What Is Salvageable After A Flood In Naples?

2/7/2022 (Permalink)

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What Type of Expertise do you Need to Perform Flood Restoration?

Flood restoration differs from most other fields of repair because of the size and scope of damages. When flash flooding strikes, residents of Naples may find themselves dealing with broken windows, doors, and potential collapse of the structure. Massive amounts of water both inside and outside a home can cause stress to joints as well as the foundations of your property. There may also be contamination risks associated with floodwaters entering your home and bringing debris, human pathogens, sewage, and mud.

It is essential when working in a flood situation in Naples that you wear appropriate personal protective equipment. Dealing with such a massive impact requires strong knowledge in construction, repair, plumbing, water restoration, structural cavity drying, and biohazardous substances. Our roster of technicians has a skill set that encompasses the challenges of a flood with qualifications from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certifications (IICRC), a nationally regulated, independent awards body.

What Should I Do When Floodwaters Enters My Home?

• Contact your insurance provider as well as a certified restoration firm
• Open windows and doorways where possible to avoid creating pressure points
• If you can reach a fuse box, shut off power to the property to prevent electrical fires or malfunctions
• Avoid areas with standing water that may be contaminated and pose a risk to your health
• If you need to vacate the property, only take essential items from the house like drinking water, medication, and valuable documents

How do Experts Prepare for Flood Restoration?

The first step is to perform a scoping task whenever we work at a flood recovery site. Scoping helps us to spot any potential hazards in the property and allows us to ensure that we can enter and exit safely while carrying heavy equipment to and from the affected area. Once we are sure that the property is safe, we can set up a staging zone for equipment, run power cables or hose to the staging zone from our trucks. Staging zones are useful in flood restoration because they prevent regular equipment trips to and from the outside trucks, reducing cross-contamination and increasing time efficiency. The last thing we do before work begins is to establish engineering controls. Engineering controls help us to set up containment and decontamination areas on-site to avoid spreading damage around.

How do you Set Up Engineering Controls for a Flood Restoration Project?

• Designate a clear main path through the home to the affected area
• Shield your access pass by placing polyethylene sheets on walls and floors throughout
• Establish a decontamination area for moving in and out of the affected area
• Create negative air pressure to prevent contaminants from spreading on airways throughout the home
• Set up a clean area for placing salvageable items for restoration

Why do you Need Decontamination Areas in Flood Restoration?

Floodwaters can pose a threat to your health because they can contain high levels of toxicity and potentially biohazardous substances. Any items that come into contact with floodwaters are then contaminated. By removing an item from a contaminated zone to a non-affected area, you risk spreading further damage or making unsafe areas. Decontamination areas are not just essential for contents but also for technicians entering and exiting the worksite who can carry substances on footwear or clothing. SERVPRO contains and controls flood sites meticulously to reduce the risk of secondary harm to the property.

How Do You Know That Flood Restoration is Complete?

Sometimes just visually inspecting the affected area is not enough to know whether or not flood restoration is complete. To ensure a home returns to its pre-damage condition, we need to compare the affected area with the outside as well as other rooms in the home. These steps can be essential to ensuring that the closeout phase of restoration is completed responsibly. SERVPRO technicians take measurements from unaffected areas of the home as well as outdoors as a comparison point. Comparing the results from a hygrometer in the affected area against unaffected areas can reveal whether the property is appropriately dry. If there are inconsistencies in humidity readings, technicians can adjust the drying procedure or bring in dehumidifiers to ensure our dry goal is reached. Often, a crew chief can explain in detail when a project is finished by sharing drying goals and measurements after service.

Reaching a pre-damage condition from a flooded property is a challenging task. For smooth evaluation and restoration, contact SERVPRO of Naples / Marco Island at (239) 302-5700.