Water damage can be visible, or it can be hidden. It’s easy to see an overflowing toilet, bathtub, or sink. But what about those pipes running through your walls and under cabinets? When you see water, you first think of grabbing some towels to mop up the mess. In the case of leaks, you mop up and call a plumber and someone to fix the drywall. If your entire home floods, you might think you can just get up what you can and let the place dry out.
But water is tricky. It can flow into places you can’t see and cause mold and attract insects, and your efforts to get things really dry are often ineffective. Suddenly, everyone in your home is sneezing, has a sore throat, and just can’t seem to get rid of that pounding headache. A doctor gives you something to treat the symptoms, but they never disappear because you’re battling a mold infestation.
The water damage restoration company you need provides essential water damage restoration services. Water infiltration not only damages your home but also poses a health hazard. Professional water damage restoration and mold remediation is the only way to go. Here are some great reasons why.
Save Time and Money with a Water Restoration Company
Just like some water is visible, the cause is also easy to find. For example, if a storm lands a tree on your roof or a heavy rainstorm causes your basement to flood, you know how and why it happened. Finding a leaking or broken pipe in a wall can be difficult. Cracks in your foundation can cause water ingress also, and if not fixed, can undermine the stability of your entire house.
It takes an experienced professional water damage restoration company with trained technicians to do the job right. Your job is to call them quickly before even more damage happens. Calling your buddy with the wet-dry vac is a waste of time and just tells mold and rot it’s party time. Waiting can mean ruined furniture and floors that must be replaced rather than restored. Even hours can make a difference. Calling quickly will make you and your insurance company happier with the results. Yep, if you have accidental water damage from broken pipes or other household issues, your homeowners’ insurance will cover a water restoration service. For those in flood-prone areas, your add-on flood insurance policy will pay.
We can’t emphasize enough how much time is of the essence. The top water damage restoration companies will respond quickly and offer speedy service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And working with a restoration company can save you money. A professional company does the restoration right the first time, eliminating all the water that damages your home.
Suppose the water is not cleaned up completely, especially within walls and floor. In that case, mold will quickly flourish, your building materials will have to be replaced at a high cost, and ripping everything out because the water restoration service wasn’t done right the first time will make things even more expensive.
Another real advantage of working with professionals is those insurance company claims. A water damage restoration company knows the ins and outs and how to work with insurance adjustors, so your claim goes smoothly.
More Reasons to Hire a Restoration Company
Hiring water damage restoration services is the only way to guarantee you’ll have no further damage to your personal property and your home. It’s also essential to take care of any mold. Let’s look at why hiring a restoration company is really the only option when flooding or water damage occurs.
Eliminate health concerns
Mold likes places that are dark and damp. Mold can ruin pretty much anything: wood, fabric, paper, carpets, and drywall. Once mold infiltrates, it takes professional services to perform real mold remediation. Mold growth is also a health hazard and can cause those symptoms we mentioned, as well as others. It can be especially hazardous to those with lung conditions and asthma.
Mold is aggressive and starts to grow 24 to 48 hours after water infiltration. This is the time for mold remediation before the problem gets worse. Let’s look at some typical molds found when conditions are ripe. Any or all of these different molds can be present, and they all take a professional to clean up.
- Stachybotrys chartarum, also known as black mold. This mold has a color that’s greenish-black and grows on things like paper, drywall, and even dust and lint.
- Aspergillus. This mold can be colored green, white, or gray and have dark spots. It also has a powdery appearance. Aspergillus likes spaces with little ventilation and loves fabrics, walls, attics, drywall, and basements.
- Cladosporium. This mold can be brown, green, or black. It likes warm and cool locations and thrives on wood, carpets, and fabrics, and it really enjoys heating and cooling ducts.
- Alternaria. This mold is fuzzy and has black spots. You’ll often see it on fabric, wallpaper, windows, and air conditioners, as well as in bathrooms and kitchens.
Sounds pretty disgusting, huh? Nothing like some fuzzy stuff growing on your clothing. You can clearly see why you need mold remediation services. When it comes to your health, any kind of mold is an issue, so call the professionals, and that’s SOS Mitigation if you’re in Queens, NY, Brooklyn, NY, or Long Island.
Fast Water Extraction and Reduced Drying Time
We already mentioned your neighbor with the wet/dry vac. You could marshal your entire neighborhood, but they still wouldn’t do the job. You need that water out, and you need it out now. You might think of running down to that big box building supply store, but they won’t have anything that can help you. Only a water damage restoration company can save you.
Water damage restoration services have industrial-quality fans and huge dehumidifiers. It takes a pro to know precisely where to place these for maximum efficiency. This means time savings, for sure, but it also means that there’s much less risk of mold growth. The restoration company aims to circulate the air, reduce humidity, and dry even where you can’t see water.
In the case of standing water, specialized high-volume water pumps can extract water and any other liquids almost immediately, which you’ll especially value if you have a flood from a backed-up sewer or drain. If necessary, they will use submersible pumps.
Answers to Some Frequently-Asked Questions
Why is water restoration important?
Hiring a water damage restoration company is vitally important after any kind of flood for the following reasons:
Health issues. We don’t mean to keep harping on this, but mold growth is really bad for everyone’s health. It can lead to respiratory problems in people who don’t have them and make them worse for those who do.
Getting rid of standing water is imperative, and circulating and dehumidifying the air inhibits mold growth. Only a water damage restoration company has the right equipment to do the job as fast as possible.
- Structural damage. When water pipes fail, they can fail anywhere, but especially bad are those that are underneath your floors, winding through the foundation. Leaks here can seep into cracks in walls and floors. You often can’t see it, but it’s there and causes mold to grow on drywall and behind it.
These leaks can rot wood, ruin insulation, and cause stains on your walls and ceilings. A water damage restoration service like SOS can restore your property to its former condition after getting rid of the water and any mold, of course.
- Yuck. Sewage. Unfortunately, sewers back up. In floods and heavy rains, they can back up as well. And sewage is bad for your health. You can get some really nasty diseases that include:
- Salmonellosis, which causes fever, diarrhea, and cramps.
- Giardiasis, a disease caused by a parasite that affects the intestines
- Typhoid fever, which is caused by a bacteria in food and water that’s been contaminated.
- The astronomical cost of repair. When it comes to water restoration, there’s no time to waste. Timely removal of water and debris, as well as mold mitigation, will prevent further damage. Structural repairs can be made immediately, biohazards cleaned up, and other essential services, like electricity, can also be repaired.
What Does Restoration do?
Water damage restoration is much more than just removing and drying water intruded into a building. The restoration service is designed to return the condition of your property to its original state before the ingress. The entire process consists of:
- Inspection – Where did the water come from? What is the contamination category? And what material classes are impacted? There are three classes of water:
- White water has a low contamination level and typically comes from overflowing sinks and tubs or leaking pipes or water heaters.
- Gray water contains some contaminants, and usually, this water comes from leaking dishwashers and washing machines.
- Black water is hazardous and can contain bacteria and parasites. This water comes from things like backed-up sewers, toilets, and floods.
The water restoration technician will also look at the percentage of wet porous materials such as carpet, fabrics, and insulation, as well as materials that have a low evaporation rate. These include plaster, wood, masonry, and concrete.
- Extraction removes standing water, which is critical with a flooded basement. A submersible pump is used first, and then vacuums to remove any surface water. A thermal camera or a moisture meter might be used to find hidden places of saturation under floorboards or behind walls.
- Dehumidification employs industrial-grade fans and humidifiers to dry everything out after the water has been extracted. Doors and windows will be open, too, so circulation improves. Dehumidifying does take some time. At this point, if there’s significant water damage, it may mean the removal of walls or floors.
- Sanitation comes after dehumidification. The water damage restoration company will use equipment like a HEPA vacuum along with an air scrubber and other air-cleaning machines. In the case of black water, a microbial solution will be used to clear all surfaces.
Reconstruction and Repair. This is the final stage of restoration. Anything that can’t be saved will be removed, like trim boards, carpet padding, and any drywall that’s at or below the flood line. All carpets will likely need to be replaced, but anything usable will be reused.
Before restoration begins:
- All damage will be inspected and assessed
- An estimate is created
- We work with your insurance company
- We create a plan
- We complete reconstruction
What qualifies as water damage as an insurance claim?
Water damage is any destruction in your home caused by water. To know exactly what types of water damage are covered by your insurance, call your agent or review your policy. Water damage is different than flood damage, and unless you have a separate flood policy, it’s likely your insurance company won’t pay.
Insurance companies only pay for water damage, such as:
- A leaky roof that lets in the rain to damage your ceiling and walls
- Burst pipes
- Overflowing toilet–this is the second most common cause of water damage.
- Leaking appliances
- Sewer backups that aren’t associated with a flood
- Water heater failure–the number three cause of water damage
- Washing machine supply lines–another common cause
- If there’s a fire and sprinklers were triggered, or water had to be used to put it out.
Insurance companies will not cover any water that entered gradually or hit the ground and then flowed into your house. They likely also will not help you if the flooding was caused because the home was improperly maintained.
Are restoration companies expensive?
Expensive is a relative term. Is it worth it to save your home? Your answer is likely a resounding “Yes,” so for what you get, professional water damage restoration from a company that responds quickly is your least expensive option.
Your homeowner policy will usually cover disaster restoration services. How much you have to pay depends upon your deductible and how high your insurance limits are. SOS Mitigation is happy to work directly with your insurance company to get your home restored to its form glory with as few out-of-pocket expenses as possible.
The overall cost of water damage restoration services depends on the scale of cleanup and your insurance.
