Residential Air Quality

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My original request was for an air quality test & asbestos wipe.  The reason is that I have bad allergies and the house had a mold issue in the attic.  We also didn't know if a duct in the basement was asbestos or not.  Some of the siding on the house are assumed to be asbestos siding as would be consistent with the year the home was built.  I asked Paul if he was interested in the job since I would not be hiring him to remediate.  That would be by a another company that is agreeable to both us and the seller.  By comparison, having a true 3rd party government environmental specialist come out would have cost us several hundred dollars more.  Paul said that was fine and (without knowing the quote I had from an environmental agency), gave me a very reasonable quote.  More than one depending on how we wanted to approach it.  And he also recommended that he go out (free of charge) to photo document the mold both to protect our interest and also to encourage whoever was doing the remediation to do it right the first time.  We were under a very tight deadline for all results to be in.  He made himself available to do the job the next day and expressed the samples to the lab.
I was not able to be present for the inspection, but my realtor was there.  He photo documented the mold issue and took tape samples of the affected areas.  He also did a comprehensive air quality test of the whole house including checking for water leaks with a thermal imager.  And took an asbestos wipe sample as well.  The point of the inspection was to gain documentation of an existing issue and a baseline report on the home's overall air quality as well as answer to a possible asbestos lined duct.
He followed up quickly with the reports by email and also phone calls to help interpret the data.  Offered his professional opinion and advice regarding what he thought was found.  Fortunately, all was well.  No asbestos.  Mold documentation was done.  Mold type discovered as well as a mold count (to compare to after remediation) and that no leaks or other allergens throughout the house.  Also confirmed (without knowing what the other company reported) another company's assessment on what is the likely cause of the mold and how it should be remediated.
We are satisfied with his service.

They did not appear to be professionally credentialed in this area (the father's doctoral degree, listed by them,  is not in an area of science), and they did not get back to us with their report until we had pursued them for some time (the son did the testing and was unresponsive to requests, but the father sent a report when contacted). Their findings were not terribly helpful to us in determining what to do about the odor, and we were left feeling uncertain whether this was all that could be done, or they were simply not set up to give us the necessary information.

Overall, my experience with them was good. They're very responsive. They were quick. They seemed like they knew what they were doing. It all went pretty smoothly. They do a good job. I would recommend them.

It was fine. They were very efficient and on time which is a lot to ask for.

If you are trying to figure out the origins of mold or a bad odor in your house, this is the guy to use.
I called Paul on the night before Christmas as we had a strong moldy smell in our house for weeks and it was getting bothersome. I had planned to leave a message but to my surprise, he picked up. He was very polite and offered to come out the morning after the holidays at 8:30am.
He was punctual and on time. He had sophisticated equipment which allowed him to properly analyze the problem. Within an hour he had spotted the problem.
He was a pleasure to work with and he's very passionate about the field! I would highly recommend him - go no further.

I cannot say enough good about Paul Cummings, owner of Residential Air Quality.  I'd been searching for the cause of a mysterious odor in my house for well over a year and was told that hiring someone to come into my house to do tests would run into the thousands of dollars.  I found that to be an accurate assumption when I called a few places out of desperation to get rough quotes.   
 
So I continued my quest to rid my home of this elusive odor, to no avail.  In another attempt I called to have my HVAC and duct work cleaned and Paul Cummings was highly recommended before I spent any more money guessing.  I was assured he was both honest and affordable.  He proved to be both. 

It was the best money I?ve ever spent and wish I had known about him before I?d wasted too much money and time on my own seeking out the odoriferous beast responsible for robbing my peace.   

If you are concerned about air quality or find yourself in the same struggle to find the cause of an odor in your house, I highly recommend giving Paul a call.

All services were completed as discussed.  They also gave me advice as how to eliminate the odors.  They did offer to do the work but I wanted to do it myself.

Paul Cummings of Residential Air Quality is excellent, he is very knowledgeable in regards to Mold and Air Quality issues.  He is an excellent contractor who cares about his work and most importantly his clients.  Paul and his team treated an area of my basement wall near the impacted area just to be sure and replaced that old insulation as well.

I was referred to Paul Cummings the owner of Residential Air Quality by a very reputable and the best  Air Duct cleaning service around Peobody Cleaning Co.  My family and I were having some symptoms recently from suspect air quality within my home which has a new furnace and the duct work was cleaned three years ago.  I called Paul of Residential Air Quality to see if he could help out and offer guidance and solutions.  Paul was able to come out to our home within three or four days of my first initial contact with him.  I had an air purifier on my heating system which the circuit board failed.  When Paul arrived with Dan they listened to my concerns.  They measured particulates exiting my registers and returns within the house.  They also performed other air quality measurements such as moisture detection and used a gas meter detector.  Paul put the gas meter detectors on one of my registers and questioned why he was receiving a reading of natural gas emanating from the ducting system.  Also no one could actually smell the natural gas and I also have natural gas alarms within my home and they did not detect this.  Keep in mind in May we were not using the heat or a/c.  Paul continued to check into the natural gas situation by examining the natural gas piping within my home and the outside box all checked out clean.  Paul then checked the valve on the furnace and determined that the shut off valve on the furnace was not closing tightly.  I immediately called my HVAC company and they were at my house within a half hour.  Paul made sure he stayed to check the new valve which was installed.  The first new valve was defective Paul used his gas meter and detected a minor leak, so the HVAC tech installed a second new valve and once installed Paul checked it and No gas leaks!  Paul and Dan checked for moisture intrusion within the basement and sampled the air from the air ducts as well as a suspect mold area on my back basement wall.  All these samples were sent to an independent lab and the basement wall detected a mold issue from the furnace condensate tube freeing in the sub zero temperature in the winter. 

Paul is a very honestly person, he does not panic you and suggests simple and cost effective step by step solutions.  He is one of the best contractors I have worked with and is extremely knowledgable in regards to air quality and  mold testing.  He is very caring and attentive to your concerns, for example staying late to check the gas valve while waiting on the HVAC company to arrive and complete their job.  By alleviating the gas leak situation, installing a new air purifier and recirculating the air via highly efficient april aire filter the air quality improved significantly where we no longer suffered from symptoms while in the house.  I will be having Paul and his team disinfect the mold on my basement wall in the near future.

Paul came round and explained the entire process and showed me photos and samples from other work and discussed exactly what he could achieve. In this pre-sales visit he identified one big issue with a draft that I hadn't noticed - and I got this fixed even before he came back for the paid service. When he came on the scheduled day (on time) we asked him to reorganize the work so as not to interrupt a piano lesson and he did so without blinking - doing the quiet stuff first and the noisy stuff later. He found three gas leaks (!) which our gas provider confirmed and fixed as soon as I told them. He used a thermal camera to pinpoint air leaks and provided these photos to me in the report. He used a "blower door" to suck air out of the house and a computer to measure the inflow and whole-house leakage rate. While the fan was running he and his colleague were able to physically track drafts and leaks. They promised a report just a few days later and it arrived as promised, was very comprehensive and included all measurements taken, photos and thermal photos of issues inside the house and inside the attic space. I emailed some follow up questions and Paul wrote and called me back, and went through them all with me at the level of detail I wanted (a lot). The upshot is that we know we can save money, energy and emissions by taking a few simple steps, plus additional insulation in the attic - and Paul advised the exact type and approach we should use. If I had spent the money to discover that everything was fine that would have been worth it for the peace of mind, as it is I expect to recover the cost and more by following up on his recommendations (as well as not breathing gas leaks....). It is a pleasure to deal with a vendor that does what they say, does it professionally and courteously, and are real experts in their field.

On time, professional, helpful. Price was exactly as quoted; stayed extra time to discuss results and options for solving energy leak problems. Excellent experience.