Mould specialists · all property inspections · Western Cape
Know what you are dealing with.
We inspect the property and write down everything we find — with photographs, in plain language, within 24 to 36 hours of the inspection.
Mould is what we specialise in, with air and surface samples analysed by an independent laboratory. We do every other kind of inspection as well — pre-purchase, snag-lists, thermal, asbestos and the rest.
Eben Roux spent forty years in construction before he started inspecting houses. He has built the things he is looking at, which is why he can tell you what matters and what does not.
Buying with an inspection clause? Those windows are short. Phone us — we will tell you straight away whether we can get there in time.
What a report looks like
A recent pre-purchase report ran to 49 pages and 266 photographs.
Every finding is numbered, photographed, located, and given a severity so you can see at a glance what is serious and what is cosmetic. It opens with an executive summary, so you can read the important parts in five minutes and the detail when you have time.
- Numbered findings, each with photographs
- Colour-coded severity on every item
- Executive summary at the front
- Written so you can hand it to a contractor
Sampling to International Association of Certified Indoor Air Consultants procedures, laboratory analysed
Certified Professional Inspector, International Association of Certified Home Inspectors
Twenty years of active membership
Photographed, written, plain language
Inspections
What we inspect
Ten kinds of inspection, with mould the one we are known for. If you are not sure which you need, describe the problem and we will tell you — including when the answer is that you do not need us.
Mould Inspection
Air and surface samples, laboratory analysed. Where it is, how far it goes, and what is feeding it.
What this covers →Pre-Purchase Inspection
Before you sign, or during your cooling-off period. The whole house, written up.
What this covers →Moisture Intrusion
Tracing where the water is actually getting in.
What this covers →New Build Snag-List
The defect list you hand the developer before you take occupation.
What this covers →Thermal Imaging
A thermal camera sees temperature differences a torch cannot.
What this covers →Pre-Sale Inspection
Find the problems before the buyer’s inspector does.
What this covers →What we are known for
Mould, properly measured
Most mould work in South Africa stops at a torch and an opinion. Ours does not. We take air samples and surface swabs, and they go to an independent national laboratory for incubation and counting.
Mould is a symptom. Something is wet that should be dry, and until you find that, cleaning the wall is just buying a few months. So the report tells you what is growing and how much of it — and where the water is coming from.
- Air plates exposed for 90 minutes and laboratory-incubated for four days
- Surface swabs counted per 10 cm²
- Sampling to IAC2 procedures, QC to SANS 5763 and ISO 7954
- Moisture, humidity and temperature mapped throughout
- The water source identified, not just the growth
The laboratory is not us
The laboratory is completely independent of us. Their findings are not influenced by anyone, including the inspector.
That matters. An inspector who both finds the mould and grades its severity has an obvious incentive problem. We hand the samples over and report what comes back.
Doctors send patients to us
When a cough will not clear or asthma will not settle and it eases whenever the person is away from home, the building is a reasonable suspect. We find out whether it is. The medicine stays with your doctor.
The report
Everything we find, written down
The report is the product. An inspection you cannot show to a seller, a contractor or an attorney is not worth much, so ours is built to be used.
Every finding carries one of these markers, so the severity is never a matter of interpretation:
Could affect the value of the property or lead to serious injury. Needs upgrade, repair or replacement.
Functionally defective. Needs repair or maintenance.
Repair or upgrade as necessary.
In acceptable condition.
Watch it. May need repair later if conditions change.
Water has got in, or can get in here. Conducive to mould, deterioration, odours and insects.
Sections in a full inspection
- Roofing
- Roof space
- Exterior of the building
- Interior of the building
- Crawl space
- Geyser
- Plumbing
- Site and grounds
- Garage
- Locations of emergency controls
- Final comments
Where we could not get access — a sealed crawl space, a roof we could not safely walk — the report says so, and says why. We do not quietly leave gaps.
Where we work
Across the Western Cape
From the Atlantic Seaboard to Beaufort West. 41 towns and suburbs, and what goes wrong is different in each of them — salt on the coast, clay in the Swartland, damp in the Southern Suburbs, thermal movement in the Karoo.
How people find us
Almost nobody finds us through an advert
They are told about us. By an estate agent who has read one of our reports, by someone in a neighbourhood WhatsApp group, on a property forum, or by a doctor who suspects a patient’s house is what is making them ill.
That is the only kind of reputation worth having, and it is the reason this site is written the way it is. We would rather show you the work than tell you we are good at it — which is what the report pages are for.
Where our work comes from
- Estate agents who have read our reports and want their deals to hold together
- Neighbourhood and community WhatsApp groups
- Property forums and local Facebook groups
- Doctors, when they suspect a patient’s home is making them ill
- People we inspected for years ago, who kept the number
Who does the inspection
Eben Roux
Four years in the Fire Brigade, then construction — Murray & Roberts, LTA, Concor — then his own construction company and twenty years in the Master Builders Association. He is an InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector, member NACHI 20062919.
His grandson Sebastian Smit works alongside him across the province. Sebastian is InterNACHI certified in his own right and is being brought up through the business to take it over — so the person who writes your report will still be here to stand behind it.
Request a quote
Tell us where the property is and what you need. We reply with a price and the first date we can get there — usually the same day you ask.
Rather just get a call back?
Your name and number. Nothing else. We will ring you back today.
Or reach us now on +27 61 543 5870 · WhatsApp
What happens next
- We reply with a price and the earliest date we can be there.
- We inspect. Most houses take two to four hours.
- The report reaches you within 24 to 36 hours.
- You phone us with questions. That part is free and there is no time limit on it.