Is Water Damage Cleanup a DIY Job?

10/19/2020 (Permalink)

Are you living with water damage in your living room? Call SERVPRO. We are available 24/7 to restore your home.

Many Seminole Homeowners Want to Take the Future of Their Properties into Their Own Hands with Cleaning and Restoration After a Water Loss Incident, but This is Very Rarely Advisable 

Cleaning up after a water damage event can be a challenge for Seminole property owners, especially without a credible understanding of the situation's severity. It is often believed that surface water is the extent of any threat to the property, but this is not typically where the damage ends.   

There are many stages of water mitigation for Seminole homes, and unsurprisingly, many homeowners believe that they can resolve these situations on their own. A varied level of action is necessary to manage immediate damaging concerns, not to mention the full restoration, cleaning, and repair of your property after these disasters occur. There are several advantages to choosing SERVPRO for our comprehensive restoration solutions. Some of these benefits include: 

• Fast Response 
• Experienced Technicians 
• Industry-Leading Inventory of Recovery Tools 
• Extensive Roster of Professionals for Jobs of All Sizes
• Experience Working with Area Insurance Providers  

Can SERVPRO Provide Repairs?  

Repairs are among the first steps needed in a home after a water loss incident. Many homeowners might not realize the extent of construction expertise required to address current conditions and prevent worsening circumstances. Our SERVPRO team has a full team of experienced and knowledgeable general contractors to offer a variety of efficient services, including:  

• Plumbing – When your house's plumbing network plays a role in the water damage, repairs to this utility are necessary. Our experienced contractors can access the breach and reinstall new connectors, portions of pipe, or fittings.  

• Structural Damage – Assessing the structure's damage is one of the first steps in managing loss incidents. When structural breaches leave the home vulnerable to additional losses, we can rely on board up and tarping to help.  

• Controlled Demolition – With the initial actions of highly-trained general contractors, controlled demolition can often be instrumental in providing the appropriate access for drying and recovery. These efforts also reduce phenomena like moisture-wicking that can damage a greater area of sensitive materials.  

What Are the Potential Concerns with Standing Water?  

Standing water in Seminole is a situation that presents multiple threats to the property, your personal belongings, and the occupants of the house. As insurmountable as this can feel, the right tools can make a difference in the efficient removal of any pooling. Unaddressed, absorption and saturation become overwhelming concerns for all exposed porous materials like engineered wood flooring, carpeting, drywall, and other similar compositions. Some of the efficient removal tools to overcome these concerns include:  

• Submersible Pumps – Electric and gas-powered submersible pumps are ideal for standing water several inches in depth or more. With continuous, quiet operation, electric pumps are the standard for clean water incidents. 

• Wet Vacuums – The versatility of wet vacuums makes them an everyday staple for water removal in homes. These are highly portable and can get used with various attachments to make them even more useful. 

• Carpet Wands – As one of the attachments usable with specific pumps or wet vacuums in our water removal inventory, carpet wands are ideal for removing water from the carpet layer when the padding is removed. 

How Can Moisture Pockets Get Identified?  

Understanding where water has moved into the house is vital to addressing any of these concerns to prevent worsening conditions. Prolonged exposure can create mold threats or allow for the destruction of building materials used in your house's construction. Finding moisture beyond the surface often falls to our advanced technologies and detection devices, ranging from moisture meters and hygrometers to probing meters and thermal imagery. These options can help identify when focused drying efforts are necessary to evaporate trapped water in wall cavities and other sensitive materials.  

Is Mold a Common Concern?  

Mold is a condition that could develop quickly without the appropriate cleaning and water removal. Because of inadequate drying practices common to homeowner DIY restoration approaches, dampness and moisture become catalysts to microbial colonies' development. Fungal organisms feed on organic matter like drywall and wood standard in residences, and deterioration and degradation of these structural elements is a considerable threat.  

Mitigation is one of the most critical efforts that professional restoration technicians like our SERVPRO of Seminole & Central Gulf Beaches team can offer customers. These initial actions taken at the onset of water damage in your home can do more to prevent widespread irreparable harm to structural elements and secondary effects like mold and microbial growth. Contact us anytime at (727) 391-6212.