Mould testing on the Gold Coast

Apartments that sit empty between stays

A furnished apartment that is locked up for a fortnight in summer can go from fine to musty without a drop of water getting in. Humid air settles on the coolest surfaces — the back of wardrobes, under beds, inside kitchen cabinetry against an external wall — and the soft furnishings soak it up. Owners often first hear about it from a guest review.

A humidity logger left in the unit while it is empty shows whether the problem is the building or the way it is left. Combined with a surface check of the contents, that decides whether the fix is a dehumidifier and a cleaning regime or a building repair.

Balconies, sliding doors and façade leaks

In coastal towers, wind-driven rain is forced against glazing and balcony thresholds that face the ocean. Failing door seals, blocked weep holes and cracked balcony membranes let water into the floor and the bottom of internal walls, sometimes in the unit below. Moisture mapping along the glazing line and the floor edge is the quickest way to tell a façade leak from condensation on cold glass.

Townhouse complexes

Townhouses share roofs, walls and stormwater with their neighbours. Mould on a ground-floor wall shared with the next unit can come from a shower on the other side. Where several units in one complex are affected, each needs its own readings, because a pattern across the block points to a common-property cause rather than how one household lives.

Suburbs and towns in this council area

Southport · Surfers Paradise · Broadbeach · Main Beach · Robina · Varsity Lakes · Burleigh Heads · Palm Beach · Coolangatta · Helensvale · Coomera · Nerang