Mold Inspections

During a mold inspection we walk your entire Manitowoc property and look for signs of mold growth — not just the patch you already found. Growth you can see is usually the smallest part of the problem.

What a professional mold inspection actually involves

Most people call us because they can see something: a dark bloom in a basement corner, a stain spreading across bathroom drywall, black speckling on attic sheathing. That visible growth is the starting point, not the conclusion. Mold grows where water is, so the real question an inspection has to answer is where is the water coming from — and what else has it reached along the way.

Our inspection is a systematic walk through the whole building, inside and out. We are looking at four things: visible growth, moisture, the conditions that allow growth to continue, and the pathways spores use to move between rooms.

1. Exterior and drainage review

We start outside. Grading that slopes toward the foundation, downspouts discharging next to the wall, blocked gutters, window wells without drains, failed tuckpointing on older Manitowoc brick — these are the most common root causes of the basement mold we treat. Fixing mold without fixing drainage is money spent twice.

2. Room-by-room visual inspection

Every room, every closet, behind furniture on exterior walls, under sinks, around window frames, in the mechanical room. We photograph everything we find and note it by location so the report is something you can actually act on rather than a page of generalities.

3. Moisture and humidity measurement

This is where hidden problems surface. We use pin and pinless moisture meters on drywall, framing, subfloor and masonry, plus a thermo-hygrometer to record relative humidity in each area. Materials that read elevated against a dry baseline elsewhere in the same building tell us where to look harder. Where it helps, we use thermal imaging to find temperature differentials that indicate wet material inside a wall or ceiling cavity.

4. HVAC and ventilation assessment

We check whether your ventilation system is contributing. Bath fans venting into the attic instead of outside, a return duct pulling air from a damp crawl space, an oversized air conditioner that cools without dehumidifying, a dryer vent disconnected inside a wall — all of these turn a local damp spot into a whole-house problem.

What you receive

You get a written report, usually the same day or next morning, with photographs, moisture readings by location, our assessment of the likely water source, and a clear recommendation. If testing would tell us something the visual inspection cannot, we say so and explain why. If it wouldn't, we say that too — we are not interested in selling you lab work you don't need.

If remediation is warranted, the report comes with an itemized quote: what gets removed, what gets treated, what gets rebuilt, and what it costs. No line item that says "mold remediation — lump sum."

When you should book an inspection

• You can smell a persistent musty odor but cannot find its source
• Anyone in the household has allergy or asthma symptoms that improve when they leave the building
• You have had a flood, a burst pipe, a roof leak or a failed sump pump in the past year
• You are buying a property — especially an older Manitowoc home with a stone or block foundation
• You are a landlord responding to a tenant complaint and need documentation
• You see staining, bubbling paint, warped trim or efflorescence on basement walls

Inspections for real estate transactions

A standard home inspection is not a mold inspection. Home inspectors are generalists working to a broad checklist, and most explicitly exclude mold from their scope. If a property you are buying has any history of water in the basement — and around here, many do — a dedicated mold inspection before closing is the cheapest insurance available. We can usually accommodate transaction timelines on short notice.

Serving Manitowoc County

We provide mold inspections throughout Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Mishicot, Kiel, Valders, Reedsville and the surrounding communities. See our full service area, or take a look at recent jobs we have completed nearby.