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Most Australians don’t realise their home could be harming their health—until it’s too late.
In this TPC Gold bonus episode, Bryce chats with building biologist Raphael Siket and Amelia Lee from Undercover Architect about one of the most under-recognised health threats in our homes: mould.
From erratic kids and persistent brain fog to full-blown respiratory issues, mould-related health effects are often misdiagnosed—or completely missed. But as Raph shares, once the source is identified and addressed, the turnaround can be life changing.
In this powerful conversation, you’ll learn:
- Why mould is far more common (and dangerous) than you might think
- How condensation and modern building practices are making the problem worse
- What the early signs of mould exposure can look like
- How to take the first step toward remediation—without the panic
- Why not all mould is visible, and how professionals assess the real risk
This episode is a must-listen for anyone living in a water-damaged home, a new build with ventilation issues… or just wanting to breathe easier.
Buying a Property? Don’t Risk the Wrong One.
Our Buyers Agent team at Empower Wealth don’t just look at location and price — we help you assess the quality and liveability of a home too.
From understanding building issues to evaluating long-term lifestyle impact, we guide you through smarter, safer purchasing decisions.
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If You Enjoyed TPC Gold | What You Need to Know About Mould in Homes, You Might Also Like:
- Ep 249 | The 4-Step Framework to Renovate or Build Your Home…AND Enjoy It!
- Ep 387 | Everything You Need to Know About Home & Contents Insurance
- Ep 545 | Burnt-Out Vans, Mouldy Eaves & Broken Trust
Transcript
Bryce Holdaway
So, and Amelia, you’ve looked into this a lot too, but it’s probably a good segue into talking about mould, Raph. Why is it such an issue and why should people care about mould in the house?
Raphael Siket
Yeah, because mould generally speaking, (is a) fungi essential to the planet. Like when you talk about bacteria, mould is critical. But the problems come when there are water ingresses and too much water that starts eating away at building materials or condensating and growing on building materials in the house. Then we seem to get nastier kinds of moulds with mycotoxins of concern. And they can certainly cause just a whole shocking list of different adverse health effects. And the link is being made more and more now to adverse health effects. But in the past, it just went completely undiagnosed. And in my 15, 16 years of doing this, I just find it incredibly rewarding that when I see people do get away from the mould in whatever way they do… by moving or remediating it or whatever they do and clean everything up, the changes in the health are remarkable. And that’s why we love working with integrative doctors who consider the environmental health and notice these phenomenal differences in people’s health when it comes to mould.
Bryce Holdaway
You talked about integrated doctors there, Raph, that is how we were connected. Our integrated doctor referred us to you. What does that mean for you when you have to keep going into these houses? Ultimately you’re like going into a doctor’s surgery right now. It’s an epicentre for stuff that’s going wrong in the human body. You’re going into the epicentre of unhealthy houses.
Raphael Siket
Yeah, it is a problem. And if you’re sensitized in any way, you can’t be a building biologist. You can’t do this. We do have protections. So we do have respirators. We do have PPE and overalls and gloves and things like that. But in saying that, you walk into homes… I don’t want to come into your home in full PPE. You’re freaked out enough by me. If I start putting on full PPE and coming in like you’ve got COVID happening there, it’s a different story. It really freaks people out. So it is difficult, but when I come home, I will take all the clothes off. They’re washed differently and separately. I don’t then just go down onto the couch and so on. So there are things we have to do to keep things clean and separated because sometimes I take samples. You don’t see the mould. (But I) get the sample results back and go: oh my gosh, I wish I’d worn a respirator in there and so on. So yes, I need to take care and sometimes I do take a hit, that’s for sure.
Amelia Lee
I think the thing is that what’s really interesting and you must be seeing this in your work, Raph, is that so many buildings are actually impacted by condensation and the negative impact of condensation, it’s seen as one of the most significant detrimental and deteriorating factors in buildings. And I think the stats (show) something like it’s over 40% of buildings that are impacted by condensation. And then when you look at the issues around illness and inflammation that can be caused by those that are impacted by a reaction to mould, it often shows up as things like information or brain fog, or things that they might just feel a little bit unsure about that aren’t really then demonstrating as real symptoms. And if you’re not working with an integrative GP, then you can’t get that kind of information or that help or that alignment of the fact that your home might be the common factor that’s actually causing these things. And I can imagine as a building biologist, are you finding that you’re having to have these quite confronting conversations but also these light bulbs are going off for people that perhaps these symptoms, they’re not crazy. There’s actually a common thread to these things and it’s something that they could potentially change if they have more information and some action plan.
Raphael Siket
Yeah, you’re exactly right, Amelia. Really well summarized. I do go into a lot of homes, and I do deal with a lot of tears. So yes, people do break down and have issues because they’ve been dealing with so much. And in terms of, yeah, the light bulb moments, I do remember certain case studies, like one where I went in and there were enormous amounts of issues. And they suffer from depression. Depression has a lot of close links with mould exposure and their kids were highly erratic… bouncing off the walls, just doing very odd things. And when they get away, it seems to clear fairly quickly because they say, look, we’ve been out the house a few days, we’ve been in a different environment. And my kids are amazing. They’re incredible. They’re angels. I just forgot what that was like. I’m not depressed. And they just break down going, I’m not mad. I’m not depressed. Just like what you alluded to. So yes, like in a lot of things, you have to be a psychologist to a degree, which we’re not trained in. We just listen, basically don’t offer a lot of advice, but listen and just give information and let people make their choices. But yes, when they feel better and make the links, it’s really rewarding.
Bryce Holdaway
When you’re confronted with those tears, clearly the next step is, ok what are the action steps? Because for us, we were lucky, it was a rental and we wanted to make a sea change and we moved down to Torquay. And for the record, before we bought the house that I live in now, you came and checked it out and gave it the all-clear, which is great. But for someone who, that is their house, they’ve been living there for some time and then now they’re confronted with something that clearly has negative health benefits that you’ve just described… What’s the first step? How do they start the process of remediation?
Raphael Siket
Yeah, well, first is to find out just how contaminated it is. So because a lot of the time you won’t see visible growth. When there’s lots of visible growth, it’s easy to see, but it can be highly contaminated, and you don’t see much on all your contents. So by taking samples, we can see what sort of moulds are there because there are some much nastier than others, and to what degrees and what levels. And then you can decide to what degree you remediate. So the first thing is doing a big sprinkling. So look, just take the stuff and what most people should do and throw away what you don’t need anymore. And then go through all the rest of your stuff. Hard surfaces are easy because they’re sealed. So metal and sealed timber surfaces and so on. Those are very easy because you can use microfiber cloths and sort of wipe those down and HEPA vacuum.
The problem comes with the real fabric stuff, mattresses and linen and all those blankets and things like that. They’re very difficult to remediate. But we do a lot of post remediation testing when there’ve been big insurance claims and things. So we know what works and what doesn’t work. And one tip which everyone thinks is rudimentary… basically if you can wash all your stuff, like clothing and linen and rugs so on, but like the old days, go out there and give it a good whack with the stick. And with clothes, shake them out and get rid of those. Because when mould dies, the mycotoxin doesn’t become inactive. Non-viable mould, a dead mould, you breathe that in, it’s still a problem. So it’s a matter of removing it more than what chemical concoctions must be used to kill it all. When you go to your new place, that’s the most critical thing.
So if you’re going to take stuff that’s maybe not completely remediated into a place that’s damp and got moisture issues, then there’s a big risk of things happening again. But if you’ve remediated to the best you can, and it’s very good, or there’s a little bit left, but you’re going to a very good place that is not supportive of mould, it’s not elevated moisture, then you shouldn’t have the problems at all. So it’s a matter of being balanced. I have many clients who talk to me almost every week. Really, really disturbed and freaked out about how to get rid of everything. And you’ll see online, it’s always the worst-case scenario, where everyone has to throw everything away and burn down the house and all of that. It’s not always like that. But if you’re sensitized, if you’ve got susceptibilities, little bits of mould can be debilitating. So it depends on your own susceptibility, and just how bad the situation was, and then working out to what degree remediation should be done.
