Mold Assessment in New Orleans for Doubles and Pre-War Walls
An assessment tells you where the water is arriving, which side of a shared wall it belongs to, and whether there is a removal job here at all, in writing.
Mold Assessment quote in New Orleans
Tell us what you can see or smell, roughly where in the house it is, and whether the house is raised or on a slab. Those three things narrow it more than the size of the patch does, because they point at how the water is arriving rather than where it ended up.
Would you rather talk it through? Call (315) 640-3590.
$100 off your first job
Credited by us on your first booked job.
- One credit per customer per property, on your first booked job.
- Valid through December 31, 2026.
Mention this offer when you book. Full terms.
New Orleans doubles and pre-war plaster, from the record
New Orleans has 195,552 housing units with a median year built of 1960. 61,327 of them, 31.4 percent, date from 1939 or earlier and 73.7 percent predate 1980. Only 46.0 percent of the stock is single family detached: 28,986 units sit in two unit buildings and 19,407 are single family attached, the shotgun doubles and row forms that share a party wall.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five year estimates, accessed 2026-09-22
31.4 percent of New Orleans housing units, 61,327 of 195,552, were built in 1939 or earlier. The Louisiana figure is 6.1 percent and the national figure is 11.7 percent. No other place in this service area comes close: Gretna is next at 16.5 percent, then Arabi at 11.4 percent.
Source: United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five year estimates, accessed 2026-09-22
The LSU AgCenter states that any moisture that gets in a wall must be able to dry to the inside, that the interior side of the wall should be as permeable as possible, and lists what that rules out: no vinyl wallpaper, no oil-based interior paints and no interior vapor barrier on insulation.
Source: LSU AgCenter, Bill Robinson and Claudette H. Reichel, Ideal Wall Assemblies for Hot-humid and Mixed-humid Climates, accessed 2026-09-22
Louisiana R.S. 37:2158(A)(19)(c) makes it a violation for a mold remediation contractor to perform both mold assessment and mold remediation on the same property.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, Contractors Licensing Law and Rules and Regulations, effective August 1, 2022, accessed 2026-09-22
What a New Orleans survey has to settle in a shared wall
Book a survey when you need to know what is behind the finish, not just what is on it. New Orleans is a city of shared walls: 28,986 homes sit in two unit buildings and another 19,407 are single family attached, the doubles and row forms that put two households against one party wall. When that wall is damp, the first thing the report has to settle is which side the water is coming from, because that decides who pays and who has to let someone in. The readings, the photographs and the inspection openings are laid out room by room so both sides can read the same document.
Before a surveyor reads a papered New Orleans wall
Before anyone arrives, look at what is on the plaster. 61,327 homes here were finished in 1939 or earlier, and the LSU AgCenter's advice for this climate is that the room side of a wall should be as permeable as possible, with no vinyl wallpaper and no oil-based paint. A papered exterior wall in a pre-war house is a suspect before any pipe is. Then decide who the report is for. Louisiana bars a mold remediation contractor from performing both the assessment and the remediation on the same property, so the firm that writes your scope is not the one pricing the removal, which is exactly why its findings are worth reading.
Which side of the party wall the water belongs to
In a double, two households can see one stain. The survey reads both faces of the shared wall where access allows and says in writing where the moisture is highest.
Whether the wall is papered or painted with oil
Lift a corner of any vinyl covering on an exterior wall before the visit. If the back is dark, the survey starts there rather than at the roof.
Whether you need a number from a lab
Usually not. The EPA says that where mold is visible, sampling is in most cases unnecessary, so the money is better spent finding the water.
One half of a double, or the whole house?
Tell us whether the wall is shared and who lives on the other side. It changes who the report is written for and where the readings are taken.
After the New Orleans survey: removal or drying
New Orleans survey questions from owners and tenants
I rent one half of a double. Can I order the survey myself?
Yes. Anyone can commission a survey, and a dated written finding is the most useful thing to hand an owner. Because the inspection openings are cut into the owner's wall, agree access with them before the visit rather than after it. The rental guide covers who usually orders what.
Why would a pre-war New Orleans wall grow mold when nothing leaks?
Because in summer the water comes out of the air. The mean dew point at the airport station is 75.2F in July, so a wall the air conditioning holds cooler than that can gather condensation on its cavity side, and a vinyl covering stops it drying back into the room. The surface temperature and dew point readings on the survey are there to show whether that is what you have.
Send the New Orleans wall and what is on it
Paper, paint or bare plaster, and roughly when the mark appeared. A person reads it and tells you whether a survey is worth booking.