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Guides

Free Mold Inspection: What It Includes and What to Ask First

Our free mold inspection is a visual survey and moisture reading, not laboratory testing. A technician walks your home or business checking for evidence of water intrusion, elevated moisture levels and visual signs of mold. Lab sampling of air and surfaces is a separate paid service provided through a licensed mold assessor, and can be valuable and necessary in situations where there is a dispute about the presence of mold, or if mold is suspected but there are no visible signs of mold or water intrusion to pursue.

Technician checking under a vanity with a flashlight during a free mold inspection in a Florida home

What a free mold inspection includes

  • An experienced inspector evaluates your whole property, not just the area you called about. Water travels, so often where you see stains on your ceiling or around your baseboard is not necessarily where the water intrusion originated.
  • Moisture meters help identify areas where elevated moisture has concentrated. This can indicate water trapped within the walls or ceilings from water intrusion, and leads to a high probability that mold has developed within these areas.
  • A check for smell. Florida's Department of Health says indoor mold growth can usually be seen or smelled.
  • Our free estimate includes a detailed plan on how we can resolve the water intrusion and any potential mold issues found during our inspection.

What a free inspection does not include

Our inspection does not include air samples or laboratory results. A licensed mold assessor is required for that, and those services are never free. But they are valuable and necessary in situations where there is a dispute about the presence of mold, or if mold is suspected but there are no obvious visual signs of mold or water intrusion present, or where someone has a very specific allergy to a particular strain of mold.

The EPA says that in most cases, if visible mold growth is present, sampling is unnecessary. If you can already see it, a lab test is essentially confirming what you already know.

Florida defines an assessment as a process involving physical sampling, so a free visual walk-through is not an assessment. Sampling is where the regulated activity begins, which is why a free inspection and a paid assessment are genuinely different things, rather than the same thing at two prices.

Free mold inspection for renters

Technically, free inspections are only offered to property owners, because after the inspection we will prepare an estimate that only the owner will act on.

This may sound like bad news for tenants. But there is still a path for tenants to benefit from our free inspection by sharing this offer with your landlord or a property manager that represents your landlord to reach out to us. Many landlords will be happy to do so, as our inspection costs the owner nothing.

However, if there is already a disagreement about the presence of mold between the tenant and the landlord, then it is advisable to hire a licensed mold assessor. A mold assessor can perform air quality testing and provide the laboratory results that are often the necessary proof and leverage needed in disputes between tenants and landlords about a potential mold issue.

But mold assessors and laboratory results are not free. Typically, a tenant will have to pay for those services out of pocket. In some cases, these expenses may be recouped with the help of an attorney if there is indeed a mold issue that the landlord was knowingly neglecting. However, questions of this nature are best suited for your attorney.

Questions to ask before you book

  1. What is included at no cost and what costs money? Get the boundary before the visit rather than during it.
  2. If you recommend sampling, will you quote it before collecting anything?
  3. Who is licensed and what is the number? Florida licenses individuals rather than companies, with separate assessor and remediator licenses. You can check a number on the state register yourself.
  4. Do I get written findings whether or not I hire you? A report you only see after signing is a quote wearing a lab coat.
  5. If mold is found, who does the removal? Ask how they handle the twelve-month rule.

A free inspection that tells you where the water is

A walk of the whole property, moisture readings on the walls that look fine and written findings you keep whether or not you hire us.

Book a Free Inspection 888-603-MOLD

Available 24/7 · Written findings included

The most important part of our mold inspection is finding the source of the water intrusion. Without properly addressing and resolving the water intrusion, your mold issues will continue coming back again, even after being properly remediated. That's why we take a comprehensive approach and resolve the water intrusion and any mold remediation at the same time, so you can truly put these issues behind you.

See the full mold inspection service, or the local pages for mold inspection in Orlando, mold inspection in Tampa and mold inspection in Sarasota.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to get free mold testing?
Free visual inspections are common. Free laboratory testing generally is not, because every sample carries a lab fee. Ask any company to separate the two on the phone. The EPA notes that where mold is already visible, sampling is usually unnecessary anyway.
Can you get your house tested for mold for free?
You can get it inspected for free. Tested is a different word. An inspection is a visual survey with moisture readings and written findings. Testing means paying a laboratory to analyze samples. Worth clarifying which one you are being offered before you book.
Will renters insurance cover mold inspections?
Most renters policies exclude mold except where it follows a covered event such as a burst pipe. Inspection costs are rarely covered. Read your policy mold exclusion, then call your insurer rather than relying on what a contractor tells you about your coverage.
Will a landlord pay for mold testing?
Sometimes, though rarely when asked casually. A written request backed by dated photographs and written findings from a licensed inspector puts a landlord in a different position than a phone call does. Section 83.51 of the Florida Statutes covers building, housing and health codes but never mentions mold.
When to worry about mold in a house?
Treat it as urgent when growth covers more than about ten square feet, when it returns to the same spot after cleaning, or when you suspect it has reached the air handler. Sewage or flood water is its own trigger regardless of size. For health questions the CDC is the source rather than a contractor.
What should my landlord do if I have mold?
Ask in writing and keep a copy. A reasonable response is an inspection to find where the water is coming from, repair of that source, then removal of the affected material. Florida has no statute specifically requiring remediation, so what you can insist on comes from your lease. Get legal advice for anything contested.
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