Why Dogs?

Mold problems are a product of excessive moisture. Moisture problems often go unchecked and unnoticed for extended periods of time. Not because no one cares – but because moisture problems rarely make there appearance until they’re well on their way down the path of destruction. By the time these moisture problems become visible, what you see is often just the tip of the iceberg.

The Problem:
Modern construction methods and materials used today can make moisture problems difficult to detect. The building materials trap moisture, offer nutrition for the mold to grow and at the same time keep it hidden - locked away, out of sight. It would take a tool or someone with x-ray vision to find these problems in their initial phase.

Traditional ways of assessing mold problems such as air sampling are great when used properly. Some of the problems with air sampling for mold are:

• Even if the air sampling results show high spore counts, you still don’t know where the source is located or how widespread it is.
• According to the Institute of Medicine’s study of Damp Indoor Spaces and Health, certain types of molds, such as Stachybotrys are large spores that don’t get lofted into or stay airborne easily.
• Additionally, fungal activity within a wall cavity for example doesn’t mean that spores will enter the occupied space in large quantities. Consequently, you can get a false negative through traditional air sampling while a significant problem is occurring unseen in the wall cavity.

The Solution:
When mold thrives it produces three things:

• Spores
• Odors/Gasses or MVOC’s (microbial volatile organic compounds)
• Toxins (By product of certain Molds)

The gasses mold produces are detected by the human nose as a "musty smell". In addition to being an unpleasant odor, these gasses are known health hazards according to US EPA and other authorities. Chemicals such as benzene, a known carcinogen, are routinely found coming from mold colonies.

Unlike spores, gasses can easily penetrate walls and build-up indoors creating discomfort and causing health complaints such as headaches, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.

While this seems to complicate things, the gasses themselves are the key to the solution.

Dogs have been trusted for hundreds of years to detect and locate things that humans can’t find.

Since 2003 we have been using specially-trained dogs, trained just like bomb dogs or drug dogs, to detect and locate the source of mold growth by detecting the gasses (MVOC’s) mold growth gives off.

This gives us the ability to quickly and accurately screen a building for potential hidden mold and moisture problems non-destructively. Once we use our four-legged mold detectives to help us locate the areas that need further investigation, we then use industry-standard testing and investigative methods to confirm our findings.

It just makes sense!

Whether you are a first-time customer with a 3-bedroom home or a long-term client with a million square feet to manage, we tailor a solution to your individual needs. Our staff is trained and dedicated to help you fulfill those needs through our unique, customized approach and proprietary methods.

Call us today on a confidential basis at (800) 965-0889. Let’s see what Advanced Mold Diagnostics can do for you.