In a car or a boat you breathe the volume of a small room, with the doors closed and an air conditioner recirculating the same air. Mold on the AC evaporator, in the carpet after a flood or in the mattress of a berth reaches the lungs at a concentration that would never be measured at home. A vehicle mold test measures the cabin against outdoors and says whether the smell is a nuisance or a problem.
A musty smell in a car is usually treated with an AC spray, an air freshener or an interior clean. Each hides the smell for two weeks. None says what is growing and where.
The car AC evaporator gets wet on every drive and dries slowly. The smell when you start the car in the morning is spores blown straight into your face. A sample at the AC outlet against the cabin proves whether it is the source.
A car that was flooded, or leaked from the roof or a seal, holds water under the carpet and in the floor insulation for months. The interior is dry to the touch, and the smell returns on every rainy day. A moisture meter reads it through the carpet.
The dealer, the garage and the private seller all want the car to drive away. The insurer wants to close the flood file. An independent lab result is what says whether this car is fit to drive with children in it.
The test in a vehicle or a vessel is adapted to a small volume: short samples, comparison against outdoors at the same parking spot, and AC running versus off.
A sample in the closed cabin, a sample at the AC outlet while it runs, and a sample outdoors beside the car or on the pontoon. The difference is the answer.
About this methodSwabs from AC vents, carpet, seats and boat mattresses, and moisture readings under the carpet and in the hull lining. Species ID says how long it has been there.
About this methodFor a luxury car or a yacht before a sale or a purchase: DNA from the cabin dust says what grew there over time, even after a thorough clean.
About this methodA car and a vessel are the same problem in two sizes: a closed volume, water that got in, and a system that recirculates air. This is what is tested in each, and what you get at the end.
A cabin sample with the AC off, then a sample at the AC outlet after five minutes of running. If the concentration at the outlet is far higher, the source is the evaporator and the ducts, and the fix is a professional system clean and a new cabin filter. If the concentration is the same, the source is in the cabin itself.
A moisture meter through the carpet in every footwell and the boot, a swab from the carpet edge and under the seats, and species ID at the lab. Species of prolonged wetness say the water sat there for weeks, which is what turns a "cleaned" car into a car whose upholstery has to come out. The report suits an insurance claim and a price negotiation.
A boat that sat closed for months is a damp cabin nobody opened. We sample every berth, the saloon and the engine room against the pontoon air. We measure moisture in mattresses, upholstery and hull linings, and check the bilge and the marine air conditioning.
A marine survey checks the hull, the engine and the systems. It does not measure the air in the berth. A pre-purchase mold test records what grew inside and what it takes to clean, before a price is agreed. For a charter: documentation on handover day protects the deposit.
For a car: to the dealer or the garage treating the AC, to the insurer in a flood file, or to the buyer in a negotiation. For a vessel: to the marina, the charter company, the management company or the buyer. In both cases the report separates the system, the upholstery and the structure, so the right thing gets fixed.
One test costs less than a third AC clean that did not help, and far less than new upholstery for a car that did not need it.
The report is written so a garage, a dealer, an insurer or a marina can act on it without coming back to us.
The morning smell is spores and breakdown products that built up on the wet evaporator and are pushed into the cabin at start-up. Whether it is dangerous depends on the species and the concentration, and the test measures both: a sample at the AC outlet against the cabin and against outdoors. In most cases the fix is a professional clean of the evaporator and ducts and a new cabin filter, and the test says whether that is enough or the source is the carpet.
Yes. A moisture meter through the carpet in the footwells and the boot finds floor insulation that is still wet, and a surface sample from the carpet edge and under the seats identifies the species. Species of prolonged wetness, such as Chaetomium, say the water sat there for weeks. The report documents it with dates and locations, and suits a negotiation with the seller or an insurance claim.
Where the car is parked or at the marina where the boat is moored. We bring the equipment, and the test takes half an hour to an hour for a car and one to three hours for a yacht, depending on the number of cabins. The outdoor sample is taken at the same spot, because the comparison has to be against the air around the car or the pontoon.
Yes, and it complements the marine survey rather than replacing it. The survey checks hull, engine and systems. Our test measures the air in the cabins, the moisture in mattresses and linings and the marine air conditioning, and identifies what is growing inside. The report gives a basis for a cleaning demand or a price reduction, and for a charter it records the condition on handover day.
Cookies on this site
We store only what the site needs to work: keeping you signed in, remembering your language, and checking you're not a bot. We also run Google's advertising tag on every page, to tell which ads bring people here. Until you allow it, that tag stores nothing on your device and sends Google only a basic, cookie-free signal. Allowing all lets it use cookies too. Cookie Policy · Privacy Policy
