Last Updated on September 5, 2016
Air quality testing is an important process that may be done for a variety of reasons. For instance, if you suspect that there is a mold infestation in your home, it may be prudent to test the quality of the air in the home before putting in place measures to get rid of it. This will give you an idea of the seriousness of the problem, and in some cases the types of mold you are dealing with.
In addition to that, you could also do air quality testing after the removal process to find out if it was successful or not. Other instances where it might be important include when you are moving into a new house, or when a member of your family has asthma that does not seem to be resolving despite proper use of medication. In such cases, the problem could be down to poor air quality in the home.
The common methods of air quality testing
When planning to do this, you will find that there are several ways to approach the problem. One would be to hire a company that specializes in air quality testing. Typically, these companies offer multiple services, including mold removal. This means that when you work with them, you end up getting a complete package.
The other method would be to buy your own air quality testing kit. These are present in many stores, particularly online retail stores. It’s tempting to buy them because many are cheaper than having to hire a contractor to carry out the work for you. In addition to that, many people theorize that since the kit will be yours once you buy it, you can do air quality testing in Toronto as many times as you want to.
DIY air quality testing kits may not be the best for you
However, there are a number of reasons why investing in these kits is not a good idea. The first is that they are not of the same quality. There are some retail air quality testing kits that are more sensitive than others. However, since all of them are made by firms that are out to make a profit, they will all claim to be accurate. You are therefore likely to end up getting an air quality testing kit that does not give accurate results.
This is particularly prevalent if the spore count is low. In some cases, a low spore count does not mean that you don’t have a serious mold infestation in your home. For instance, if most of the mold is in your basement, using the air quality testing kit in an area far away from the basement could result in a low reading, or will reveal no spores at all.
The issue of value for money
The quality of the results is the most important reason why you should not rely on retail testing kits, but there are other reasons why you should avoid them. One of these is that they may be expensive. Some of the high end kits will cost more than $300. Considering the above facts, spending that much money on them may not offer value for money
Though a good number of the testing kits can test more than one type of air contaminant, many of them only test one or a few of such contaminants. This means that if you use them, you are likely to end up getting readings that do not show the true quality of the air in your home.
Working with a professional contractor to do air quality testing in your home is therefore the better option. You get to test the air quality using sensitive, sophisticated equipment, and the company will also help you get rid of contaminants such as mold.