Smith Environmental Solutions

04/23/2026

At Smith Environmental Solutions, my role as IEA, serves as a bridge between building management and tenants, conducting surveys and educational workshops on indoor wellness.

04/22/2026

Good Morning!

After you have read this, give me a thumbs up to say you are blessed, you are grateful and you are excited to be alive.

04/21/2026

Dan "The Mold Man" Smith Mold Tip

04/21/2026

Conditioned Crawlspace Chronicles

Three homes. Three stages. One recurring issue: mold.

Home 1: Built 1 year ago. Dehumidifier + 2 supply lines. Green antimicrobial spray on framing. Poly on walls and floor.
Result: Mold on joists.

Home 2: Closing soon. Green spray on joists. Dehumidifier installed. No supply air. Poly on walls and floor.
Result: Mold on joists.

Home 3: No roof yet. Joists untreated. Pillars wrapped. Walls insulated. Exposed ground.
Result: Mold on joists.

See the pattern?

As their Indoor Environmental Advisor, my job is to design crawlspace solutions that prevent mold growth for years — not months. I’ve inspected thousands of crawlspaces. I know what conditions let mold thrive.

Which makes me wonder: who’s selling “conditioned crawlspaces” without a plan for mold prevention?

04/16/2026

Daniel Smith

Lumberyard Mold: Why It’s Still Your Problem

Contractors love telling new homeowners, “Don’t worry, that’s just lumberyard mold.”
Here’s the truth: it’s still mold, and it’s still a problem.

What homeowners actually need to know:

The spores are still alive. “Lumberyard mold” isn’t dead or harmless. Those colonies are packed with spores waiting for a disturbance.
Disturbance makes it airborne. Hang drywall, cut a joist, run ductwork — you kick those spores into the air. Now they’re house hunting inside your walls.
Conditions can turn spores into colonies. Between drywall and move-in, life happens. Windows get left open. The AC isn’t running yet. Closing gets delayed. Add humidity and you’ve given those airborne spores everything they need to settle down and multiply.
If you leave it, you own it. Once that lumber is in your home, it’s your mold. And without a clear source, your family can deal with symptoms for years without connecting the dots.

The fix is simple: be proactive, not reactive.

Action step: Bring in a certified mold inspector for a pre-drywall inspection on any new build or remodel. Catch it before it’s buried behind drywall.

Because dealing with it now beats ripping open walls later. Every time.

04/16/2026

Lumberyard Mold: Why It’s Still Your Problem

Contractors love telling new homeowners, “Don’t worry, that’s just lumberyard mold.”
Here’s the truth: it’s still mold, and it’s still a problem.

What homeowners actually need to know:

The spores are still alive. “Lumberyard mold” isn’t dead or harmless. Those colonies are packed with spores waiting for a disturbance.
Disturbance makes it airborne. Hang drywall, cut a joist, run ductwork — you kick those spores into the air. Now they’re house hunting inside your walls.
Conditions can turn spores into colonies. Between drywall and move-in, life happens. Windows get left open. The AC isn’t running yet. Closing gets delayed. Add humidity and you’ve given those airborne spores everything they need to settle down and multiply.
If you leave it, you own it. Once that lumber is in your home, it’s your mold. And without a clear source, your family can deal with symptoms for years without connecting the dots.

The fix is simple: be proactive, not reactive.

Action step: Bring in a certified mold inspector for a pre-drywall inspection on any new build or remodel. Catch it before it’s buried behind drywall.

Because dealing with it now beats ripping open walls later. Every time.

04/15/2026

Hot water tanks and their aftermath.

04/12/2026

I started hopping from tree to tree as a young spore after I was forced from my colony during a recent tornado.

After landing on this new tree, I found other spores from my species and they had enough moisture for us to form our own colony.

After many of years forming different colonies and implanting this tree with our spores for reproduction, we were uprooted and sent to a far away place called the Lumberyard!

In this Lumberyard, we quickly ran out of water which haulted our reproduction process but our embedded spores still had a chance to colonize once that lumber was exposed to enough moisture.

So after months of sitting in the lumber yard absorbing all this rain and moisture from mother earth, we finally have the chance to form a new colony and begin the releasing of our spores to maintain survival.

Update, our colony of Aspergillus has found a home on a 2x4x10 wood joist in a newly 500k construction home. Once the drywall is up, we will send out spores to repopulate.

So do you think Lumberyard Mold is a threat to new construction or not?

04/10/2026

The Exterior:
I dont across too many exterior issues on a commercial building assessment however today showed a few concerns that the property management company needs to know about.
Exterior window seals will crack over time and will eventually allow rain water to seep in.
If you building exteriors window seals has not been assess for cracks, please check because the secondary damage could be mold growth.

Smith Environmental Solutions, Inc.

04/09/2026

If a hot water line (usually red) leaks, then there is a greater chance that black mold will develop on whatever organic substrate is present.

Keeping you informed!

04/08/2026

Are Independent Inspectors/IEP a Dying Breed?

Question are often raised about my prices and never about my credibility. I know this comes with any business however, there's not a true explanation, from my point of view, about what to expect from a well qualified IEP/CMI from those industry representatives.

I get it, stay out of other people business, but it has to be our business as IEP/CMI to know what your referral partner charge so we can help the clients when it comes to being an informed service provider. IICRC suggest it but I find very little restoration companies using our services in their PRV. Insurance companies are not in support of this either, they rely on the restoration to give them a thumbs up and more time that not, they dont even pass the first PRV.

Maybe I am in a circle of a few but when I get calls asking for mold testing and I hear $275, I have to ask if this homeowner had the proper education about the service we provide and the extent of our knowledge, that should always come with a cost. When I heard this I instantly thought Home Inspector pricing and that will be for another day.

So what do you think, are independent IEP/CMI a dying breed?