A Story from the Field: A One-Star Review That Never Mentioned the Rooms

Wipa owns a six-storey apartment building in a soi in Phaya Thai, a short walk from the BTS line. Most of her tenants are young office workers and master's students. The building is about fifteen years old. Every corridor is carpeted in grey to make it feel warm and to soften footsteps. The ground-floor lobby has a fabric sofa where people wait for rides, and there is a single passenger lift with wood-panelled walls.

During the October 2026 floods, water from the soi seeped into the lobby. It never rose above ankle height, but it stood there for two full days. Tenants waded in and out, and their wet shoes carried water into the lift and along every corridor. Days of continuous rain made the air inside the building heavy and damp. When the water drained, the housekeeper mopped the lobby and wiped down the lift, and Wipa assumed that was enough.

A week later she found a one-star review on a popular room-rental platform. The writer did not complain about the rooms at all. Instead, they wrote that stepping out of the lift was like walking into a floor full of wet carpet, and that they could not stand it. Within days, two long-term tenants told her they would not renew, and people coming to view the empty units excused themselves while still waiting for the lift.

Wipa walked every floor herself. On the ground floor, the carpet near the lift door had ring-shaped water stains and black spots along the edge where it met the wall. On the upper floors the carpet had never touched floodwater, yet it smelled clearly musty in the evenings when the air was humid. The lift smelled like half-dried laundry, and when she sat on the lobby sofa a stale smell rose from the cushions. Her first question to the contractor she called was simple: "Do I have to rip out the carpet in the whole building?"

Note: this is an illustrative scenario based on problems commonly seen in rental buildings after flooding. It does not refer to any news report or to statistics from any agency.

Why Corridor Carpet, Lifts and Lobbies Hold Musty Odors for So Long

Carpet is essentially a giant sponge. The fibres, the underlay and the adhesive that holds it to the concrete all absorb water and humidity from the air. Mix in mud carried on shoes, and you have food for bacteria and mold. The musty smell people notice in the evening usually comes from microbes growing in the lower layers of the carpet, not on the surface you can see.

Interior corridors rarely get a breeze. A central corridor with rooms on both sides often has no windows at all. Humid air sits there all day, and during weeks of rain the carpet keeps soaking up more moisture than it can release.

A lift is a small closed room. Wood or laminate wall panels, a rubber or carpeted floor, and only a small ventilation opening. When wet people ride it all day, moisture and odor build up inside. Because the doors are closed most of the time, the smell becomes concentrated, and every passenger gets a full dose of it.

Fabric furniture in the lobby. Fabric sofas, chair cushions and curtains in the ground-floor lobby absorbed humidity from two days of standing water. The foam inside can stay damp long after the fabric surface feels dry.

Stairwells and fire doors. Fire doors must stay closed for safety, which is correct, but it also means the stairwells and corridors exchange very little air. The humid air that entered during the flood has nowhere to go unless ventilation is deliberately improved.

What It Means for an Apartment Business

Tenant health

Mold spores and dust mites in damp carpet can trigger sneezing, a blocked nose, itchy eyes or wheezing in people with allergies or asthma. Floodwater residue soaked into ground-floor carpet may also carry germs from drains that cause diarrhea, and in some areas there is a risk of leptospirosis. Housekeepers who pull up or scrub carpet should wear gloves, a mask and boots. This is general information, not medical advice; tenants with persistent symptoms should see a doctor.

Occupancy and online reviews

Younger tenants decide based on reviews and on their first impression during a viewing. Common areas are the first thing everyone experiences, so a musty smell in the lift or corridor lowers the chance of signing a contract immediately, even if the room itself is spotless. A single negative review can stay near the top of a listing for months.

Costs that spiral

Deciding to replace all the carpet in the building without an assessment can waste a great deal of money. On the other hand, leaving carpet with deep-rooted mold in place means paying for cleaning again and again without the smell ever going away. Separating the carpet that must go from the carpet that can be saved is where the real savings are.

Staff time and morale

In a small apartment business, the owner and one or two housekeepers usually do everything. When the smell does not go away, they end up mopping, spraying and answering complaints every day, and still feel that nothing is working. That wears people down. A clear plan with a defined end point gives the team their time back and lets them focus on looking after tenants instead of fighting the same odor over and over again.

Remove or Keep? How to Tell Which Carpet Must Be Replaced and Which Can Be Restored

Carpet that should be removed and replaced

• Carpet that was directly submerged by floodwater, especially in the lobby or on the ground floor near the entrance, because floodwater carries contamination from drains.
• Carpet with visible black or green mold, or with underlay that has turned mushy or smells rotten.
• Carpet that is still damp after several days, even with fans blowing on it.

Carpet that can usually be restored

• Upper-floor carpet that never touched floodwater but smells musty from humid air and wet footprints.
• Carpet whose surface is dirty but whose underlay is still dry and free of mold.

For carpet that can be restored, the sequence that works is: vacuum out dust and dried mud thoroughly, clean the carpet using a method suited to its material, dry it completely, disinfect, and then use ozone treatment to deal with odors and spores left in the fibres. If you also want to reduce dust mites in the carpet, a dust mite removal service can be added.

Getting this decision right usually means replacing a small portion of the carpet, typically the ground floor and the area outside the lift, rather than the whole building.

A Walk-Through Checklist You Can Do Yourself

• Smell each corridor in the evening or after rain, when musty odors are strongest, and note which floors are worst.
• Press the carpet with your palm outside the lift, at the top of the stairs and in corners. If it feels cool and damp, moisture is still trapped.
• Lift the carpet edge along the wall and look at the underlay for black or green spots or ring-shaped water stains.
• Stand in the closed lift for about a minute, notice the smell, and check the rubber edge of the lift floor.
• Sit on the lobby sofa, notice any smell that rises, and press the cushions to see if the foam inside is still damp.
• Photograph every spot with the date, so you can compare after the work and use the photos when replying to reviews or updating tenants.

Fixes Many Building Owners Try That Do Not Work

• Spraying fragrance on the carpet every morning: the scent lasts a few hours, the musty smell is back by evening, and some fragrances make sensitive tenants sneeze.
• Shampooing carpet with lots of water and letting it dry on its own: in a corridor with no airflow the carpet stays wet even longer and the smell gets stronger.
• Putting out charcoal or baking soda: useful for a small cupboard, but not enough for a corridor dozens of metres long or a lift that opens and closes all day.
• Wiping the lift with floor cleaner: it cleans the surface, but odor soaked into the wood panels and rubber edges remains.
• Laying new carpet over the old one: moisture and mold underneath will make the new carpet smell before long.

The WHD Solution: Disinfection Fogging Plus Ozone Treatment for Apartment Corridors, Lifts and Lobbies

World Health Disinfection (WHD) provides an ozone treatment service and a disinfection fogging service for apartments, dormitories and rental buildings in Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Din Daeng and nearby areas. The work is planned so that tenants can carry on with daily life as normally as possible.

Disinfection fogging uses CHEMGENE HLD4H through an ultra-low-volume (ULV) fogger set to produce fine droplets suitable for carpet, lift walls, buttons, handrails, door handles and lobby furniture.

Ozone treatment uses an ozone generator one zone at a time: a single corridor that can be closed off, the lift car while it is temporarily out of service, and the lobby while the entrance is closed. Ozone gas penetrates carpet fibres and sofa foam, breaking down odor molecules and acting on mold spores.

How the service works

1. Survey. The team walks every floor, the lift and the lobby, and identifies which carpet should be replaced and which can be restored.
2. Cleaning and drying advice. Damaged carpet is removed, the rest is vacuumed, mud is cleaned off, and remaining carpet is dried completely first.
3. Disinfection fogging. Corridor carpet, the lift, the lobby and shared touch points.
4. Ozone treatment zone by zone. Each zone is closed off and signed, and no people or pets may be inside.
5. Ventilation. Fire doors and exhaust fans are opened, within the building's safety rules, until there is no ozone smell before the zone reopens.
6. Follow-up. The owner checks the smell in the evenings and on rainy days and tells the team if it returns.

10 Reasons Phaya Thai Apartment Owners Choose WHD

1. Help separating carpet that must go from carpet that can be saved, cutting unnecessary costs.
2. CHEMGENE HLD4H on shared touch points in the lift and lobby.
3. Ozone odor removal inside carpet fibres instead of fragrance.
4. Zone-by-zone work, so tenants can still come and go.
5. ULV droplets do not soak the carpet.
6. Ozone dose controlled for lifts and corridors.
7. Add-on dust mite removal for carpets and sofas.
8. Vacant rooms can be treated at the same time to prepare for new tenants; see ozone disinfection for homes.
9. Long-term advice on carpet care and humidity control.
10. Easy to reach by phone and LINE.

What Apartment Owners Tell Us

"I nearly ordered new carpet for all six floors. After a proper survey, only the ground floor and the area outside the lift needed replacing. Everything else was cleaned, dried, disinfected and ozone-treated. The musty smell dropped a lot, and the tenants who had complained told me the building feels cleaner now."
- Apartment owner in Phaya Thai (illustrative field scenario)

Responding to Reviews and Updating Tenants

Fixing the smell is only half of the job; the other half is making sure tenants and future tenants know it has been fixed. A few simple steps help.

• Reply to the negative review politely and factually. Thank the reviewer, acknowledge the problem after the flood, and explain what has been done: damaged carpet replaced, common areas cleaned, disinfected and ozone-treated. Avoid arguing or making medical claims.
• Post a short notice in the building chat or on the notice board before the work, with the date, the zones, and what tenants need to do, such as keeping doors closed while their corridor is treated.
• Share before-and-after photos of the lobby and corridors once the work is complete.
• Invite feedback. Ask tenants to report any smell that returns so it can be handled early rather than ending up in another review.

Tenants who see a quick, transparent response are far more likely to stay, and prospective tenants who read a thoughtful reply to a negative review often see it as a sign of a well-managed building.

Planning the Work Around Tenants: A Sample Schedule

Every building is different, and the team will adjust the plan after the survey, but a typical schedule for a six-storey apartment looks something like this:

1. Several days before: damaged carpet on the ground floor and outside the lift is removed and replaced or the floor is temporarily left bare. Remaining carpet is vacuumed, cleaned where needed and dried with fans.
2. Two days before: a notice goes out to tenants listing the date, the order of floors, and roughly how long each corridor will be closed.
3. Morning of the work: the lobby and the lift are treated first, while most tenants have already left for work or class. The lift is taken out of service for this period, in coordination with the lift maintenance provider.
4. Late morning to afternoon: corridors are fogged and then ozone-treated one floor at a time. Tenants who are at home are asked to keep their doors closed while their floor is being treated.
5. After each zone: the zone is ventilated until there is no ozone smell, then reopened before the team moves on.
6. The following week: the owner checks the smell in the evenings and after rain, and reports any problem areas.

Working this way keeps the building usable throughout the day and avoids the need for anyone to move out. If many tenants work from home, the team can also split the job across two days so that each floor is closed for a shorter time.

Vacant Rooms: Getting Them Rent-Ready at the Same Time

After a flood many apartment buildings have a few empty rooms, either because tenants left during the water or because they chose not to renew. Those rooms are often closed for weeks, which is exactly the condition that lets musty odors build up. When a prospective tenant opens the door to a room that has been shut since the flood, the first thing they notice is the smell.

Treating vacant rooms on the same day as the common areas is efficient. Because nobody is living in them, they can be fogged and ozone-treated without any disruption. The usual steps are to open windows and check for damp patches, clean any mold you can see on walls, under sinks and behind wardrobes, wash or replace curtains, and then let the team disinfect and ozone-treat the room. Mattresses that sat in a damp room can also be treated with a dust mite and vacuum service before the room is shown.

The result is a room that smells fresh at the first viewing, which matters just as much as clean common areas when you are trying to fill vacancies quickly after a difficult month.

Keeping Common Areas Fresh After the Flood

• Place absorbent entrance mats at the front door and outside the ground-floor lift, and change them when wet.
• Run corridor exhaust fans during long rainy spells, and improve airflow in ways that respect the building's fire safety requirements.
• Vacuum corridor carpet regularly and blot wet patches as soon as you see them.
• Wipe lift buttons and handrails with CHEMGENE 750 ml spray several times a day in the weeks after a flood.
• Consider a more moisture-tolerant flooring than carpet for the ground-floor lobby before next year's rainy season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I have to replace all the carpet in the building?
A: Not necessarily. Carpet that was submerged, shows visible mold, or has mushy underlay should be replaced. Carpet that only smells musty from humidity can usually be restored by cleaning, drying, disinfection and ozone treatment.

Q: Do tenants need to move out during the work?
A: No. The team works zone by zone, and tenants only need to avoid signed zones until ventilation is complete.

Q: Is ozone treatment in the lift safe for the lift system?
A: The team uses a controlled dose inside the lift car and coordinates with the lift maintenance provider to take it out of service temporarily. Ozone is not directed into the machine room or control panels.

Q: Will fogging make the carpet wet?
A: ULV droplets are very small. Surfaces become only slightly damp and dry quickly; it is nothing like shampooing a carpet.

Q: Can vacant rooms be treated at the same time?
A: Yes. It is a good moment to prepare rooms for new tenants. Ask the team for details.

Turn Your Tenants' First Impression Back into a Good One

Apartment and dormitory owners in Phaya Thai and nearby areas can talk to the WHD team about removing musty odors from corridors, lifts and lobbies.

Book Ozone Treatment - Click Here

See Disinfection Service - Click Here

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · Email worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com

Related Links

• Dust mite removal service
• Ozone odor and chemical residue removal
• Ozone disinfection for homes
• All articles
• External source: WHO: Floods fact sheet and Department of Health, Thailand

#ApartmentOzoneTreatment #MustyOdorRemoval #MustyCarpet #MoldRemoval #PostFloodDisinfection #Disinfectant #DisinfectionService #PhayaThai

Keywords: musty apartment carpet corridor after flood, musty corridor carpet, musty lift smell, musty lobby, apartment ozone treatment, Phaya Thai Bangkok 2026