Water Damaage Restoration Do's and Don'ts 101

Water Damage Restoration
You come in and find the place looks like Niagara Falls and you are thrust into the water damage restoration process. You now find yourself in a position in which you need to assess the value as well as the importance of each and every item effected by the water damage. When the majority, if not all, of your belongings have been destroyed by such water damage, it may be emotionally difficult to determine which items you want to salvage. Intellectually you know that keeping water damaged things that are beyond repair or water damaged things that may not have any further use is impractical and will just cost you a lot of storage space and money but the personal value of family heirlooms is priceless. Still you should strive to be extremely practical throughout the water damage restoration process so as you will be able to quickly and effectively reorganize your life back to its pre-water damage normalcy.

Foods And Perishables
Water damaged foods and other water damaged perishables that have been soiled via direct water contact, in most cases, should not be consumed and must be disposed of properly. Broken tableware including cups, glasses, and other kitchen tools that have come into contact with black water damage should be discarded as the affected item is, most likely, not fit or sanitary enough to be used.

Avoid These Items
Do not operate any of your electrical appliances when dealing with water damage. It can be extremely dangerous to operate any of your electrical appliances while standing on a wet carpet or water damaged floors! Your Blu-ray and HD television(s), DVR, TiVo, Google or Apple TV, Microsoft Windows and Apple computer(s), iPad(s), AT&T or Verizon iPhone(s), iPod(s), Amazon Kindle, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft X-Box, Kinect, Sony Playstation, recent E-Bay purchases, and the rest of your electrical appliances need to be checked first by a professional technician before you are able to determine which still function and can be kept and which items need to be replaced. Likewise, you should check your annual passes to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR, and Busch Gardens and your advance or one day tickets to the Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil to ensure these items did not succumb to the water damage else you may have to call their customer service lines for replacements.

Don't Clean Anything
Do not try to dry your house or building with a blower or any heat inducing item. Rather than eliminating or removing the standing water or excessive moisture that originated from the water damage, this do-it-yourself method will be the catalyst for the uncontrolled growth of mildew and mold and can spread the water further into the building which can result in even more moisture damage and a more entailed restoration process.

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The Benefits of using an Independent Restoration Company to Fix your Water Damaged Asset

It happened. You arrive and you find your home or office is flooded and has suffered water damage. The list of potential causes reads like a Letterman comedy list but this is no joke. Regardless if the water damage was caused by a broken pipe, a flood, a hurricane, a faucet left running, or if the fire department shot a tonne of water through the building in order to extinguish a fire, it happened and it needs to be fixed.

The first emotion many people have is panic and a overwhelming sense of loss. This is an understandable and justifiable reaction as despite overall shock at witnessing the water damage, the most fearful aspect for many people comes when they call their insurance company to start their claim. You wonder who can help, how long it will take, and how much will the restoration effort cost. Your insurance adjustor assures you that everything will be alright and they are dispatching their restoration team to fix your home. The reassurance sounds good but what is the value of this service?

The first thing you need to know is that the insurance adjustor works for the insurance company and their job is to save the insurance company as much money as possible by manipulating every sneaky trap and technique they are trained to use and can imagine to find a way to reduce or deny your claim. Knowing this, you must also realize that the restoration company your insurance adjustor dispatches is the restoration company preferred by the adjustor for reasons of saving the insurance company money not for reasons of job quality or customer satisfaction. For you see, rather than having your best interests at heart, the restoration company your adjustor prefers and dispatches, has the interests of the insurance adjustor in mind. So then when this insurance adjustor preferred restoration company arrives, they are the eyes and ears of the adjustor and they have a laundry list of exclusions they are seeking to match your claim to in order to reduce or deny your claim. They know and now YOU know that any work this insurance adjustor preferred restoration company completes will be at the lowest possible profit margin so this “restoration” company will, like their insurance company masters, cut every corner and use the least expensive equipment and materials possible to pacify your emotions and claim. Many times, however, this pacification is truly only a thinly masked surface repair and the work fails across the board when an independent industry expert reviews and evaluates the completed work.

Here is a secret the insurance adjustor does NOT want you to know...

you have a CHOICE!

You have the right to choose your restoration company. You have the right to competent and professional service. You have the right to have your home, office, or asset professionally restored to its preloss condition by a company who holds YOUR BEST INTEREST at heart. You have the right to choose an Independent Restoration Company.

An Independent Restoration Company is in business to serve the customer. The Independent Restoration Company gets it business and stays in business through ongoing professional industry education and certification; rapid, quality work; and fully satisfied customers. In most cases, the trained professionals who operate an Independent Restoration Company will make every effort to do everything possible to make this challenging time as pleasant as possible by using the same top quality equipment and materials you would use, and you expect to be used, if you were doing the service yourself. The true industry professionals found at your local Independent Restoration Company are Consumer Advocates who are not satisfied until your home, office, or asset is dried and restored to Industry Standards. In many cases the Independent Restoration Company can bill your insurance company directly so there are no headaches for you. With all of the benefits outlined herein, it is clear that the best benefit of using an Independent Restoration Company to Fix your Water Damaged Asset is the piece of mind you get when you make the call to hire one.

Hopefully you never have to use the information provided herein but should the need ever arise, you now know you have a choice in who handles your restoration and why your choice should be to use an Independent Restoration Company.

T-Day Bird Frying Safety Tips

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many people will be plunging their fresh, store bought turkeys in to the turkey fryers.  Even experienced professionals need to be reminded of a few rules...

Firesafety.gov recommends:

·         Place the turkey fryer on a level surface, in an open area away from homes, fences, sheds, and other structures.

• Never place the fryer on a wooden deck or porch or in a garage or carport.
• Leave at least 2 feet between the fryer and the propane tank.
• Keep the fryer in full view at all times.
• Keep children and pets away from the fryer.
• Check the oil temperature often. If you see smoke coming from the oil, turn off the gas right away.
• Completely thaw and dry the turkey before frying. Adding a partially frozen or wet turkey to the pot makes the oil splatter a lot, causing a fire or explosion hazard.
• Cover bare skin before adding or removing food from the fryer.
• Raise and lower food slowly to avoid splattering or spilling oil.
• Use the right amount of oil. To find out how much oil to use, read the fryer's instructions, or:
• Place the turkey in the pot.
• Fill with water until the turkey is covered by an inch of water.
• Remove the turkey and pat dry.
• Mark the water level in the pot.
• Dump the water, dry the pot, and fill oil to the level marked.
• If the fryer catches fire, call 911 right away. Do not try to put it out with water.

Enjoy your fried turkey and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dealing with Disaster Realted Stress

The worst has happened.. now what.  How do you maintain composure and rebuild?  Here are some tips from FEMA:

• Talk with someone about your feelings - anger, sorrow, and other emotions - even though it may be difficult.
• Seek help from professional counselors who deal with post-disaster stress.
• Do not hold yourself responsible for the disastrous event or be frustrated because you feel you cannot help directly in the rescue work.
• Take steps to promote your own physical and emotional healing by healthy eating, rest, exercise, relaxation, and meditation.
• Maintain a normal family and daily routine, limiting demanding responsibilities on yourself and your family.
• Spend time with family and friends.
• Participate in memorials.
• Use existing support groups of family, friends, and religious institutions.
• Ensure you are ready for future events by restocking your disaster supplies kits and updating your family disaster plan. Doing these positive actions can be comforting.

Flood Facts

As posted on Floodsmart.Gov

* Floods and flash floods happen in all 50 states.
* Everyone lives in a flood zone. (For more information, visit our Flood Zones FAQs.)
* Most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage.
* If you live in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) or high-risk area and have a Federally backed mortgage, your mortgage lender requires you to have flood insurance.
* Just an inch of water can cause costly damage to your property.
* Flash floods often bring walls of water 10 to 20 feet high.
* A car can easily be carried away by just two feet of floodwater.
* Hurricanes, winter storms and snowmelt are common (but often overlooked) causes of flooding.
* New land development can increase flood risk, especially if the construction changes natural runoff paths.
* In a high-risk area, your home is more than twice as likely to be damaged by flood than by fire.
* The average annual U.S. flood losses in the past 10 years (1994-2004) were more than $2.4 billion.

What to do after a flood

The news is awash with reports of massive flooding in NC.  Images of people kayaking in the street are abundant so what should you do when a flood occurs?  Per floodsmart,gov:

[ As soon as floodwater levels have dropped, it’s time to start the recovery process. Here’s what you can do to begin restoring your home.

• Check for structural damage before re-entering your home to avoid being trapped in a building collapse.
• Take photos of any floodwater in your home and save any damaged personal property.
• Make a list of damaged or lost items and include their purchase date and value with receipts, and place with the inventory you took prior to the flood. Some damaged items may require disposal, so keep photographs of these items.
• Keep power off until an electrician has inspected your system for safety.
• Boil water for drinking and food preparation until authorities tell you that your water supply is safe.
• Prevent mold by removing wet contents immediately.
• Wear gloves and boots to clean and disinfect. Wet items should be cleaned with a pine-oil cleanser and bleach, completely dried, and monitored for several days for any fungal growth and odors.]

 If you are in Central FL and have similar problems... call us for your water extraction needs.  We are industry professionals and will store your home to it's preflood (aka preloss) condition.  Click [HERE] to see our list of professional certifications and for more contact options.

What is Water Damage?

As this is the crux of our service, it is important to inform the reader of what it is and why they should care.

Per Wikipedia:

[Water damage describes a large number of possible losses caused by water intruding where it will enable attack of a material or system by destructive processes such as rotting of wood, growth, rusting of steel, de-laminating of materials such as plywood , and many, many others. The damage may be imperceptibly slow and minor such as water spots that could eventually mar a surface, or it may be instantaneous and catastrophic such as flooding. However fast it occurs, water damage is a very major contributor to loss of property.

One's homeowner's insurance policy may or may not cover the costs associated with water damage and the process of water damage restoration. While a common cause of residential water damage is often the failure of a sump pump, many homeowner's insurance policies do not cover the associated costs without an addendum which adds to the monthly premium of the policy.]

The article continues to outline the detrimental and debilitating effects of mold and to suggest the employment of a certified professional water damage restoration company to restore the property and to eliminate the potential, hidden dangers inherent and invisible in a nonprofessional cleanup... we couldn't have said it better ourselves!

With 19 industry professional certifications and 24/7/365 emergency service available, Emergency Response Restoration ("ERR") is the de facto professional restoration expert servicing Volusia, Flagler, and St. Johns counties. Click [HERE] to see what ERR can do for you!