Mold Removal

Hotels strategically take guest rooms out of inventory during hotel renovations in order to minimize the impact on guest traffic while keeping the hotel open to guests.  On October 10, 2017, PHC Restoration received a call from a contractor performing such a renovation.  Upon the removal of vinyl wallpaper from guest rooms on the 5th and 6th floors, substantial mold growth was found on some of the walls.  Not every room was affected but the mold needed to be addressed quickly so not to delay the project time line.

The Scene

Hayes Fane, our Restoration Project Manager, met with the contractor onsite to inspect the damage.  It was determined that because each guest room had its own HVAC unit, the humidity levels varied in each room leading to excess moisture being trapped behind the wallpaper resulting in mold growth in seven total rooms on the two floors. The exterior walls had a higher concentration of growth compared to the others.  Hayes initiated a remediation plan which addressed the contractor’s concerns–being able to work in the non-affected areas, staying as close to their time line as possible and not alerting guests of the remediation taking place.

Challenges and Opportunities

We began by setting up containment walls in the affected rooms and placing the rooms under negative pressure while demolition was being done to prevent spores from becoming airborne and contaminating other areas, thus allowing the remodeling to continue.  Our staff also worked with the utmost discretion.  Knowing that individuals walking through the hotel in full PPE equipment could alarm or concern the guests, our remediation team carried their protective gear to the floor they were working on and put them on there before entering the affected rooms.  We only used the service elevator to avoid transporting equipment or even carrying our safety bags in the guest elevator.

Results

The remediation was finished in one week to the satisfaction of the contractor, his upper management team, and most importantly the hotel.  In the end, we were able to complete the job with no job interruptions to the contractor’s work crews, no delay to the project time line and by cleaning more of the affected area than having to tear out, we saved the hotel time and money.