Services

Pacific IAQ is the North Bay’s leader in indoor air quality consulting. Consumers want the best possible service, at the best possible price. At Pacific IAQ, we’ve put together complete investigation packages that are priced well below the industry. There are no travel or mileage charges for projects in Sonoma, Napa, Marin, and parts of Solano, Lake and Mendocino Counties, and we never charge extra for the use of our tools and equipment.

Mold Investigation
Our standard mold investigation is anything but “standard”.  Having been in the mold restoration industry for nine years, we understand building systems and we understand how to fix them when they get wet. Unlike most environmental consultants.

The standard mold investigation is designed to fit the needs of our clients. We conduct an inspection of your home or office, looking for visible signs of water damage or mold growth. We also use thermal imaging to look for signs of moisture in the building materials.  We collect air and surface samples (we always collect at least two outside air samples for baseline comparison to indoor air samples), and surface samples when necessary. All projects are photo documented and all the information we collect is passed on to the client.  Our reports are complete and accurate, and include environmental data, general recommendations for mold remediation, containment recommendations, project specific recommendations for proper remediation (this is the “protocol” that your contractor needs in order to give you an accurate bid), photos, laboratory reports, and a colored diagram of the project site so that you and your contractor can see, at a glance, what needs to be done.

Bacterial Investigation
"Bacterial Investigation" is really just a pleasant way of saying “sewage backflow”. It doesn’t always roll down hill… sometimes it rolls right onto your bathroom floor and may even spread into other areas of your home.  Mold growth in your home is a bad thing, but this is worse! The microbials associated with human waste are a real and direct threat to your health, and need to be addressed quickly and properly. The clean-up process is much different than a clean water release, and doing it wrong can sometimes make things worse. 

Our bacterial investigation includes a visual inspection, thermal investigation, bacterial surface sampling, bacterial air sampling when necessary, photo documentation, moisture documentation, and a detailed report, which includes the protocol for proper clean-up.

Water Damage Assessment
Mold needs only moisture and a food source to grow. Since all homes contain food sources such as drywall, the only variable we can control is water.  Mold will not grow without water!  When you have water intrusion into a home, whether from a leaking roof or a leaking pipe, it’s essential that you stop the leak and start the drying process as soon as possible. 

No matter what kind of investigation we are conducting, we always assess the structure for water damage. The water damage assessment package was designed for our clients who have a clean water release (Category 1) and have started the drying process. Our infrared technology can help define the damage area so that no wet areas are missed, and can give us an indication of how effective the drying methods are.

Post-remediation Verification
Northern California has some great remediation contractors, but none of them can determine when a project is truly complete.  The last step in a remediation project is the post-remediation verification.  This is the “final clearance” investigation that determines how effective the contractor was at remediating the mold or bacteria.

Our post-remediation verification investigation includes a visual inspection of the remediated areas, air and surface sampling, photo documentation, moisture documentation, and a final report to document the success.  Our clearance criteria is simple: the work area must be dust-free, no visible microbial growth or water staining, moisture content in the building materials below 15%, and the mold spore concentrations in the air and on the surfaces must be reflective of normal (outdoor) fungal ecology.

Real Estate Investigation
There’s a huge difference between a home inspector and an environmental consultant.  Home inspectors play an important role in the buying and selling process, but they generally don’t have the education, training or experience to evaluate a home for mold.

The real estate industry has been begging for a low cost microbial investigation that’s both comprehensive and quick.  Pacific IAQ now offers a real estate package that includes the microbial investigation, where we inspect the property for visible evidence of water intrusion and microbial growth, as well as air sampling. The real estate package is identical to our standard mold investigation, without the remediation map or protocol. If at some point your buyer would like to have a protocol, we can provide everything they need.

Infrared Technology
Thermal imaging is a cutting edge technique that uses infrared cameras to detect the slightest differences in surface temperature. As moisture evaporates from wet building materials, the slight drop in temperature makes the full extent of the water damage visible.  Thermal imaging has its strengths and weaknesses, but in trained hands it’s a valuable inspection tool. While an infrared camera is a great piece of gear… it’s just a tool. Unlike most companies, Pacific IAQ does not charge extra for the use of their tools. 

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s)
Indoor air quality (IAQ) professionals are challenged with selecting the appropriate indoor sampling and analysis methods.  Indoor air can be very complex, with up to 300 individual volatile organic compounds (VOCs) comprising a typical indoor air sample. Many VOCs are typically found in indoor air and their sources include building materials, furnishings, floor coverings, wall coverings, paints and stains, copiers and printers, and outdoor air.

Pacific IAQ offers VOC analysis methods based on USEPA protocols. Using a mass spectral database of more than 120,000 individual compounds. Pacific IAQ  can provide the following analysis:

• Total VOCs with All Individual VOCs
• Total VOCs with Top 20 Individual VOCs
• Microbial VOCs (MVOCs)

PCR Analysis
Mycologists traditionally rely on direct microscopic examination to quantify and identify mold in air and surface samples. Speciation of molds is a skilled and labor-intensive task, even for the most experienced mycologists, and the “human element” can be subjective.

The traditional spore-trap analysis provides quantitative and qualitative analysis to the genus level (ex. Fusarium sp.) but cannot distinguish between Aspergillus and Penicillium.

Research conducted at the US-EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory has provided an alternative to traditional microscope-based analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is a fast and accurate DNA-based analytical method for identifying and quantifying molds to the species level.

qPCR has a limit of detection (LOD) of one spore per sample, but can still accurately quantify millions of spores per sample.  In the instance of water intrusion, accurate and rapid speciation and measurement are crucial to an effective risk assessment.  qPCR analysis provides quantitative and qualitative analysis down to the species level (ex. Aspergillus niger).