How It Works:
Many Duct Cleaning companies are owned and operated by honest and reliable owners and they offer a valuable service. However, some “Duct Cleaners” or other untrained mold inspection service providers have perfected this scam.
They offer a very low “Duct Cleaning” service to get their foot in your door. When they show up to clean your ducts they offer you a free mold test OR they claim to find hidden mold in the duct work. They basically scare you into a very expensive “spray treatment” and sign you up for a regular “treatment service”. This is a very bogus and risky proposition.
How To Avoid It:
The best way to avoid this scam is to avoid using a service provider that uses “Instant Mold Tests” to conclusively determine if you have a mold problem or not. The manufacturers of these field test kits specifically state in their literature that a positive test result should be followed up with laboratory testing.
Furthermore the EPA specifically recommends AGAINST using a biocide as the sole source of remediation. The biocide used by these scam artists may be much more dangerous than the mold that it is being used to control. The EPA recommends “physical removal” of any mold or mold damaged building materials.
Another interesting note is that many modern homes use a vinyl or plastic “flex duct” that will not even support mold growth, but can also be damaged by improper duct cleaning. If you are going to use a firm to clean your ducts make sure that they are a National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) member and verify this yourself online – don’t take their word for it.
We have had reports from consumers that these con-men always seems like the nicest and most believable guys in the industry.
For more information on this and other scams: Please see "Mold Scams and Fraudulent Mold Practices".
For more information concerning mold and other indoor air quality issues please visit the AMI Environmental Testing Northwest, Inc. website or call us at 503.383.9457.
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Through your post I learned how I can identify the scam air duct cleaners so thanks for this sharing.
ReplyDeleteDuct Cleaning Toronto
Air duct cleaning reduces or eliminates pollutants such as dusts inside your homes cooling and heating systems. Many homeowners know that this air cleaning process is necessary regarding the quality and upkeep of indoor home environment.
ReplyDeleteDuct Cleaning Markham