You’d be hard pressed to find someone in the United States who doesn’t know about the Flint, Michigan water crisis. High concentrations of lead in the municipal water supply prompted officials to declare a state of emergency and to instruct residents to bathe and drink only bottled water. What many people don’t realize is that…
Mercury was a common component of rubberized athletic flooring for two decades, between the 1960’s and 1980’s. It was used as a catalyst with liquid polymers and other components to form a solid rubber-like material that was touted as an excellent replacement for older wood floors. Thirty years later, many of these floors are nearing…
Hacking, coughing, scratchy eyes… it could just be a cold, or it could be something more sinister. If your tenants or employees are complaining of odd odors and cold-like symptoms or bloody noses, you may have a formaldehyde problem. Formaldehyde causes both short- and long-term health problems from discomfort to cancer, and is regulated by…
Here in Florida, we’re not exactly known for our cold winters, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have winter problems. In fact, the mildness of our winters makes some buildings even more susceptible to problems on those occasions when temperatures do dip below the norm. If you’re a commercial property owner in one of the…
It’s a nightmare no property owner wants to deal with. We had a call a few weeks ago from an owner whose construction project hit a major roadblock due to the discovery of mold growth. The construction company had failed to dry-in the project before hanging drywall, and the drywall had gotten wet. Where there’s…
In the wake of a disaster, the priority on everyone’s mind is getting back to normal as quickly as possible. For catastrophe response contractors, this means their primary focus is on getting their clients back in business and their buildings back to standard occupancy. Unfortunately, the understandable focus on speed can be disastrous when hidden…
Water damage is one of the most frequent causes of insurance claims in the United States. From hurricanes, to flooding, to pipes bursting—in a catastrophe of any scale, water often plays a significant role. Even when fires ravage a building, water is used to put it out. And where there’s water, there may be mold….
