Should Mold Removal Interfere with Bookings at Our Hotel?

8/15/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Provides Minimal Disruptions to Westwood Commercial Properties with Containment Techniques during Mold Remediation

SERVPRO Can Help Perform Mold Remediation at Your Westwood Hotel with Minimal Inconveniences to Unaffected Sections of Your Facility

Mold is the last thing hotel guests expect to find when they spend time at your hotel. Since mold can cause health effects, some guests can cut short their stays or cancel their bookings altogether. Therefore, finding a way to avoid these outcomes should be a top priority when you discover clear signs of mold at your establishment. SERVPRO is always ready to send a team of professional technicians to Westwood hotels or other commercial properties that require mold remediation services.

What does it mean when mold signs appear on walls or other surfaces?

Some signs like dark spots on surfaces indicate an infestation and thus the need for mold remediation in your Westwood hotel. Because mold spores occur naturally in the environment as part of the decay processes, but they require the right conditions to start attacking materials, the signs you notice mean that other conditions like excess moisture are also present in the area. In some cases, the issue can be sparked by a localized problem such as an unresolved water spill, but in other instances, the issue is further entrenched. Our SERVPRO technicians can help you determine the true nature of the problem at your establishment before you pick a course of action. We check for other signs of an infestation in the property like:

• Darkened grout on bathroom tiles
• Peeling or bubbling wallpaper
• A trace of musty odor
• Weird smell from the HVAC system

What should follow the initial assessment?

Since quick remediation to save your facility from further damage, and the comfort of your guests are your two main concerns, you need to prioritize actions such as:

• Cleaning areas with mold residues
• Moisture management
• Removal of mold-infested materials

However, your actions can be limited by factors such as the possibility of spreading mold debris or the musty odor all over the hotel, unless you isolate the affected areas from the rest of the facility. Our SERVPRO technicians can help by creating airtight containments that seal off the affected area. Since we use plastic sheets and spring-loaded poles to set up the barriers, we can finish the containment in a couple of minutes. We also seal off other openings such as air duct openings.

What is necessary for cleaning mold from surfaces?

• Access to the affected material
• A way to loosen mold residues from the surface
• A way to stop further growth

The cleaning process must remove settled spores and any mold materials proliferating on surfaces. Direct access to the surface that needs cleaning is therefore necessary. Our technicians can help open up walls or other assemblies in the hotel area to gain access to such access. Unlike cleaning regular soils where the use of water is the standard approach, cleaning moldy areas using moisture would only worsen the situation. Alternative solutions are necessary to loosen the mold residues from surfaces. Our SERVPRO technicians vacuum the affected surface to remove loose residues.  We can also sand, damp wipe, or wire brush the surfaces to remove the residues. Running dehumidifiers or applying other drying procedures to the areas we clean help eliminate the moisture fueling the mold growth.

An additional thing to note is that mold hyphae penetrate beyond the surface when the affected material is porous. Cleaning such material is rarely possible, so removal of the entire material is the best solution. Our technicians help teardown materials like drywall, insulation, and carpets from various areas, including walls and ceiling. Running negative pressure machines when tearing down such materials, helps prevent the spread of residues where they can interfere with other activities.  One such method is deploying several air scrubbers fitted with HEPA filters for capturing airborne spores and mold particles. Our crews also bag the mold materials in sealed plastic bags before removing them from the property for disposal.

Does mold cause structural damage?

When mold grows on a material such as wood, the material serves as its source of food. Therefore, unchecked growth over months or years can eat the wood away, compromising its integrity. However, unless the moisture problem fueling growth is localized to a tiny section, the infestation is likely to spread to visible areas before it compromises frames and joists supporting your structure.

Scheduling remediation immediately, you notice the signs of a mold infestation in your hotel can help prevent any extreme outcomes that force you to close down your facility for repairs.

Mold can develop at any time in your Paramus, Hillsdale, or Washington Township hotel. SERVPRO of Paramus can help you respond to the challenge fast, making it, "Like it never even happened." Call us at (201) 445-5588.