Mold spore damage

[Israel Stein]

To the list,

I recently examined a Steinway L - nice instrument, recently restrung 
and refinished - that spent a couple days in premises that were 
flooded. There is no direct water damage to the piano - but it did 
spend some time in a very humid environment, standing on 
water-saturated floors in fairly warm weather before the owners were 
able to move it out of there to a storage facility. The most obvious 
damage is to the finish - it pretty much cracked apart (looks like 
semi-gloss water-based nitrocellusose) in long, parallel cracks. 
Other problems include some surface corrosion on the strings, and 
totally gummed up action centers.

They had flood damage technicians test air samples from the premises, 
and they found a high mold spore count (a particular mold specific to 
water damage). This requires that the premises and all contents be 
"hepa-vacuumed". Eventually I am going to see their report and 
perhaps even consult with them - but in the meantime, does anyone 
know anything about "hepa-Vacuuming", how it's done and what horrible 
things it might do to the poor piano (or not)?

Thank you,

Israel Stein