5 Signs of Damage Under Your Wallpaper or Wallcovering

Look Out for These Signs of Wall­pa­per Damage

Wall­pa­per and wall cov­er­ings, while slight­ly dis­tinct from one anoth­er, both offer aes­thet­ic options and pro­tec­tion for your com­mer­cial or indus­tri­al facility’s inte­ri­or. How­ev­er, com­mer­cial wall cov­er­ings do come with a slight catch. Unlike bare or paint­ed walls, this extra lay­er of mate­r­i­al can cov­er up under­ly­ing signs of dam­age that need to be addressed. Some­times the warn­ing signs are clear and present, but oth­er times they’re some­what sub­tle. Regard­less, you need to be attuned to all the warn­ing signs so you can take care of the issue before it gets worse. Here we’ll describe the five major signs of dam­age under­neath your com­mer­cial wall­pa­per or wall covering.

The Most Com­mon Signs of Wall­pa­per Damage

1. Stain­ing or Discoloration

Any part of your facil­i­ty, includ­ing your floors, ceil­ings, and walls, may exhib­it changes in appear­ance over time. This dis­col­oration or stain­ing is espe­cial­ly com­mon for paint­ed sur­faces, but your wall cov­er­ings can expe­ri­ence it, too. In fact, if your wall­pa­per or cov­er­ings look off in this way, it’s often a sign of under­ly­ing water dam­age and/​or mold growth between the wall itself and the sur­face mate­r­i­al. By the time you take notice of dis­col­oration, the dam­age may be severe, too, as most wall­pa­per for com­mer­cial use is rel­a­tive­ly thick.

2. Appear­ance of Small Par­ti­cles on Wall

Though less notice­able than stain­ing or dis­col­oration, you might also see lit­tle dots or par­ti­cles on your wall cov­er­ings. While this may sim­ply be dust, it might also sig­ni­fy mold growth under­neath the cov­er­ing. If there is mold growth on your walls, you need to take cau­tion remov­ing the exist­ing wall­pa­per, as you may cause the mold spores to spread through­out your facil­i­ty. This is why it’s impor­tant to con­tact a pro­fes­sion­al con­trac­tor for both com­mer­cial wall­pa­per instal­la­tion and removal.

3. Bub­bling

Small, bub­ble-like pro­tru­sions on your wall cov­er­ing also indi­cate the pres­ence of mois­ture. This sign basi­cal­ly means that the cov­er­ing is los­ing its adher­ence to the wall, allow­ing air to come in, form­ing those lit­tle bubbles.

4. Fun­ny Smells

Not all warn­ing signs are vis­i­ble. Your oth­er sens­es can also cue you into prob­lems with your walls, par­tic­u­lar­ly your sense of smell. If you and your co-work­ers begin to smell an odd or unpleas­ant odor, you may be onto some­thing. Of course, a fun­ny scent could indi­cate a num­ber of things, but wall dam­age, par­tic­u­lar­ly mold growth, could be one of them, espe­cial­ly if the odor is musty.

5. Warp­ing

Ide­al­ly, your facility’s walls should remain straight as an arrow. How­ev­er, changes in tem­per­a­ture and humid­i­ty cause mate­ri­als to expand, con­tract, and warp in dif­fer­ent ways. Com­mer­cial and indus­tri­al wall cov­er­ings can actu­al­ly help you notice warp­ing in your walls, as the cov­er­ing will appear loose or off-kil­ter as a result of the movement.

As you might have noticed, excess mois­ture is often the cause of wall dam­age. In fact, mois­ture can cause a lot of prob­lems in com­mer­cial and indus­tri­al facil­i­ties, espe­cial­ly when it comes to floors. At Kaloutas, our wall cov­er­ing options can help pre­vent mois­ture and oth­er debris from gath­er­ing on your walls. To learn more about us and all that we do for your busi­ness, con­tact us here and give us a call at 978−532−1414.

Kaloutas is New Eng­land’s pre­mier con­trac­tor for com­mer­cial & indus­tri­al paint­ing, floor­ing, and relat­ed ser­vices. Estab­lished in 1987, Kaloutas has become a trust­ed resource for gen­er­al con­trac­tors, facil­i­ties man­agers, and build­ing own­ers from Con­necti­cut to Maine. Our team prides itself on high qual­i­ty work­man­ship, jobs done on time & bud­get, and tack­ling com­plex projects that oth­er con­trac­tors don’t have the expe­ri­ence or resources to han­dle. Con­tact us today for a paint­ing or floor­ing esti­mate, or give us a call at 978−532−1414 to learn more.