Certified Mould Remediation Supervisor. See our web site below for the next upcoming class.
We belong to the following Organizations:
Welcome to our mould and indoor air quality information web site. Here you'll find information on mould growth as well as indoor mould testing and mould inspections for Toronto, GTA and Southern Ontario. We now also have mold inspection affiliates in the Vancouver and Calgary area. If you have a concern over mold or what you believe to be mould...we can help.
We have Canada's first Certified Mould Detection Dog. Together with our state-of-the art Indoor Air Quality Testing instrumentation, our Mould K-9 and our over 13 years of expertise, we're confident we can assist you in your environmental issues in your home or office. Speak to one of our certified mould inspectors about your mold concerns today. (Please note that mold is the American spelling and mould is the British spelling)
Indoor mould testing has just become easier, faster and more precise with Canada's first Certified Mould Detection Dog.
We have an extremely valuable mold detection tool for our indoor environmental inspection services. "Quincy" is our original Yellow Labrador Retriever that has been professionally trained and certified to sniff out mould. Quincy has been with us for over 5 years and has performed hundreds of inspections. We have now added a second Certified Mold Detection Dog "Ranger".
You've heard of bomb detection dogs and drug detection dogs? Now there are mould detection dogs. There are over 50 Certified Mould Detection Dogs in the United States, 5 dogs in Canada and we have Canada's first! If it has an odor...a dog can find it! Mould growth can have a variety of odors that range from a traditional musty scent to odors that a seem like a chemical spill. Unfortunately, the majority of mould odors may not be detectable by the human nose. This is where we can help.
If you've had roof leaks, basement leaks, plumbing leaks, high relative humidity or condensation indoors, you could have a hidden mould growth problem. 80% of indoor mould issues are hidden and don't produce odors or visible growth. They can however, cause a variety of health problems. When mould growth is disturbed or improperly removed, mould can produce spores that can affect furniture and other belongings causing a more wide spread mould issue. In addition, inhaling mould spores is what triggers the health issues related to mould growth indoors.
The age of the building has no bearing on whether there could be a mould growth issue.
An air quality assessment together with a mould inspection can uncover hidden sources of pollutants in your home or office. A proper mould inspection should never be just a quick visual inspection and a few laboratory samples. Although this approach is a cheaper, the results could be misleading and falsely determine that you have mould growth or falsely determine that you don't have an indoor mould growth problem.
Proper mould assessments should begin with a comprehensive instrument survey for air quality to identify and locate hidden pollution levels indoors. This will assist in determining where and what type of laboratory analysis is appropriate and will assist in identifying the cause of an indoor mould problem. A qualified mould inspector should also identify the source and extent of the moisture damage that lead to the mould problem using thermal imaging and moisture meters. This can determine if area are still actively growing mould. Finally, the mould detection dog can locate specific areas of mold growth and can determine whether the issue is in one specific area of a room or the entire room.
A proper instrument survey for air quality, thermal imaging and moisture survey, mould detection K-9 and a series of surface and air samples for mould spores can provide the mould inspector with detailed information on the cause, source and solution of the mould growth issue in your building.
If you have a mould issue, believe you have a mould issue or are unsure whether mould or air quality problems are affecting your health...call us today.
Mould in your home or office can be a scary thing...but it doesn't have to be. Let us us show you how.
By Charlene Sadler | Monday, January 11, 2010, 11:59 AM
Mould can be a deal-breaker when it comes to buying a house, but it's even worse if you find mould after you've paid for an inspection and bought the property.
Mould can be difficult to detect and even more difficult to get rid of. And while many inspectors fail to detect mould, or are unable to because it's hidden by gyproc, they also sometimes "detect" mould that isn't there, and then recommend expensive cleaning options.
That was the case with one Toronto homeowner, Antony Anderson, who got worried when he saw what looked like a soft-white coat forming in his basement floor.
Anderson hired a contractor who told him he had a big problem that would cost thousands of dollars to remediate. For a second opinion, Anderson brought in Frank Haverkate, of Haverkate and Assoc., and to his great relief, Haverkate said the white fuzz was actually efflorescence, caused by lime leaching from concrete. It signified a moisture problem but it was harmless.
"It's a big conflict of interest because you're dealing with a client base that has no clue with what is going and believe what you say. So these types of inspectors could go in and point everything out that isn't true, then tell them they need thousands and thousands of dollars worth of clean up," said Haverkate.
"Anybody can say they're certified to inspect mould. All it takes is a one-day course," he said.
Haverkate charges nearly three times as his competitors, roughly $1,500 for an inspection, compared to between $400 and $800. His secret weapon and the reason for his higher costs are his two mould-sniffing dogs, Ranger and Quincy.
Why does he use dogs? Detecting mould is just half the problem. The next step is to find out where it's located. And that's not easy in a finished basement. Very few people want to start punching holes in drywall to see if there's mould on the foundation wall.
A sniffer dog, however, can detect where the mould is located, thus minimizing the amount of damage that needs to be done in the remediation process, said Haverkate.
"The majority of horror stories we're hearing is home inspectors not detecting mould before they buy a house, and some houses can have just as much if not more mould than a house used for a marijuana grow-op. If your basement's flooded, you can have just as much damage from mould as a marijuana grow-op."
