Repairing Residential Water Damage in Salem

8/16/2022 (Permalink)

What is the best way to deal with water damage cleanup and restoration? Call SERVPRO to protect your Salem home, "Like it never even happened."

SERVPRO Has a Salem-Based Water Restoration Team

Unwanted moisture can have a detrimental effect on your home. Water impact is typically caused by insufficient insulation, leaking or broken pipes, and malfunctioning drainage equipment. It can be a sudden event that catches a homeowner by surprise and requires immediate mitigation to reduce potential water damage.

SERVPRO offers water damage restoratioan services to Salem residents. Our technicians, having extensive experience, are trained to deliver expert assessment, emergency mitigation, and restoration services in this local area, which helps to ensure that our methods are proven in practice. The first action is to contact us on our twenty-four-hour emergency line. We can then process your claim- referred to as FNOL first notification of loss, and organize a call-out from a qualified restoration technician. Emergency mitigation immediately occurs when we arrive on site. It can include tasks such as draining the property of standing water or using truck-mounted water extractors to get rid of excess moisture soaking into carpets, pooling on floors, or flooding washrooms. Mitigation helps to reduce the number of losses to the structure of your home and helps to save your belongings.

Part of the Mitigation Procedure is Preventative

Liquid can raise the temperate climate inside your home, leading to stagnation, mold, and other microbial infestations. It is common for restoration technicians to bring in climate control monitoring and maintenance equipment. Thermal hygrometers measure the relative humidity of an environment, which should be maintained below 60% to reduce the risk of microbial growth. The humidity levels themselves are often controlled with the use of refrigerant dehumidification equipment which is deployed in the affected area. A wet property can need anywhere from five to thirty dehumidifiers to provide adequate climate control during the restoration period. We can run these from mainline electrics or portable generators. At the same time, each unit is connected using ground fault circuit interrupters to reduce the risk of an electrical spike and maintain electrical safety in wet parts of the property.

Dehumidification Equipment in Wet Properties

• Low grain refrigerant (LRG) dehumidifiers are the industry standard for overall climate control during restoration.
• Alternative equipment such as desiccant dehumidifiers can be used for specific tasks such as drying out furniture. 
• Sometimes natural ventilation- referred to as open-system drying- can be equally effective in maintaining a balanced humidity. 

Drying a water damaged property can take a few days or several weeks, depending on the severity of the water intrusion event and the size of the property. Another crucial factor is how long moisture has been residing on the property. Long-term exposure to smoke can permanently damage materials such as drywall and belongings. Equally, liquid can migrate from one area of the home to another, leading to extensive damage to wall cavities or the subfloor. These assessments are made following the initial emergency mitigation procedure. We may use borescopes to check voids and nooks for potential damage. If water has migrated into cavities, it is vital to enact applied structural drying (ASD) to avoid secondary losses from mold and bacteria damage. ASD techniques often involve removing interior layers of a building assembly like floorboards and stud walls to dry out cavities. These can be replaced like-for-like with new materials before the end of service. 

Applied Structural Drying Methods

• Use a claw hammer and razor knife to detach stud wall sections, gypsum board, or drywall to dry cavities directly. 
• Drilling small holes beneath the baseboard of walls and adapting rapid air-moving equipment with a flex hose to push warm, dry air into the cavity. 
• Removing carpets, pads, or floorboards to access the subfloor and using extraction and drying equipment.

If your home suffers water damage, contact SERVPRO of Salem / Peabody / Marblehead for water damage restoration at (978) 744-4545.