Welcome to K9 Mold Inspections!
We are Janet and Bryan Blade. We started K9 Mold Inspections to help families avoid the challenges we have faced with toxic mold.
In 2013, we never would have guessed K9 Mold Inspections would be in our future. However, that year, my health started to decline. Over the following 9 years, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Hyperacusis, Vestibular Migraines and experienced dozens of other symptoms and sensitivities.
I sought the help of over 30 health practitioners and still failed to receive the answer to why my health was failing. Nearly 8 years later, a doctor listened to my entire health history for 2 hours, and had an “Ah Ha!” moment.
She asked, “Is there a chance you are being exposed to mold?”
Mold didn’t seem like a possibility. Bryan didn’t have health issues. My symptoms had started years before we moved into our home. We had repiped our home four years earlier before remodeling it. We also didn’t see any signs of mold or water intrusion in our home….yet.
Ten months later, we spotted mold growing behind our kitchen sink. A mold inspector thought we had three feet of mold growing behind our cabinets. The truth was much worse. Stachybotrys (black mold) and Aspergillus had taken over one-third of our kitchen – growing behind our cabinets and under our flooring.
After 9 years of physical, emotional, and financial stress, we felt lucky to finally have answers.
After sharing the news with my doctor, she held her arm up and said, “Janet, I have goosebumps! Most people never find the mold!”
This discovery was validating and helped us piece together many health mysteries.
Unfortunately, there’s more….
One year later, we excitedly moved back to my home state of Arkansas. We thought we did everything “right” during the home-buying process. We had a mold inspection, air quality tests, and swab testing.
Sadly, the inspection missed many areas of hidden mold in our home, and my health started to decline again.
We spent the next 18 months remediating our home room-by-room.
Over the years, Bryan and I experienced many types of water intrusion. Remediation companies assured us that there was no mold. We repiped homes and believed it would protect us from all pipe leaks. We had visual mold inspections and realized more mold could lurk in our home undetected. We paid for testing and discovered testing has limitations. We also learned that dormant (dried-out) mold is a health risk.
As we were completing the 18-month project in our home, we learned there was a much easier way to find hidden mold.
Mold detection dogs!
We could have avoided years of health issues and the financial impact of lost wages, medical expenses, and unnecessary construction expenses.
As luck would have it, we had the perfect dog for mold detection……Pearl.
When Pearl joined our family, I had set the goal of finally regaining my health and training her for a new hobby – agility for dogs. Training Pearl gave me an outlet and somewhere to focus my attention while we navigated remediation.
As it turned out, the characteristics that made Pearl a great candidate for agility also made her a great candidate for scent detection. After learning about mold detection dogs, we realized that Pearl had a much bigger purpose and could help families in our community.
Over the years, we have helped other families by sharing our mold story and serving as a resource. Now, with Pearl’s mold detection training, we are able to give families much-needed answers.
We are on a mission to help families get the answers necessary to reclaim the health of their homes and avoid the challenges we have faced.
While our personal mold experience is not necessary for Pearl to do her job, our experience and knowledge of homes are essential in translating Pearl’s findings when she alerts to the presence of mold.
With nearly two decades of experience navigating water intrusion and hidden mold growth, we are able to provide our clients with valuable resources for moving forward. We know how overwhelming it can be when navigating health issues and facing the potential need for mold remediation. Having someone in your corner to help you navigate the next steps and avoid common mistakes can make all the difference.
We hope to serve you and help you get the answers necessary to reclaim your health and the health of your home.
Janet