Water Damage and restoration
Unfortunately this is the service to be provided when the call from the terrified voice, does come in. There are plenty of reasons that a house or an office or any commercial building can get flooded. It is not always an error in the maintenance of a building or that there has been no maintenance at all that may lead to this catastrophic result. To site but a few of these reasons:
- a) Heavy rain that the drainage system cannot lead away fast enough
- b) Tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis and other such forces of nature
- c) Any condition that has blocked access to the drainage system through no fault of yours
However, it is most unfortunate but most cases of flooding are a result of neglect. A regular inspection either by an owner or by a professional crew, might have caught up with a partly damaged pipe that was on the verge of breaking or a support strut that might have given way. It might also have caught up with secret lakes pooling against a wall or a hole that would have been opened some place due to any circumstance.
This section of our services deals with what we do after the damage is done. Some people may believe that all it takes is to get a pump in, draw the water out and this is the end of it. That’s the work of an amateur service and a work that will expose you to health hazards unnecessarily and not solve the problem that created the flood in the first place. We are professionals. Just taking the water out is not the way to do business. What we have to do for you (after taking the water out) is:
- 1) Document every piece of household equipment that was damaged or destroyed including walls, tructures and installations. We also document every service we provide and every piece of furniture or other material that is salvageable and stored until it can be repaired or re-instated.
- 2) Sanitize your house or office building. Why? Let’s take a look at how water can produce even more damage if we don’t do it:
- a) Class 1 water damage is created by water that came from a clean source. Water supply lines, bottled water, water from the toilet tank, water from the tabs. In short, what is considered as «clean» water. If it is not taken out quickly it can get contaminated and turn to class 2.
- b) Class 2 is water that includes the danger of a person getting sick through ingestion. This is a more frequent case than class 1, as neither the rain water is clean, nor any water that can rush in after a natural disaster, nor is the water that comes from inside the house ever completely clean. Water from the toilet bowl or water from the washing machine or water that comes back from the sewage system runs the danger of you getting infected and fall sick. Class 2 flooding is also the prelude to a class 3 one which is the most frequent of cases.
- c) Class 3 is heavily contaminated water. Water that runs the risk not only of an infection through ingestion but also an infection through a mere touch. Think about it. Let’s limit this to the water that comes out of the sewage and leave it at that. In other cases, let’s think of the household materials that the flooding may have damaged and contain alcohol, oil, gasoline, dirt and the list can go on of the materials that can mix with water and create dangerous chemicals.
- 3) Monitor the situation closely. After the first two steps have been completed, our work is not yet done. Any equipment like air movers, pumps, dehumidifiers and tools to dry wood with must be left in place. You will not be allowed to come back and live inside your house or work inside a flooded building for 3 or 4 days until through our inspections, we are satisfied that the building is once again safe.
- 4) We must determine the source of the damage and the extent of it. If the source was an external agent this is easy work. However if there is a deeper reason we must find it and fix it. Otherwise we will leave you vulnerable to a repeat occurrence and this is not a good way to do business if an emergency service wants to deserve the name “professionals”.
To avoid any such problems a professional agency must sanitize the flooded areas. Not only through drying everything that came in contact and absorbed even the least amount of water, but also through the use of the appropriate detergents. Not to mention the deodorants as one of the most unpleasant aftermaths of a flood is the smell it leaves behind.
All of the above services may look expensive. Through processes like not bringing in equipment unless it is absolutely necessary, or by taking away equipment that is no longer needed we keep the costs under control. This is one of the reasons that our rates are most affordable, reasonable and competitive.
