So often we see these days innocent families purchasing their family homes are unaware of the potential hidden dangers of toxic mould, lurking behind the wall cavities, under floor cavities, roof cavities, air conditioning, ventilation not adequate, drainage issues the list goes on.

We scratch our heads sometimes just wondering how some of these properties passed a thorough building and pest inspection and not picked up & reported on hidden mould and mould odours if they are present.

Mould odour, the musty smell in the air is a sure indication to further investigate the property for potential mould problems, that is your first clue or (gut instint) as I say, trust your instinct you are generally right.

Second clue is the fresh paint job and fresh renovation covering up a hidden mould source?

I would like to share a story of a lovely family who at the start of the year purchased their dream home.  They wanted the right home so they hired a buyers agent to seek and find them just exactly that, they had trust that the company was professional and knew what they were doing when locating properties for purchase.

The home presented immacualately, it was in the right location, offered everything they were looking for and had a pool for the children, they could see themsevles raising their family and creating lifelong memories in their forever home.

So they negotiated to puchase the home, carried out a building and pest inspection with everything reporting back perfect, so guess what happens next they go unconditional now on the contract with settlement to take place.

Soon after they move in the family notice they are all not well, fatigue, headaches, irritated eyes, respiratory symptons and they just don't seem to recover, this has gone on now for 3 months.  Then one night a super cell storms comes through and they have a leak in the roof and into a family room, they had a response water damage company attend immediately.  At this stage they suspected more maybe going on and that hidden mould could be present, so the investigation began, almost all of the walls on the lower level of the home were removed and part of the problems were located however not everything.  We were called by the customer as the now 3rd mould remediation company after a few weeks to further investigate, after the clients had spent thousands of $$$ on quality Air testing, Surface testing and ERMI testing, they needed answers to the can of worms they now feel they have opened and have now been living out of the home in temporary accomodation for the past 6 months.

At our inspection we located a timber floor covering the kitchen, dining and family room floor, we could smell the mould odour coming from this area and asked the clients if it has been checked and cleared for a hidden source, they advised us that nobody had mentioned anything about the floor to them and they didn't think it was a problem.  We had the customer lift two long timbers and inspect under the floor with camera's, there it was, black mould trapped under a 50ml subfloor.


Our clients are out of pocket ontop of their initial purchase price in excess of $230,000 in mould testing, builders, materials ,new kitchens, bathroom, ozone treatment & mould remediation, accomodation costs, doctors and medical expenses etc

We are aiming and hoping that our clients can celebrate Christmas at home and are able to have the home finished with the builders, now that all source mould areas have been located, removed, ozone treated and remediated. 

So the importance of having a thorough pre purchase mould inspection by a certified firm prior to going unconditional on your sale could save you thousand of $$$$$ and most importantly you and your families health..........

A thorough mould investigation should include

24 Nov 2015 Meagan Mckenzie