What is the Connection Between Baseball & Mold?
It turns out that baseball season and mold season are related. If you’ve read The World’s Most Interesting Engineer, you know I have two recurring themes when I write about mold. The first is, well, recurrence. Mold problems can come back if we only clean up the mold and do not correct what caused the original mold problem. The second is that most of calls for mold related issues occur during the period that runs between Major League Baseball (MLB) Opening Day and the end of the World Series.
That’s all fine, but in some ways the real excuse for this post is so I can write about the 2015 Chicago Cubs, who definitely had a fantastic season. They were a joy to watch and listen to on the radio. I’m a bit disappointed that the “prophecy” Back to the Future II didn’t pan out, and the news flash hologram in the sky showing the Chicago Cubs won the World Series won’t apply this year. But it sure would’ve been pretty neat to see.
I have to admit I got caught up in Cubs fever this year Source: boston.com
But at least the Cubs beat the Cardinals in their first ever post season meeting. And by the way, the 2015 Cubs had the 4th best overall record in baseball, and were in baseball’s most competitive division. In fact, with their record, the Cubs would’ve won every other division in baseball except the American League West. Too bad the Cubs couldn’t have been in the NL East, because then the Mets wouldn’t have been in the playoffs….
Back to the real (presumably) purpose of this post. Many of the mold and moisture projects our clients bring us occur during baseball season. Our clients notice problems that begin around Opening Day, and usually tail off around the end of the World Series. Well, despite all the notices that hurricane season has supposedly ended (but Hurricane Patricia certainly has made a mark after the supposed end to the storm season!), there’s still plenty of time for moisture problems before Thanksgiving.
Mold season runs about the same time as baseball season
That’s not to say that mold and moisture problems don’t occur during other times of the year- but we’re still in the time period during which the mold and moisture problems are really noticeable. So don’t let your guard down.
Sure enough, many areas of the Gulf Coast just went from moderate to severe drought to flash flooding, thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Patricia. Here in Baton Rouge, we got 2.12 inches of rain last Saturday, breaking the daily record, and then 4.44 inches on Sunday, shattering another record. I’d be willing to bet that there’ll be building owners and managers that have some moisture problems just after the two days of rain, much less anything else that can happen out of “storm season”.
Remember that mold problems go hand in hand with moisture issues. If you don’t find the moisture source and correct the problem, you may get to play a mold remediation double header. The late, great Mr. Cub Ernie Banks was known for saying, “Let’s play two!”, but I’m pretty sure no one wants to repeat mold remediation. That involves more aggravation, time, and money.
I love baseball season – but Building Owners don’t love mold season, or recurring mold problems.
Now would be a good time to look at how you manage mold and moisture issues- instead of letting those problems manage you. I know we’re supposedly entering the time of year where these problems “go away”. But it’s not too early to start planning for how you’ll handle moisture and mold. Having your own Spring Training of sorts can help you avoid mold and moisture problems.
And remember, if you need help:
Wynn’s a good guy to have around if you want to solve mold problems
If I can help, or if you are a long suffering Cubs fan like me and just want to talk about how the 2015 Cubs got pretty close but fell short, give me a call or send me an email at cwhite@wynnwhite.com
I hope you have a great rest of the baseball post season. And most importantly, I hope the Chicago Cubs win the World Series next year.
Stay moldy, my friends.
Chris
