How Mold in Commercial Buildings Leads to Business Losses?
Mold remediation might seem like an afterthought when you’re dealing with the aftermath of a natural disaster, sewage overflow, or fire damage. Yet, mold in commercial buildings can impact your business drastically if you don’t intervene.
As a business owner, you’re responsible for maintaining clean and safe places for employees and customers. The presence of mold can comprise your public image as health risks and structural damage pop up.
Here’s a closer look at the situation:
Costly Structural Damages & Business Disruptions
Active mold growth can wreak havoc when you let it breed without interruption. It can weaken the foundation of your building, causing ceilings to collapse and damage floorboards. These structural defects will lead to higher maintenance bills if the mold isn’t contained in time.
Additionally, mold impacts the aesthetic appeal of your commercial property as other signs become visible. For instance, black or green mold growth, peeling paint, discolored walls and cracked drywall don’t leave a good impression on visitors. They might leave bad reviews online or complain about the unhygienic condition around your property.
In turn, this can turn away prospective clients in the future.
As a result, you are left with a crumbling building and tarnished public image.
Occupational Health Hazard
It doesn’t matter if you run a retail store, indoor play area, or a restaurant. As a commercial property owner, you’re responsible for maintaining hygiene standards within the premises.
Mold in commercial buildings can cause the air quality to decline. It also produces “allergens and irritants” that can trigger allergic reactions in anyone exposed to the contaminants.
Common symptoms include:
- Coughing
- Wheezing
- Runny nose
- Sneezing
- Watery eyes
- Irritated skin and rashes
- Headaches
Prolonged exposure can result in long-term respiratory problems. Consequently, employees and customers are at risk as long as there’s mold.
What’s more?
The worst-case scenario includes personal injury claims. Employees and customers have the right to make a personal injury claim if your negligence caused problems for them. In this case, the lawsuit can be about health problems that developed after the mold exposure. Alternatively, injuries that occurred due to structural damage can also be a viable complaint.
How Commercial Property Restoration Services Work?
911 Restoration of Howard County offers a full range of commercial property restoration services. It includes water damage restoration, mold testing and removal, sewage backup clean-up, fire restoration, and other disaster recovery services.
When it comes to mold in commercial buildings, our IICRC-certified technicians leave nothing to chance. They carefully assess the situation before creating a detailed plan to eradicate the threat and other associated issues.
Here’s a step-by-step outline of our mold remediation process:
1. Assessment:
Our mold removal specialists conduct a thorough survey of your commercial site before taking any action. We aim to identify the primary source of mold, its type, and the threat it pose to the health and wellness of your employees and customers.
After this, we discuss logistics with you. This usually covers tentative timelines, budget, and assistance with insurance claims. Work begins once both parties agree on the terms and conditions of this project.
2. Water Extraction
Mold often appears right after a storm, flood, sewage overflow, or significant leakage. Hence, there’s a chance that your flooded basements, roof leaks, and or seepage problems are instigating the mold situation. Our trained technicians pump out the excess water and dry the area before addressing the infested areas.
3. Mold Removal
Mold-infested furniture, carpets, floorboards, and wallpapers is tossed away or placed aside for restoration. After that, we use specialized equipment and high-grade tools to remove visible mold from target sites.
4. Sanitation and Deodorization
The next phase focuses on improving the hygiene level of previously mold-infested spaces. This requires proper disinfection treatment with powerful cleaning agents and sanitizers. Subsequently, we use advanced deodorization techniques to eliminate the musty smell lingering in the air.
5. Restoration
The final phase involves repairs, replacements, and restoration of structural elements affected by mold in commercial buildings. It can include changing drywalls, replacing severely damaged floorboards and roof panels, etc.
Lastly, we will take before and after photos to help you keep a record of insurance claims. We do a follow-up assessment to test mold levels too. This serves as a surety that we’ve managed to eradicate the threat.
Parting Words
In the end, mold in commercial buildings can result in a myriad of problems for your business. It affects employee health, harms customers, and leads to costly structural damages. You can minimize the losses by consulting mold remediation experts. Contact them as soon as the first signs of water or mold damage appear.
With the proper support, you can get rid of mold early and reverse all signs of decay and destruction. Consequently, improving air quality and restoring the structural integrity and aesthetic appeal of your commercial buildings.
Need help with mold remediation? Call 911 Restoration of Howard County at (443) 769-1110 to schedule an inspection today!
