I did an outdoor and indoor mold test, and looks like the indoor as 2 more black colonies with a white outline, does that indicate a mold issue? We had a leak and there has been a slight musty smell ever since
Hi Ian, I don't know the answer to your question. A couple of inputs to offer in case useful, based on experience with fungi, noting that I am not a mold expert: Firstly that the air, indoor and outdoor, is full of many kinds of spores, so there are many kinds of fungi that can grow on an agar plate. Secondly that identifying mold to species usually requires microscopy, though folks with mold expertise can sometimes identify typical indoor molds by colour and growth pattern (and habitat). Damp conditions are desired by fungi, so a musty smell combined with damp seems likely to mean some fungi are enjoying the conditions. However that does not necessarily mean you have an issue per se, especially if you have removed the optimal growing condition, the dampness caused by the leak. Information on molds provided by companies that specialize in remediation services must needs be viewed with a bit of salt because it is their business to have folks concerned. There are ethical companies of course but still the source can't be considered objective. Keeping that in mind, here's an interesting list I found recently, posted by a company: Types of Mold - Environix - just sharing this as a useful list of typical indoor genera. If you don't find someone to ID the mold (or to assess ie growth quantity / speed on agar plates as a measurement tool of total indoor spore load), then it might be good to monitor and discover if the musty odour gradually dissipates in the non-leaky less humid state of the indoor area. Hope that is of some help frog
Engage an environmental abatement contractor to investigate and if necessary abate your situation. They will be advertising that they are able to address things like asbestos, mildew and so forth.
