Safety Measures to be taken while considering Water Damage Recovery

If you have ever witnessed floods before, or are well-informed about the condition, you will know that the real work begins when the time comes to recover your house from all the water damage. When the water is continuously entering your premises, there’s less you can do about it except deploying measures to stop excess water from collecting inside the home and moving your personal property out of harm’s way.

When the water damage restoration begins, it is not only tiresome but can turn out to be dangerous as well, if not done properly. So, if you are plunging into it all by yourself, there are some safety measures you need to follow. Let’s have a look at the most important of them:

Electricity isn’t always a boon!

It’s one of the most emphasized measures and yet one often ignored. Dealing with electric connections in a flooded area/house is a dangerous task. When you are starting with water damage restoration, ensure that you have switched off the main electricity supply of your house. Once it’s safe, remove all electronic appliances from their sockets and if the appliances came in contact of water in any form, get it inspected before they are used again. Wear rubber slippers and be vigilant while restoring your house as any unexpected sockets or wires might lay unprotected.

Equip yourself against contaminations

Flood water enters your house after passing many places and sewers. They carry biological and chemical contaminations on the way. While going into the water to restore your house, wear muck boots, gloves, and clothes that doesn’t seep water, rain coats will do. Take care of any fungal infections which might be the result of continuous exposure to water.

Inspect building structure carefully

In case of high intensity floods, the building structure can also be adversely affected. If your house ceiling has caved in because of flood water, proceed very carefully. Certain building materials can release hazardous elements into the air after coming in contact with continuous water. Your building structure can also be weak and collapse from places due to flooding. It’s best to vacate the house in a situation like that. Take help from professionals to renovate your house and disinfect it to prevent further health hazards from fungal or mold formations.

Water damage recovery mainly involves getting the place dry along with all your belongings. If the flooding had been bad, it might require high-end equipments and techniques to clean up the house properly.

If you aren’t able to do it yourself, don’t leave your belonging to dry with the course of time as it might lead to serious health damages in the future because of certain infections that gets infused into the air. To ensure a healthy and cost-effective cleanup, take help from professional companies providing water damage restoration.

Why DIY Isn’t a Good Option for Fire Damage Cleanup?

The plethora of information available on the internet boosts up the poise of individuals over trying complicated things by self. This is applicable for any task that can be substituted instead of taking professional help. And people are increasingly adopting it for house maintenance services even if it involves dealing with fire damage cleanup.

But the risk involved is totally ignored. Fire Damage Cleanup is different from normal clean up or redesigning of your house from all aspects. DIY, if incorrectly deployed, can cause long term damage to not only your house but all its residents as well. Let’s dig into the question further and try to understand why DIY isn’t a good option for Fire Damage Cleanup:

Saving your possessions

If you took up the charge of cleaning up everything yourself, you will end up little or no belongings left at the end of the day given that you will discard them looking at their external condition. The companies that provide fire restoration services have expert staff members who know that certain things can be repaired to be as good as new at very reasonable expense. From that point of view, it’s a cost-effective step as well.

Disinfecting your belongings

No matter how much you wash your smoke infused clothes and carpets, you can’t get rid of it yourself. Restoration service providers have heavy duty machines which can not only remove stubborn smoke stains but also take the smoke away. Disinfecting your belongings after the wash is very important to stay away from health hazards, a step that only your service provider knows well.

Safe Handling of Electronics

Using electronic items after a house fire can be really dangerous if you haven’t got it inspected to be safe. Unless you are an electronics engineer, there is no way you can ensure it yourself. Therefore, to be on the safer side, don’t ever trust yourself to judge it by instincts whether an electronic item is safe to use or not.

Restoring Air Quality

It’s very easy for smoke odors to reach in complicated areas around your home. Even though you would be able to get rid of the smoke from airy spaces, it is impossible to take the smell out of these places without using proper equipments. It is very important to get rid of smoke odors and fire residual gases to bring the air quality to normal, failing which you might unknowingly invite dangerous health hazards for the future.

Conclusion

Even though the thought of getting it done later if DIY doesn’t work looks like an option, but before you know the damage will already be done, with you having fewer or no options at a later stage, involving higher costs to get it rectified. All the above points directs to the logical step of hiring professional fire restoration services to cleanup up your home after fire and make your home livable again at the earliest.

Fire Damage Restoration: Four Crucial Steps Followed by Professionals

You might have come across the word “fire damage restoration”. It is a process through which professionals reverse the damage caused by fire in your home so that you can get back to your normal ways of living. The companies that offer fire damage restoration services also provide several other services including water damage restoration, carpet cleaning, duct cleaning, mold removal etc.

Through this blog, we will acquaint you with the standard fire damage restoration process followed by professionals so that you are not clueless as to what to do in case of fire. Take a look at the steps given below.

1. Get in touch

After the fire has been taken care of by the fire department, the first thing to do is to get in touch with the nearest restoration company. This is usually done to prevent damage from spreading further through your property. While trying to find the right company, make sure that are open 24/7, easy to approach and come of help at the earliest.

Fire damage can also come with other ramifications. For example, if the fire has burnt holes in your roof and ceilings, water might seep in from these places causing more damage. Now if you leave your property in this situation for a long time, the damage is likely to increase. So it is better not to wait and get in touch with one of these companies at the earliest.

2. Property Assessment

Next, in the process is fire damage assessment. As a part of it, the professionals will assess the extent of damage caused to your property. They will try to find out the how far the smoke and soot have travelled and the intensity of damage they have caused to your furniture and other areas of your home. By doing so, they will be able to come up with a plan of action as to how to restore your house back to what it was. The professionals will also provide you with a quote and give you with an estimated timeline during which the restoration process will be undertaken.

3. Tarp and sealing process

The first motive of any fire damage restoration company is to stop the damage getting worse. So if there is water leakage due to the burned hole in your roof, the damage restoration will take care of that first. Also, fire damage restoration goes hand in hand with water damage restoration. For eg, if the fire has bursted your water pipes, the source of water has to be curbed first so that water doesn’t enter in different areas of your house.

4. Clean up and repair

After the sealing process has been taken care of, clean and repair begins. As a part of it, smoke, soot and dust are cleaned up from different corners of your house and unnecessary items are disposed off. Water puddles are cleared with the help of submersible pumps so that the areas can be dried and sanitized.

In the next stage, restoration and repair begins. If your furniture has been destroyed, the professionals will repair the damaged cabinets or replace them with new ones. New carpets are installed, walls are repainted and frames and wallpapers are put back to their places. Restoration companies walk a mile further by not just offering you with restoration but also renovation. A renovated house and new design will make your house look new and is sure to cheer you up.

If your property has been ruined due to fire, getting in touch with a fire restoration company is the best step you can take!

Different Ways in Which Restoration Companies Can Help

The word “restoration service” is often associated with the words “damage” or “destruction”. However, it is not necessary that you need a restoration service only during the incidents of fire, flood or major storms. A water or flood restoration company can help with many other instances and small situations which can stop the further damage.

So what are the situations wherein you might have to get in touch with fire/water damage service providers? Let us take a look.

Moving into a new house

If you have moved into a new house which was previously occupied by a family, you might come across a musky smell which is difficult to get rid of. Sometimes, you also might find outdated carpets, electronic equipment and other objects which might be a matter of concern. During such times, you can get in touch with a water damage restoration company whose professionals can inspect the nooks and corners of your house for mold, water or weather damage. The professionals of these firms have all equipment necessary for cleaning the leftover objects and conditions which can create a potential damage to your house.

Mold Growth

Mold growth is something which definitely shouldn’t be ignored. It starts slowly but goes on to create a major damage to the house. This happens especially after some major weather events like blizzard, flood or hurricane. If you find moist surroundings or mold growth in your house, you should not think twice about getting in touch with a restoration contractor. They will inspect different areas of your house for potential mold growth and give the right treatment to prevent it from occurring it further.

Leaky pipes

Water dripping from pipes is a common sight in many homes. Now people often think that they can resolve such issues on their own. But even after going through an extensive repair, such problems reoccur. So it is better to call a licensed restoration company. Once the team comes and checks the source of leakage, they can tell you how it needs to be fixed. Thereafter, you can decide an appropriate course of action according to your budget and the intensity of the leakage.

Sewer damage cleanup

If there has been a rainstorm, your sewer can be severely damaged. During such times, damage restoration professionals can help you to get rid of the damaged items, sanitizing the area and helping you with the installation of new infrastructure so that there are no issues in the future.

It isn’t necessary for big disasters to happen in order to seek such services. Whether the damage caused due to fire/water is small or big, it should definitely not be ignored. There are companies that provide 24/7 restoration services at cost-effective prices and can come of help during emergency situations.

So conduct your research about these companies, find out the best damage restoration company in your area and strike a deal with the one that can take care of your requirements. Better be safe than sorry!