Don’t Be Misled into Accepting “Microbial Growth” in Your Delaware Real Estate Purchase

You’re trying to buy your family a new home in Delaware and finally found one, congratulations!

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Later, the home inspection report comes back with the inevitable relatively minor defects, much of which is just deferred maintenance; however, an item listed as “microbial growth” catches your attention. Is it serious? The report won’t tell you: you may not even get a definition of what it means. Moreover, the disclaimer in the report says that the inspection does not test for mold—essentially, a possible, potentially serious problem without a clear solution. Nobody seems like they can, or more importantly will, explain exactly what this means. The seller’s side is questioning how anyone knows for sure whether it is anything to worry about—calling out the finding as bogus (of course, still not adequately described). It now becomes clearer why selecting the brokerage’s associate inspection firm, so boldly advertised in the folder you received to keep all those documents in, may not have been a wise choice.

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Now what?

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Mold is a fungus that opportunistically establishes itself where moisture shouldn’t be. The focus should be on why it’s present (it’s the symptom, but we need to identify the problems) and what can be done about it (identifying solutions). Remediating mold without addressing the causes of moisture in the affected area of the home is a fool’s errand, yet this is the path most chosen as a dubious way forward. Why? Because, in lieu of downplaying concerns or totally dismissing it altogether, cleaning or painting over microbial growth or discarding a few contaminated materials is cheaper, easier, and faster than addressing the problems that caused it in the first place.

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We are IAC2 certified and have been formally trained in microbial and bacterial sampling using Pro-Labs equipment and materials.

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We have everything we need on our truck to call out the microbial growth for the mold that it is—taking this distracting, pointless argument right off the table at the time of inspection (not precious days later). Of course, if more involved testing is needed, we can do that too with a full independent lab analysis and our diagnostic findings letter to identify the things that need to be corrected to address the home’s moisture or indoor air quality problems. Hire an inspector who works for you and you alone—hire Tokori.