What To Do After Experiencing Storm Related Water Damage.

7/20/2018 (Permalink)

Kick-start your home's or business' recovery by knowing what to do after a flood or water damage. Call SERVPRO of Yorba Linda/ Brea for assistance.

Most people only experience storm-related water damage a few times in their lives, if they experience it at all.  Without a lot of experience in this type of emergency, it’s important to know what to do to limit the damage to your home or business in the event that your property ever endures this.  As California’s #1 SERVPRO franchise, SERVPRO of Yorba Linda/ Brea has helped thousands of property owners restore their homes and businesses “Like it never even happened.”  Here are some very important steps that need to be taken as soon as possible.

Remove All the Water ASAP:  At SERVPRO Yorba Linda/ Brea, we use a wet/ dry vacuum to remove all the water possible. 

Get Things Dry!  We use industrial restoration air movers to completely dry surfaces and objects. An air mover acts as an industrial-powered blower that briskly dries water from surfaces.  Since mold thrives in moist or humid areas, Its very important to make sure everything is absolutely dry.  Even when things ‘look’ dry, they probably still retain moisture.  Thoroughly drying a damaged area may require a week or more of 24-hour/ day drying with one or more air movers.  Another very important tool of the trade is a dehumidifier.

Object Manipulation:  In order to completely dry an affected room, it may be necessary to move furniture and items resting on furniture.  When SERVPRO Yorba Linda/ Brea is on the case, you are assured that all your possessions will be treated as if they were our own. 

Area Containment:  We know that home owners and businesses need to get back to living life and conducting business as soon as possible.  Erecting area containments can dramatically reduce the time required to thoroughly dry a room or structure.   One type of containment we frequently employ includes the use of zip walled plastic sheets and telescoping polls.  With impacted areas sealed off, our dehumidifiers and blowers can dry much more efficiently.

Drying Out Drywall:  In some cases of water damage, moisture has also impacted the interior walls of your home or business.  It’s essential to quickly attack this problem.  Walls that have remained moist for longer than 48 to 72 hours are susceptible to mold growth.  If this is the case, the walls should be tested for mold by a certified lab company.  In the event that the test comes back positive, we will build a containment system, including sealing off all HVAC vents,  around the impacted area to eliminate the chance of mold spores contaminating other areas of the structure.   There are three ways SERVPRO Yorba Linda/ Brea can address this. 

• Completely remove the drywall.
• Exterior Drying. This is done when only the exterior of the walls (and not the cavity including wall studs, insulation etc.) has gotten wet.  We use air movers to completely dry the exterior of the walls.  This may require several days or longer to complete. 
• Drying the exterior wall and the cavity. We use moisture probes (electronic, hand-held devices that test the moisture of the wall cavity) and when the readings are greater than the readings  taken from other walls within non-impacted areas of the structure we take this path.  One method is to create a ‘flood cut’ which removes the drywall away from the wall studs.  The cut extends from the floor and up the wall 12-18” above the wet section and extends the entire width of each impacted wall.

Steam Cleaning Carpet and Flooring:  This is an important step in sanitizing and deodorizing your carpet and flooring.  It is often necessary to replace the carpet padding during this phase.  Combining the steam cleaning with replacing carpet padding is also a thriftier way to ensure clean and odor-free carpeting.

Walls and Baseboards:  Anything that’s come into contact with storm water needs to be thoroughly disinfected, including  your walls and baseboards.  We clean using a special soap and water solution and follow up with a thorough disinfecting using chlorine bleach and water. 

SERVPRO of Yorba Linda/ Brea has been restoring our customer’s homes and businesses for over eleven years.  Our focus on urgency, integrity, cleanliness, knowledge, commitment to consistently excellent work, and our ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with our customers and colleagues has made us the #1 SERVPRO franchise in California!    To read testimonials from our customers, click here.  https://www.yelp.com/biz/SERVPRO-of-yorba-linda-brea-anaheim.   Need storm damage restoration services NOW?  Give us a call; 7614-701-0207.