Common Sense Inspections

Because we had a roof leak that had caused water damage in a number of areas throughout our house, we were naturally very concerned about the possibility of mold developing. After researching and talking to a number of mold inspectors, we chose to go with Mike Vander Nat at Common Sense Inspections. Mike is extremely knowledgeable and awfully good at what he does. Plus, his fees are competitive. But perhaps more importantly, he's a really good guy who we trusted completely. In our experience, he is as honest and reliable as they come. He took the time before, during, and after the inspection to explain the process, the results, and our options clearly and in detail. I ask a lot of questions and he put up with all of them and totally answered them to my satisfaction. He has all the gizmos to do the job right. And both the inspection and the report he put together for us afterwards were unbelievably thorough. He does his job really well and he's a pleasure to deal with. We recommend him highly and would use him again in a heartbeat.

Excellent! Very thorough job!

It went very well. Samuel Dixon is extremely knowledgeable. He's very professional - timely, organized, has excellent follow-up.
He also communicates incredibly well. He makes a rather daunting subject and situation much more doable and less stressful.

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It didn't. He gave me a written breakdown of his prices, on one area he showed a listed price but assured me he would give me the quote from off his head.

a few words describe Samuel - fastidious, honest, reasonable, experienced... and a nice guy... bottom line--he delivers...

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It went great. They were very professional and knowledgable. I felt confident that the house did not have a mold problem and I could continue with the purchase of my home.

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First of all, our review is way overdue. It takes a lot to move into one's first home - so I would say this review is about 2 months behind schedule. Our grattitude remains however - love these guys - they are absolutely at the top of their game.
You know when there is that one famous - genius doctor at that very best - top hospital everyone trys to get in to see...?
For Mold issues, that is SAM of CSI MOLD. This is the company at the top of the food chain.
I can actually state this with experience. Before CSI Mold, we literally hired 3 different mold companies (which scared the bajeezes out of us with their mold results). They charged 2x as much as CSI Mold and were very eager to have us do remediation which would have been outragiously expensive.
CSI Mold called those lab results "junk science" and that we absolutely did not need any mold remediation based on what they saw & reviewed. They also insisted we did not need any further air or surface sampling (Keep in mind that they stand to make a lot of money if they do more sampling for us). We were eager to give them more money (yes - because the other companies frightened us we wanted to be sure) - and CSI Mold told us to keep our money and not to waste it.
They said we had a clean house. If we just got rid of that one contaminated area under the sink (which we did since we had to gut the kitchen anyway) -  the mold spores in the air would be gone. AND THEY WERE 100% RIGHT.  We have lived in the house for 3 months now and my son has had no asthma attacks, my wife (also with lung conditions) has also been fine with no problems. Our Air is good - we have no mold.
Our advice:
DO NOT CALL ANYONE ELSE until you've first spoken with CSI Mold. If there is a week or two to wait (they are very popular and for good reason) - it is worth the wait. Do not let your emotions and fear take charge and hire some other company that will charge you an arm and a leg for stuff that does not need to be done. Because after that, you will probably then hire CSI Mold anyway like we did.
Sam and his partner are very informed, experienced and passionate about what they do...  and very honest.
This company is EASILY and A+ all around.
Good luck to you - (don't make the same mistakes we did - go to CSI MOLD FIRST),
Bill
P.S. For avoidance of doubt - I'm a real customer - not associated with (or friends with) anyone at CSI Mold

Mold was found in our bathroom walls during demolition for a remodel. We contacted CSI Mold for an inspection and they were able to schedule us within a couple days. Samuel was very reassuring and his first thought was to save us money from unnecessary tests. He conducted a visual inspection, explaining the issues in detail, and sent us a very throrough report including photos and protocols for clean-up that were very helpful for our insurance company and the mold remediation company we used. They conducted the clearance inspection as well, which included air testing, again very thorough, prompt, and professional. The invoicing and reporting process was all electronic, very efficient and easy to use.

Still waiting on results.  He was very good.  He was punctual and came within a day or two.  He was thorough and knowledgable. I would recommend him.

They did great.

They were very reasonable and excellent as well.  I can’t say enough good things about them.  They’re good at what they do.  They’re very thorough and were very frank with me.

It went great!
Sam arrived on time, had communicated with me beforehand in a very helpful manner and had texted me 30 minutes before our appointment to remind me of our scheduled time.
He was very thorough in not only checking out the suspect areas (and other areas in the house), but was very helpful in discussing remedies and products to address the areas that needed attention.
He also discussed some of the features of my 1930 era property (like the little windows in the closets that touch an outer wall) that I didn't know about.
Super helpful. Super Friendly. I'm glad I called, and will be the first guy I call if I have and issue with mold in the future.

It went great and beyond my expectations. He is clearly not out for the money and totally honest. He explained how some companies will you how you have all these molds and how you need all these tests and will gauge you. He explained his process and also explained everything in detail with patience until I understood. I would totally recommend him and use him again.

Stop asking.  I've already provided detailed feedback on this service provider.

We were very impressed with Samuel Dixon's knowledge, professionalism and remedial suggestions to a possible mold problem.  After carefully inspecting the areas of concern, he assured us the problem was relatively minor, easily fixable and at a reasonable cost.  Although Samuel arrived a little late because of a traffic accident on the 101 Freeway, he was courteous in that he called ahead to notify us that he was running late.  He arrived prepared and he clearly explained what he needed  to see and why and  he patiently listened to our concerns.  He fully explained his analysis of the problem in simple terms and gave us a clear plan of what we needed to do to fix the problem without great financial expense.  Since Samuel does inspections and not the remedial work, he recommend that we will contact another company for that task.  
With regard to the fee we paid  for the inspection, we consider it a fee will spent for the knowledge and peace of mind we gained.  Last but not least, Samuel Dixon is a pleasure to deal with and we would highly recommend him and his company to friends, family and neighbors because he is honest, trustworthy and diligent.
Thank you Samuel Dixon!

We had bought our home on a short sale with the idea that there would be a need for mold remediation in one basement area, given a report we got from the previous owner. I wanted to be able to tell a mold remediation provider with greater precision what the problem was, to avoid being overcharged, so we hired CSI Mold Inspection. We were ready to hear bad news but we had budgeted for the remediation.
Sam came in and was very thorough. We figured out in the end that the previous inspection report we'd inherited was wrong: there was no mold. It was just efflorescence on cement, as Sam showed and explained. Those other guys were probably just looking for work. Although the home had signs of minor water damage (the sources of which Sam helped me to figure out, beyond the call of duty), it turns out there was no mold in our home. Sam's air inspection bore out what he reported from his visual inspection: no mold, no need to pay another company to come in and fix anything.
Sam was great. He really knows his stuff and he knows how to explain it. Courteous, efficient, friendly, helpful, and, when he was held up in traffic, he called responsibly (even though the delay was only about 10 minutes): what more could you want? I actually had fun talking with him because I had a lot of questions about mold issues and he could answer everything I wanted to know. If we needed help with mold again, he's the first person I'd call.

The service exceeded my expectations!  Samuel was a very honest man to work with.  I found him on Angie's List and scheduled service with him via his web site.  After I secured the data and the options I wanted, he called me to confirm some information and actually down-sold me on what I was asking for.   His advice was, let's assess the situation and then expand the work from there.    On the day of the appointment, he was on time, very informative and again, very honest.  He not only checked the area of the mold concern, but checked the whole house.  We did not have mold in our house, but he discovered a major plumbing leak under the house which was creating a root/moldy situation; so in the end, I needed a plumber.   That said, I was very relieved about not having mold because I live close to the ocean and never had a mold inspection when we first moved in.  Samuel was very easy to work with and carried himself very professionally.

My husband and I recently purchased a new home, and used Samuel to inspect a suspected mold problem in the attic.  Fortunately, there was no mold in the attic, just the remnants of a pigeon infestation.  Still gross, I know.  Anyhoe, Samuel was very professional and obviously very knowledgable about mold.  He took time to answe all of our questions. Even though there was no mold in the attic, he gave us very detailed instructions on how the pigeon mess should be cleaned.

After moving in, we discovered that the valve for the washing machine in the laundry room had a small leak that had slowly been permeating the surrounding drywall and insulation for several months.  (Something our home inspector negligently failed to point out to us, but that is a story for another review).  My husband starting cutting out the wet dry wall and,  UGH, found mold. We called Samuel and had him do a whole house inspection this time to be safe. Again, Samuel was very professional and very patiently answered our many questions.   He confirmed the mold in the laundry room was toxic, and also identified a problem under the sink.

In short, no one wants to find out their new house has mold. It has not been a fun issue to deal with. But at least, aftering using Samuel, we feel confident we know what the problem is.  He is also very reasonably priced.

The only negative thing I have to say is that both time I used Samuel, he took a little longer to get the formal inspection report to us than originally estimated. However, his reports are very detailed, with specific remediation suggestions. I've hack tacked several remediation companies to get bids, and many of them have commented on the quality of Samuel's report.

Samuel Dixon took time to answer all of my questions and provided us with all of the benefits of his expertise.  He is professional and conscientious.

We needed this company to test for residual mold buildup. The man who came out explained what the procedures are and what is involved and let me know of the exact nature of the outcome. They were prompt, professional, and very courteous. The testing was quick and efficient and the contractors were very quick and effective. A good experience, and I'd use them again.

Sam was fantastic!  He was called in because another, less detailed, test showed we had mold in our home.  However, the mold was not visible, and we had no known water damage to point to.  He immediately noticed a suspicious wall and began his investigation there, noting the moisture levels and then looking inside the wall with his camera to get better information.  He found mold and extensive termite damage.  Before proceeding with that wall, he went through every room in the house and did further inspection.  All along the way he was asking questions and answering many of mine.  When the inspection was done, he discussed the option of air samples with me, and then took three relevant samples for testing.  He was at our home for about two hours.  While we had to wait through the weekend to get our results (the lab is only open M-F, 9-5), the report we received was thorough and very helpful.  He also called to discuss the results over the phone in order to explain further and answer any questions.  With Sam you get quality service and great customer service.  
We have since have mold remediation and called Sam back to do clearance testing.  He was just as helpful, thorough and available for questions in that visit as he had been for the first.