Mold ranks right up there with the most serious health issues you can get staying in an apartment. Mold can happen in any living dwelling, but when you are living in an apartment, more than likely, you are going to have to have the landlord or the maintenance guy come and confirm that you do actually have mold in your apartment. Sometimes, they are hesitant to do so because they feel it may make them look poorly in the eyes of the tenant.
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I am going to take you through the tell-tale signs of mold in your apartment, and what to do about it if you DO have a mold problem. I will give you, and your landlord, a couple of simple, cost-effective solutions you can use to get rid of mold and get to feeling better about living in your apartment.
Is There Mold In My Apartment?
The first thing you need to do is determine whether or not you actually HAVE mold in your apartment. Many times, people confuse the symptoms of mold on the body with other health issues they may have. Landlords are always worried that outside health issues are being attributed to their concern and that the problem really isn’t mold at all, but something else entirely. And many times, they aren’t wrong.
You need to prove that there is mold in your apartment before your landlord or maintenance guy is going to address the problem. The easiest way to do this is with a Mold Kit. (I will go over the different kinds below.)
There are several different types of Mold Kits, which we will go through, but all of them are super easy. The primary difference between them is who ends up doing the testing and verification. Some of the tests will grow themselves right in your apartment, and with other brands, they have you send the sample back in a pre-paid envelope to be tested by a professional lab.
The cost for these kits is not prohibitive. If you are worried about the cost, ask your landlord to pay for the test. I am telling you, as a landlord, that I would MUCH rather pick up the cost of a test, regardless of what it comes back as then treat something that doesn’t exist.
Mold can present symptoms of stuffy and runny nose, a scratchy throat, and lead to wheezing and trouble breathing if not treated and taken care of. It is rare that mold is life-threatening, but it can make you sick and leave you with the feeling that you just can’t get better and you don’t really know why.
For landlords, unless they have good reason to believe that there could be mold in the apartment from a recent leak or water damage, they are going to want to see proof for themselves besides a runny nose before they start tearing drywall out.
This is where the Mold Tests come in.
I Found Mold In My Apartment, What Do I Do?
The first thing you need to do is actually prove that there is mold growing in your apartment. Let’s take a look at the quickest and easiest way to do this.
The first Mold Kit Apartment School recommends is the Mold Armor FG500 kit. This is a complete do it yourself test kit. Instructions on how to take a sample and grow the culture are included, and the test takes just a couple of days to see results. The best thing about this mold test kit is the price. At less than $10, you can’t get much better than that. The downside is that this testing method is not nearly as good as the professional labs can do.
The next step up we recommend is the First Alert MT1. This kit is going to get you a bit better test results, and you can test in multiple places. The price of the kit is only $10, but if you want a lab to do the testing for you, they offer to do it for an extra $15 bucks, which is a bargain. If you are wanting to do a general, mid-quality test to see if mold is in your apartment, check this product out.
This is the kit that Apartment School recommends above all others. We have had many disagreements at our complex settled by doing a test by this company. The DIY Mold Test Kit For Home is what you want to get for the most comprehensive testing you can buy. At only $45, it comes with 3 separate tests and pre-paid envelopes for professional lab testing. With this kit, you can do your entire apartment and get top of the line, professional results back in less than a week. I cannot recommend this product highly enough.
No matter if you end up having mold in your apartment or not, an actual mold testing kit can put any disagreements between you and the landlord to rest. There is little room for arguing if the tests come back positive OR negative. Either way, you have the information you can go on to narrowing down what is causing your health concerns.
If you want to browse through different mold testing kits for the home that are on the market, simply click here and you can find one that is right for you.
Again, ask your landlord to reimburse you for the cost of the test. If they are a decent landlord, they should have no problem doing this, especially if you don’t bring them frivolous complaints every other day. Let them know you are concerned about mold and that you would like to do a professional mold test, tell them how much it costs, and if they would cover or split the cost with you. Most of your landlord will be more than happy to do this.
If There Is Mold In My Apartment, Who Do I Call?
The last thing your landlord wants if mold IS found in your apartment is for it to spread. In warm, dark conditions, like those under sinks and especially inside walls can be particularly inviting for mold to grow in. And left untreated, the mold can spread throughout the building and begin affecting a whole slough of tenants.
You want to call your landlord or maintenance guy if you find mold in your apartment, if your mold test shows mold growing in it, or if your mold test from a professional lab came back with a positive test result.
Your landlord is going to be the person ultimately responsible for taking care of the problem, and in the vast majority of all cases, they are going to be responsible for paying for the issue to be fixed as well.
Unless you have overrun your tub repeatedly, or have some other issue your landlord has taken up with you regarding how you are treating appliances and other things in your apartment, more than likely you are NOT going to be responsible or on the hook for paying for the mold to be removed.
It may take a few days for a crew to get to your apartment to address the issue, and even more days for the problem to actually be fixed. In the meantime, ask your landlord for a strong, industrial fan, almost all apartment complexes have them, and set it up in your living room or any other area that you can get good airflow in. Then open the windows for an hour or so and make sure you exchange all the air in your apartment.
Mold likes it warm and dark to grow. Moisture hangs around in stale, unmoving air MUCH better than when fresh air is circulating around the apartment. Even before you get your mold test back from the lab or it grows in the container from one of the kits you buy, you want to make sure that your apartment is exchanging air completely on a regular basis.
Things like not letting your bathroom air out completely after a bunch of people have used it is a prime location and environment for mold to grow in. And repeated use only makes those conditions worse. This means you are going to have to wash and dry your wet towels and clothes maybe a little bit more frequently than you have been used to doing in the past.
What If Black Mold Is In My Apartment?
Black mold is simply a type of mold that grows like any other and is not necessarily any more dangerous than any other type of mold. You will want to have the mold professionally treated.
It is not the end of the world to find mold. It is natures way of breaking down organic material. The problem becomes that it can interfere with our respiratory system and can be symptomatic of an unclean living environment.
Just like any other type of mold, you will want to have the area professionally treated unless it is confined to a small area. Then, literally ANY of these products will do the trick for killing and removing the mold.
You will want to look for other places nearby that might be initiating the growth of the mold in the first place, such as bubbling or sagging drywall, or moisture coming from underneath cabinets or sinks. Finding the root cause is crucial in treating mold in your apartment, and if a test comes back positive, this is the first thing a professional is going to look for.
The main thing is that you don’t freak out when dealing with the mold. It is rarely life-threatening, more of a nuisance, and can most times easily be gotten rid of by airing out your apartment and treating the infected area with a mold spray.
If you suspect that you MAY have mold in your apartment, but aren’t sure, the best thing to do is to order one of the mold test kits, send the samples off to a professional lab, and have them get the results back to you. This is the quickest, easiest, and the most insured way to get definitive results.
Ask your landlord to help cover the cost of the mold testing kit. Most landlords will do this and it will let them know you are serious about finding a definitive answer rather than just claiming the apartment you are renting from them has mold. Your landlord will want to take care of the problem as soon as possible if it DOES come back positive, so most times they are going to be willing to do this for you.
In the end, know that mold is a treatable problem that is handled every day and with the right information, you can determine whether or not your apartment has mold in it or not.
