Mold Inspection & Remediation in Houston, TX

Houston averages about 56 inches of precipitation a year under NOAA's 1991–2020 normals, far more than Dallas or San Antonio, and there is no real dry season: June, September, and October are the wettest months, and every month averages close to 3 inches or more. Humid air from the Gulf keeps drying slow for much of the year, and air conditioning runs for months, so ducts, air handlers, and cool surfaces in attics can gather condensation.

Flooding is the defining risk. During Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, 26 to 47 inches of rain fell across Harris County over four days and 154,170 homes in the county flooded, according to the Harris County Flood Control District. About two-thirds of those homes were outside the 100-year floodplain, and only about a third had flood insurance. Harvey was not the only one: the flood control district counts about 73,000 homes flooded by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, 9,840 in the Tax Day flood of 2016, and 6,335 in the Memorial Day flood of 2015.

Houston's housing adds its own patterns. Older neighborhoods such as the Heights include many early 20th-century bungalows on pier-and-beam foundations, with crawl spaces that trap humid air. Most newer homes sit on slabs over clay soils that swell and shrink, which can crack plumbing beneath them. Hard freezes are rare but costly: the February 2021 winter storm burst pipes across the region. The EPA recommends drying wet materials within 24 to 48 hours to keep mold from taking hold.

The Houston figures above come from local contractor price guides published in 2026, plus a 2025 Houston guide for the per-square-foot rate. Expect two bills on a licensed job, one from the assessment consultant for the protocol and clearance and one from the remediation contractor, because Texas keeps those roles separate. After a flood, drying equipment, debris hauling, and rebuilding walls and floors all add to the total, and rebuilding is usually billed apart from the mold work. Our remediation cost guide breaks down the line items.

Before anyone cuts drywall in a Houston house, look up their license at tdlr.texas.gov. After a big flood, demand for mold crews jumps and you want to know exactly who you are hiring. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation requires a licensed remediation contractor once the mold covers 25 contiguous square feet or more, and since September 1, 2025, the employees doing the work need their own TDLR license or registration too.

Texas splits a licensed job between two firms. An assessment consultant writes the protocol and later checks the work; a different remediation contractor does the removal, because one license holder cannot do both on the same project. You should get the Consumer Mold Information Sheet before work begins and, within 10 days after the job, a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation. If you own the property and it has fewer than 10 dwelling units, Texas lets you do the work yourself without a license, though flood-scale damage is a lot to take on alone.

Two Houston disasters show how coverage splits. Harvey's damage was mostly rising water, which only a flood policy pays for, and after that storm only about a third of the flooded Harris County homes had one. Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 caused a different kind of trouble: CenterPoint counted 2.26 million customers affected by outages, and some waited close to two weeks for power in July heat, with houses shut and no air conditioning. Whether mold from a long outage is covered depends on your policy's wording, so read its mold section and ask your agent before you file.

The Texas Department of Insurance says most homeowners policies pay for sudden, accidental water damage, like a split supply line or a failed water heater, and for mold on the things that water ruined. Slow leaks generally fall outside coverage, and many policies cap or exclude mold. FEMA says a new NFIP flood policy usually has a 30-day wait, so buy it before June rather than when a storm gets a name. Keep your Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation: if it shows the cause was fixed, an insurer cannot base an underwriting decision on the old mold damage. More in does insurance cover mold.