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Mold Remediation in Dallas, TX
Texas splits mold work by law: the assessor who maps the damage cannot also remediate it, so every Dallas job gets independent eyes. Humid mornings and 37.6 inches of rain a year keep growth a steady risk — the remediation line here is answered day and night.
Recent floods · Dallas
No recent flood events near Dallas — see the live board.
Relative humidity at the Dallas/Fort Worth station averages 66 percent across the year — climbing to 79 to 87 percent on typical mornings — and rainfall averages 37.6 inches annually. The county's 2024 federal declaration for severe storms and flooding is the type of event that soaks wall cavities and subfloors, where growth takes hold within days if the water is not dried out. Remediation is a state-regulated trade here: Texas licenses assessors and remediators separately, and visible growth of 25 or more contiguous square feet triggers a notification to the state before work begins.
Mold risk in Dallas
37.6"
average annual precipitation (NOAA)
71%
of Dallas County's 28 declared disasters were floods, hurricanes or storms (FEMA)
2024
most recent flood/storm declaration: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding (FEMA)
Sources: FEMA OpenFEMA — federally-declared disaster history (county FIPS 48113) · NOAA NCEI — 1991–2020 Climate Normals (DALLAS FAA AIRPORT, TX US)
What makes Dallas a mold-prone city
Rainfall here is bimodal. The National Weather Service describes spring and fall as the wettest periods of the year and summer as dominated by maritime tropical air masses that are difficult to dislodge. Annual totals have ranged from less than 20 inches to more than 50 against a 37.6-inch normal.
The housing stock has had time to leak. The median build year is 1983 for occupied units citywide and 1971 for owner-occupied homes — enough decades for roofs, supply lines and slab penetrations to fail at least once. Storms supply the rest: the county's most recent federal declaration, in 2024, covered severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding. EPA guidance is that wet materials dried within 24 to 48 hours will not grow mold in most cases, so the outcome is usually decided in the two days after water enters, not the week a stain appears.
State law then follows the water. Sellers must disclose previous water penetration into a structure from a natural flood event under Texas Property Code Sec. 5.008, and remediation touching 25 or more contiguous square feet must be done by a licensed remediator under Occupations Code Chapter 1958 — even for an owner working on their own property. A homeowner facing mold after a storm is dealing with a drying deadline, a licensing threshold and a disclosure record at once; the mold remediation guide covers how those fit together.
Mold remediation rules & licensing
Nearly every rule that governs mold work in the area is written at the state level, not at city hall. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation licenses mold assessors and remediators under Occupations Code Chapter 1958, and the requirements attach once contamination reaches 25 contiguous square feet: a licensed assessment consultant writes the protocol, a separate licensed contractor performs the removal, the project is filed with the state five calendar days ahead, and a certificate follows within ten days of completion. The city layers on no mold ordinance of its own — Code Compliance does not inspect for mold, though it does enforce the moisture and ventilation violations underneath it.
| Permit / inspection | When it applies |
|---|---|
| Mold Assessor and Remediator Licensing — Texas Occupations Code Sec. 1958.102 | State level, binding on all work in the county. A person must hold a state license to perform mold remediation where contamination affects a total surface area of 25 contiguous square feet or more. Below that threshold no license is required, and owners or tenants may perform the work themselves. The owner-employee exemption falls away once that person performs mold assessment or remediation for the public. |
| Conflict of Interest — Texas Occupations Code Sec. 1958.155 | State level. A license holder may not perform both mold assessment and mold remediation on the same project, and no person may own an interest in both the assessing entity and the remediating entity on that project. Homeowners therefore engage two separate firms: an assessment consultant to write the protocol and certify the outcome, and a remediation contractor to do the removal. School district employees working on their own district's projects are excepted. |
| Mold Remediation Notification (16 TAC Sec. 78.110) | State level. A licensed mold remediation contractor or company must file notification with the state no less than five calendar days before the anticipated start date of a project where contamination covers 25 contiguous square feet or more, and must retain proof of receipt. The filing fee is $25 per notification. Emergency work may be reported no later than the working day after the emergency is identified. Filings go through the state online system. |
| Certificate of Mold Remediation — Texas Occupations Code Sec. 1958.154 | State level. Not later than the tenth day after remediation is completed, the license holder must give the property owner a certificate carrying a mold assessment license holder's statement that the contamination identified for the project has been remediated in line with the management plan, and noting whether the underlying cause was also addressed. A seller must furnish the buyer a copy of every certificate issued for the property during the preceding five years. |
| Consumer Mold Information Sheet and Remediation Work Plan | State level. Licensed assessors and remediators must provide a copy of the state Consumer Mold Information Sheet to each client, and to the property owner if that is a different person, before any mold-related activity begins. The remediation license holder separately prepares a work plan giving instructions for the remediation, furnishes it to the client before work starts, and keeps a copy at the job site. |
| Chapter 27 Minimum Property Standards — City of Dallas Code Compliance | City level, and the only local rule touching the subject. Chapter 27 sets minimum standards for residential and nonresidential structures, but the city does not inspect for mold; Code Compliance instead addresses violations contributing to excess accumulation of moisture or a lack of required ventilation. Non-owner-occupied single-family homes, duplexes and individual condominium units must be registered for $43 annually, and the city inspects them at least once every five years. |
Mold disclosure & remediation standards
- Seller's Disclosure of Property Condition — Texas Property Code Sec. 5.008
- State level. Sellers of most single-family homes must give buyers a written condition notice before contract. The statutory form carries no mold or mildew checkbox: it asks whether the seller knows of previous water penetration into a structure from a natural flood event, and of flooding from a reservoir failure or controlled release. Mold history therefore surfaces only through those water answers or the catch-all question about items in need of repair, so a remediation record is worth requesting separately.
- Landlord's Duty to Repair or Remedy — Texas Property Code Sec. 92.052
- State level. A landlord must make diligent efforts to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant once the tenant gives notice to the place where rent is normally paid and is not behind on rent. Written notice is required only where a written lease demands it. The duty does not extend to damage caused by the tenant, lawful occupants, family or guests, unless the damage is normal wear and tear.
- Tenant's Repair and Deduct Remedies — Texas Property Code Sec. 92.0561
- State level. Where the landlord's repair duty applies and the tenant has given notice of intent to repair with a reasonable description of the work, the tenant may arrange the repair and deduct the cost from rent, capped at one month's rent or $500, whichever is greater. Sewage backup or overflow and interior flooding from broken pipes may be repaired immediately after notice; other health-and-safety conditions require a seven-day wait, and those water conditions are the usual precursors to mold growth.
- Prohibition of Certain Underwriting Decisions Based on Previous Mold Claim or Damage — Texas Insurance Code Sec. 544.303
- State level. An insurer may not base a residential property underwriting decision on previous mold damage or a mold claim once the property has been remediated, as evidenced by a certificate of mold remediation issued to the owner under Section 1958.154 of the Occupations Code establishing with reasonable certainty that the underlying cause was remediated. An independent assessor's inspection finding no evidence of mold damage also satisfies the provision, which makes the closing paperwork on a remediation job matter well beyond the job itself.
Local mold notes
- Multi-Tenant FAQs — "How is mold addressed?" (Code Compliance) — The multi-tenant FAQ answers the question directly: "The City of Dallas does not inspect for mold, but will address any violation that is contributing to the excess accumulation of moisture in the area or lack of required ventilation." Code inspectors therefore write violations against the source — a leak, a failed exhaust fan, standing water — rather than against the growth itself, and no municipal office certifies a unit as mold-free. Assessment and remediation instead fall to practitioners licensed by the state.
- Refrigerated air requirement for rental property — Multi-Tenant FAQs — Minimum housing standards applied to rental property require an owner to provide refrigerated air equipment capable of maintaining room temperature at least 15 degrees lower than the outside temperature, but in no event higher than 85 degrees Fahrenheit, in each room of a structure intended for human occupancy. If the outside temperature exceeds 110 degrees Fahrenheit, at least one habitable room must stay no higher than 85. Because refrigerated air is also what pulls humidity out of interior air, a sustained cooling failure is a citable condition while moisture accumulates.
- Multi-Tenant registration and three-year inspection cycle — Any person who owns, operates or controls a multi-tenant property must register at least thirty days before the prior year's registration expires, or upon taking ownership or control. Registered multi-tenant properties must be inspected at least once every three years, with minimum housing standards set out in Chapter 27 of the city code. Effective October 1, 2025, the annual registration fee is $13 per dwelling unit, calculated on the total number of units on site regardless of occupancy.
- Complaint-driven enforcement in rental housing (KERA News, 2022) — KERA reported in 2022 that over 2,700 multi-tenant properties in the city were covered by only 20 code inspectors specifically trained for multi-tenant concerns and inspections, four of them assigned to the Northeast District. Interior inspections halted for roughly nine months during the pandemic, after which enforcement leaned on residents calling 311. Inspectors typically responded within a couple of days, by which point landlords may have temporarily fixed the issue.
- Dallas County Health and Human Services — home safety mold and flood guidance — The county health department's home-safety page carries the post-flood instruction to clean and dry a home within 24 to 48 hours. It states that mold can be removed from hard surfaces with soap and water and bleach, using no more than one cup of household laundry bleach per gallon of water, and warns against mixing bleach with ammonia or other cleaners. It also calls for rubber boots, gloves and goggles, and for ventilation by opening windows and doors during cleanup. The material is published as guidance rather than as an inspection or remediation service.
Cleanup & recovery services nearby
- Dallas County Home Chemical Collection Center — free household-chemical drop-off at 11234 Plano Road for residents of 16 participating cities and unincorporated county areas, taking flood-soaked paint, pool and lawn chemicals, automotive fluids, batteries and fluorescent tubes; residents of non-participating cities pay a minimum $100 fee and proof of residency is required.
- Live Oak Dumpsters, LLC — 10-, 15- and 20-yard open-top roll-off dumpsters delivered across the metroplex for tear-out debris, with seven-day delivery windows from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Dunk Junk Removal, Dallas — locally owned hauler operating since June 2019 that removes ruined furniture, appliances, mattresses and construction debris such as drywall, carpet and roofing, recycling or donating 60 to 80 percent of what it collects.
- The Attic Self Storage — family-owned since the 1970s with five metroplex locations, offering climate-controlled units at its Central Expressway and Walnut Hill sites for contents pulled out of a wet house, with access from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. year-round.
- Texas Tree Surgeons — ISA Certified Arborists, half of them Board Certified Master Arborists, handling emergency storm work, tree removal and stump grinding across 32 North Texas cities.
By the numbers
- Average annual relative humidity — National Weather Service annual normal for the Dallas/Fort Worth station, the moisture baseline indoor materials sit in year-round.
- 66%
- Median year housing was built, citywide — Median across occupied units; owner-occupied homes run older at 1971, which bears on plumbing, wiring and building-material age.
- 1983