The rainy season is upon us in the Western US and it’s predicted to be a long, wet winter. Unfortunately, wet winters and construction aren’t a good mix. There’s nothing worse than a driving rain storm soaking unprotected pallets of drywall to ruin the schedule! We have a number of construction clients that have retained us to test staged materials or installed materials subjected to the elements to help them determine if there is a potential for mold growth. Using infrared cameras and confirmatory sampling with moisture meters helps the contractors made informed decisions on how to proceed. One client has requested weekly testing until the building is sealed in an effort to limit their future liability with regards to potential mold claims which made their insurance broker ecstatic.
Recently we used the same techniques following the accidental release of water from the fire sprinkler system during the testing phase. An open value resulted in 90,000 square feet of newly installed drywall getting wet. Using the IR camera and moisture meters we isolated the wettest materials. The contractor only had to remove about 5,000 square feet of drywall and the remainder was dried using conventional drying techniques.
JoAnn Copperud, CEO – Emeryville, CA
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