TEST YOUR HOME FOR MOLD WITH AN ERMI

The ERMI is one of the best tools you can use to test your entire home for hidden sources of mold.

The ERMI is a DIY test that looks for the DNA of 36 different mold species in your home’s dust. It is very simple to do, and can be done by anyone as long as they are capable of dusting and can follow simple instructions.

A few things you need to know about the ERMI:

  • An ERMI won’t tell you where mold is hiding in your home, but IT WILL tell you the different species of mold in your home and the measurement of each species present. With that said, an ERMI validates whether or not mold levels in your home are dangerously high and is a great tool to determine if your home may be impacting your health. It’s also important to note that not all mold species are created equal; some molds are allergenic, some molds are pathogenic, and some molds are toxigenic; therefore one species of mold can most certainly be more dangerous than others.

  • Because the ERMI only tests for 36 mold species most commonly found in water damaged buildings, as well as common outdoor molds, it’s important to know there could be other types of hazardous molds in your home, such as fusarium that aren’t being reported on the ERMI. This is why the ERMI Plus was created so you can add on other mold species to your ERMI. It can get very pricey adding additional mold species to the ERMI though, so this is why most people stick with the regular ERMI.

  • You technically only need one ERMI for your entire home unless you have a rather large home or you want to test non-living areas such as an attic or crawlspace. Here are examples of different scenarios:

    1. If you have a 2 story home, you could do 1 ERMI for both the 1st and 2nd floor, but we recommend leaving your attic and crawlspace out (if you have one). If you want to test your attic and/or crawlspace, we recommend purchasing an additional ERMI for the attic, and an additional ERMI for the crawlspace to test them separately.

    2. If you live in a home over 3,500 square feet, you may want to consider doing two ERMI’s. For one half of the house, you would do one ERMI and the other half of the house you would do the second ERMI.

  • If you are limited on funds, you can order the HERTSMI-2 instead of the ERMI. The HERTSMI-2 is another mold dust test similar to the ERMI, but it is less expensive and only tests for 5 mold species compared to 36 mold species.

    If you’re trying to figure out if your home may be making you sick, check out this page for other less expensive options.

    1. Choose the swiffer option when ordering. This should already be preselected.

    2. Once you place your order, the lab will send you a kit in the mail with a dry, unscented swiffer cloth, a glove, and instructions on how to collect dust in your home.

    3. Once you collect enough dust on the swiffer cloth to where it is visibly dirty all over, you’ll mail the the swiffer cloth back to the lab.

    4. The lab will then analyze your swiffer cloth for mold DNA, and then email you an ERMI report once their analysis is complete.

  • Wipe the dust in one direction. Do NOT use a circular or back-and-forth motion when dusting.

    If your home just had a deep cleaning - meaning every inch of your home from top to bottom was cleaned - we recommend waiting at least a month before dusting for your ERMI. It’s very important that you collect dust in areas you don’t dust regularly to get a more accurate depiction of the mold species present in your home.

    Areas You Can Dust:

    Tops of fan blades

    Furniture

    Counters

    Shelves

    Cabinets

    Baseboards

    Tops of Interior Doors

    Electronics

    Return air duct grill

    Etc.

    Avoid Dusting:

    Drywall Dust

    Visible Mold

    Rusty areas

    Flooring

    Windows and window sills

    Exterior door frames

    Heat sources like the fireplace, dryer and oven

    Anywhere in bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room

  • Sure thing! Click here to see an example of an ERMI report.

  • The ERMI is often criticized because of the way the ERMI score is calculated. Having a much higher 'common indoor mold count' compared to the 'water damage mold count' can offset and downplay the final score, resulting in falling into a lower quadrant.

    Additionally, certain mold species carry more weight than others. So even if your ERMI shows that the mold count is low for one specific species of mold, that low count species may actually be more problematic in comparison to another less dangerous species showing a higher count in your home.

    So with this being said - having a low ERMI score doesn't always mean the building is truly safe, and having a high ERMI score doesn’t always mean your home is unsafe. This is why it’s important to either have a mold consultant review your ERMI or educate yourself on how to interpret an ERMI.

    The ERMI is also criticized by mold inspectors and mold remediation companies because the ERMI is unable to distinguish whether or not you have active mold growth, or dead mold in your home from years prior. This is a very weak argument though because dead mold, as well dormant mold spores, can still be harmful to your health. To further add to this argument, if you have mold spores floating around your home, there is a high potential for new mold growth.

    Due to much backlash, the EPA now states that the ERMI should be used for research purposes only. However, despite everything mentioned, the ERMI is still an excellent tool to investigate hidden mold in a building (as long as it is interpreted correctly).

    Lastly, we want to mention that ambient air samples, which many mold inspectors take when they assess a building for mold, are highly inaccurate; yet inspectors continue to push air samples while they insist the ERMI isn’t accurate. Read more about the inaccuracy of air samples here under section 2 - “Mold Inspectors have failed us”.

  • The lab you purchase the ERMI from provides a free 5 minute phone consultation; however most people prefer a more in-depth ERMI analysis.

    This is where our mold education portal can be extremely helpful. Our portal has a section for interpreting ERMI’s.

    It’s very important for you to know that the ERMI scoring system is flawed, but we still find it to be a very useful tool as it gives valuable information pertaining to the species of mold in your home, as well as the level of mold. You just need to know what to look for on the ERMI report to make an educated decision. Check out our mold education portal to make informed decisions throughout your mold journey.

TEST “SUSPECTED” MOLD GROWTH WITH A MOLD SWAB KIT

Mold inspectors often use mold swabs to collect samples of suspicious mold growth. What most people don’t realize is they can save a lot of money with DIY mold testing like this mold swab kit.

If you see something that looks like mold but aren’t sure, a mold swab is a great way to validate your suspicions.

Oftentimes HVAC systems and ductwork will appear “dusty” when in fact microbial growth is present. Another great place to swab is “dusty” baseboards by your shower or tub to see if you have a mold issue in your bathroom.

Note: You should never test multiple areas with 1 swab. If you need to swab additional areas, you’ll need to purchase additional swab tests.

To order: Scroll down to where it says “Swab Testing” and select how many tests you want.

There is also an option for gravity test plates, which we don’t typically recommend for mold testing, but they can be useful in certain circumstances. If the mold in your home is isolated and not all over (think moldy HVAC spewing mold spores all over your home), the gravity plates can SOMETIMES be helpful in identifying which areas of your home may have hidden mold growing.

Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links.