Mold Testing
Air and swab samples collected on site by a NAMRI-certified technician, then analyzed by an accredited laboratory. Enter the address and property type, and finish booking on the next screen.
How much does mold testing cost?
Four options, depending on how much of the home you need looked at. Not sure which one fits? Start with the thirty minute visit and a technician will tell you what is actually worth testing. Decide to test while they are there and the visit is written up as a Mold Plus.
No sampling
Mold Walk & Talk
"Something feels off and I do not know if testing is worth it."
$175
30 minutes on site
- Time with an environmental technician
- Moisture meter and thermal camera
- Findings explained on the spot
- Each additional 30 minutes $95
- No samples or laboratory work
One area, tested
Mold Basic
"I can see it, or I know exactly where to look."
$345
One targeted area, 1 to 2 hours
- Indoor sample plus outdoor comparison
- Accredited laboratory analysis
- Written laboratory report
- Additional samples $95 each
One area, plus the source
Mold Plus
"There was a leak and I want to know where the water went."
$495
One targeted area, 1 to 2 hours
- Everything in Mold Basic
- Moisture and thermal evaluation of the area
- Each additional area $50, plus its $95 sample
The whole home
Mold Advanced
"It could be anywhere, or it keeps coming back."
From $550
Priced by home size, 1 to 2 hours
- Whole home moisture and thermal evaluation
- Sampling in the areas that call for it
- Post-remediation re-test $295, held 3 months
* Prices shown are for Virginia and Maryland. In Washington DC, Mold Basic is $425 and Mold Plus is $575. The Mold Walk & Talk is $175 everywhere. Mold Advanced starts at $630 in DC, with $80 added to every home-size tier.
What a mold test actually involves
No jargon, no surprises. Here is the whole thing, start to finish, so you know what you are buying before you book it.
You tell us where
A musty smell, a stain that came back, a leak last winter. You point at what is bothering you and we start there.
We choose where to sample
The technician examines the area you are worried about and works out where a sample will tell you the most. Placement is what decides whether a result means anything.
Samples go to the laboratory
We collect from the areas that need it, plus one sample from outside. That outdoor sample is what makes your result readable, so it is always included.
You get the report
The written report comes to you with the full laboratory results in it. We do not add an interpretation or a recommendation. If you would rather have the findings condensed into a short summary, we can prepare one for an additional fee.
We test. We never sell you the fix.
NextDay Inspect does no mold remediation, so there is no version of your results that pays us better than another. We will not quote you for removal, and we will not hand you to a contractor who pays us for the introduction.
The company reading your results should not be the one selling the repair.
If work does turn out to be needed, you take the report to whoever you choose. Bring us back afterwards and we will re-test independently, which is the one job the company that did the removal cannot honestly do for itself.
Where we test, and what it costs there
Our technicians work out of the DMV. Virginia and Maryland share the same pricing; the District runs separately, so it is shown on its own.
Virginia
From $345Mold Basic, one targeted area
Counties we cover
Maryland
From $345Mold Basic, one targeted area
Counties we cover
Washington DC
From $425Mold Basic, one targeted area
Coverage
The whole city, river to river.
Every neighborhood in the District, from Georgetown to Anacostia. See our Washington DC page
Mold testing, answered straight
The questions people actually ask us, answered without the hedging.
How much does mold testing cost?
In Virginia and Maryland, testing one targeted area starts at $345, which covers an indoor sample, the outdoor comparison sample and the laboratory analysis. Adding a moisture and thermal evaluation of that area is $495. Whole home coverage starts at $550 and is priced by the size of the house. In Washington DC, Mold Basic is $425, Mold Plus is $575, and Mold Advanced starts at $630, with $80 added to every home-size tier.
If you are not sure testing is needed at all, $175 buys half an hour with an environmental technician who will tell you, and each additional half hour is $95. If you decide during that visit that you do want testing, the job is written up as a Mold Plus, since the moisture meter and the thermal camera are already out.
Do I actually need a mold test, or can I just look?
Looking tells you mold is there. It does not tell you how much of it there is, what kind it is, or whether it has spread past the patch you can see, and those are the answers that decide how big the job turns out to be.
So even when you have already decided to have it removed, testing first is worth it. It gives you a measured starting point, which is the only way to show afterwards that the problem was actually dealt with rather than that the visible patch is gone. Mold spores are in every building. The question is never whether you have any, it is whether you have more than you should, and that is only answerable by comparing indoors against outdoors on the same day.
Why is an outdoor sample included every time?
Because the comparison is the result. A single indoor spore count on its own cannot be read. Two hundred spores of a given type might be unremarkable on a damp spring morning and a genuine finding in midwinter, and the only way to know which is to sample the outdoor air the same day.
That is why we never sell the outdoor sample as an extra. A report without it is a number nobody can interpret, including us.
Who actually comes to my house?
A trained environmental technician from our own team, not a subcontractor. They carry NAMRI certification, they do this work full time, and the person who takes your samples is the person who was in your house, not a name on a form. Collecting a sample well is the part that decides whether the laboratory result is worth anything, because a sample taken in the wrong place answers the wrong question.
Will you also remove the mold?
No, and that is deliberate. We earn nothing from remediation, so there is no version of your results that pays us better than another. We will not quote you for removal and we will not refer you to a contractor who pays us.
If work is needed, you take our report to whoever you choose. If you want us back afterwards to confirm the work was done, we do that as an independent re-test, which is a job the company that did the removal cannot honestly do for itself.
How long does the visit take, and when do results come back?
A Mold Walk & Talk is the half hour it says it is. Mold Basic, Mold Plus and Mold Advanced each run 1 to 2 hours on site.
Anything we measure on site you hear about during the visit itself. Samples that go to the laboratory come back in 3 to 5 business days.
Is black mold dangerous?
The term black mold is not a species, it is a color, and several very common molds are dark. The one people usually mean is Stachybotrys, which does warrant attention, but color alone tells you nothing reliable and neither does a photograph.
The report tells you what was found, in what concentration, and how that compares to outdoors. What it cannot tell you is whether it is making you ill, because that is a question for a doctor and anybody in our industry who answers it is overstepping.
My landlord or my buyer wants documentation. Does this work?
Yes. Every option that includes sampling produces a written laboratory report you can hand to a landlord, a buyer, an agent or an insurer. Because we do no remediation, that report comes from a party with nothing to gain from the outcome, which is usually the point of asking for one.