SERVPRO’s Water Damage Restoration Plan for Bay Ridge Homes

4/11/2023 (Permalink)

The snout-nosed air mover supplies the centrifugal force for directing airflow to dry water damaged Bay Ridge homes. "Like it never even happened."

Effective Removal and Recovery of Water Damage

The linear footage of installed plumbing throughout your property is surprisingly large. Even a tiny hole in one of these pipe portions can cause a considerable mess.

However, disasters can severely impact your home without prompt action to shut off water flow. SERVPRO is a trusted name to help with the cleaning, drying, and repairs your property might need when facing the effects of a leak.

Water damage in Bay Ridge homes and businesses is a common threat. From pipes bursting under freezing conditions to aging appliances splitting hoses or a compromised HVAC system, water can be destructive to your home in countless ways. For this reason, we must maintain 24/7 availability so mitigation and emergency services can begin where necessary.

The Emergency Services Starting Mitigation

Our professionals must reach homes quickly when disasters strike. Water damage can move rapidly from room to room, spreading through walls and building materials as fast as these surfaces can absorb moisture. Emergency services are critical to effective recovery, as these efforts eliminate immediate pressing hazards and concerns and work to keep the situation from worsening. Multiple elements fall under this first phase of damage cleanup, which can include:

• Water Removal
• Utility Repairs
• Mold Prevention
• Content Relocation
• Controlled Demolition

Needed Equipment for Extraction

Little can be done for a home or business suffering water damage until standing water in the structure has been removed. Because of this vital component to restoration and recovery, our technicians reach your home with multiple extraction tools and instruments to eliminate pooling water. Often, this process is a combination of pumps and vacuums.

What Principles Aid with Effective Drying?

Drying is one of the most important elements of recovering water damage to your home. Essentially, three primary principles must remain in balance to keep fast and effective drying occurring throughout our cleanup efforts. These include:

• Temperature – The ambient temperature close by water damaged materials can affect the evaporation rate and eventual drying. We arrive with portable heaters to manipulate the temperatures in drying zones.
• Airflow – Airflow often indicates using air movers and other high-velocity blowers to force air onto wet surfaces to encourage evaporation. Centrifugal and axial air movers are most commonly used. However, installations like ventilation fans can also help this process.
• Humidity – It becomes critical to manage moisture in the environment and wet materials found throughout damaged areas in the house. Dehumidifiers are the principal instrument in absorbing water vapor and regulating environmental moisture to promote faster drying.

The Need for Repairs After Water Damage

Even with effective drying and recovery work, repairs and reconstruction are often inevitable. With On staff contractors With the general contracting license, we can complete controlled demolition and needed build-back services along with the restoration work. These accredited professionals save customers time and money and provide peace of mind that life returns to normal faster.

Water damage is among the most common yet complex restoration needs of homes and businesses throughout our service area. SERVPRO of Bay Ridge has experienced WRT-Certified professionals through the IICRC to help you mitigate loss and dry up the damage to your house. We are available 24/7 to help when you call (718) 765-5572.

The Main Components of Bay Ridge Fire Damage Restoration

4/11/2023 (Permalink)

Structural fire damage receives mitigation and repairs from SERVPRO. We help our Bay Ridge neighbors, "Like it never even happened."

Our Stages for Fire Damage Recovery

You might not put much thought into the specifics of fire damage recovery until your home is damaged. Our experienced team of professionals can help in every facet of cleanup and restoration, even working with your insurance company to meet specific requirements for the property and its care. We break our recovery processes into five distinct phases to ensure that our restoration of your home is thorough and complete:

• Emergency Services
• Mitigating Loss
• Addressing Soot
• Malodor Management
• Repairs

Fire damage in a Bay Ridge home requires prompt action. We have experienced and accredited professionals ready 24/7 to mobilize when disasters strike. Our preferred status with insurance companies gives us a distinct advantage in a fast turnover between the actions of first responders and the earliest mitigation solutions we provide.

The Pre-Mitigation Emergency Services

Some actions that we take must precede mitigation. Emergency services are vital to keeping your family safe and the structure from unnecessary harm. While several of the actions we take to help might fall under this heading, a few specifics that have the most direct impact can include:

• Water Removal
• Temporary Construction
• Debris Removal

Our Mitigation Solutions

Mitigation follows directly after emergency services. Emergency services are the actions taken to address situations that could make cleanup slower or more dangerous. Mitigation involves specific efforts to keep the situation from getting worse. Much of this process involves improving conditions inside the house, such as air quality. This phase is also when we focus on relocating and cataloging loss of contents during the detailed estimation services we provide. The keys to mitigation include:

• Content Management
• Improving Air Quality
• Demolition

The Threat of Soot

Partial combustion creates a volatile residue that distributes across multiple surfaces and contents. These carbon deposits are corrosive and harmful to those exposed, making it necessary to prioritize surface cleaning in the presence of these threatening particles. When removing soot, the appropriate solution is often to emulsify or dissolve the residue on the surface to protect the underlying substrate. When this is impossible, abrasive cleaning might be necessary, or even controlled demolition.

Removing Harsh Smells

Another separate phase of fire damage recovery will be our efforts to remove the smell of smoke and burning materials from your house. This process is multifaceted, addressing strong smells the combustion process has left behind and even trapped in porous materials. We must also provide suitable solutions for imaginary odors impacting customers after extinguishment. Early deodorization includes products to neutralize smoke smells. We address the odors of the mind with strong masking products to leave a pleasant scent where damage exists.

Are Fire Damage Repairs Necessary?

From high-heat fires that blaze through multiple rooms to slow and smoldering disasters that do not move as quickly, every house fire often needs repairs or reconstruction. Instead of waiting for weeks to vet and schedule an additional contractor to help, we have a general contractor license to help with the build-back needs of your home. Every needed team member is active in recovering your home from the earliest controlled demolition and emergency repairs to full reconstruction after a structure fire.

Fire damage is an alarming and overwhelming situation to face. You can count on the fast response and experience of our SERVPRO of Bay Ridge team to help when every minute counts. Our work with your insurance company helps to keep you from excessive leg work during an already traumatic time. Call our professionals when disaster strikes at (718) 765-5572.

The Importance of Prompt Mold Damage Remediation in Bay Ridge

4/11/2023 (Permalink)

Ask SERVPRO about mold damage remediation for your Bay Ridge property. "Like it never even happened."

Knowing More About Mold Damage in Your House

As common as mold might be in everyday environments, many homeowners do not understand the risk of inaction. The growth and development of mold colonies in your household present a volatile environment that could impact your family and compromise the structural integrity of hosting materials. It is important to act fast when mold gets discovered in your residence.

Mold damage in Bay Ridge homes can develop in as little as a few days following water damage or flooding problems to your property. Rapid restoration of these disasters can prevent or mitigate mold infestations.

The Cause of Active Mold Growth

 You will not know how to save your house from mold when unsure of how it forms or the conditions necessary to promote colonization. Active growth requires moisture and warm temperatures. Other factors, like sunlight or lack thereof, are secondary. Varying types of residential molds can grow in different environments and conditions, but moisture and appropriate temperatures are universally necessary. Places like the basement, attic, and bathroom can experience moist conditions favorable to microbial development. If you are not frequently inspecting these spaces like the attic, mold growth can develop rapidly.

Should You Be Concerned About Mold?

It is vital to understand that mold in your home is nothing to ignore. We must treat this condition as any other disaster impacting your property and offer efficient and direct remediation and restoration solutions. The most alarming aspect of mold that homeowners should respect is the continuous spread of these organisms. This threat makes initial efforts like containment an important element of successful remediation for your residence.

Keeping Mold from Spreading

There are multiple ways to stop spores from relocating to other areas of your household. While physical barriers are the most direct method of preventing the movement of mold organisms, additional actions are necessary to prevent the use of other pathways like air ducts. We seal over vents and returns of the HVAC system to keep out mold spores. We also create negative pressure on these systems to drive out spores for collection by powerful HEPA vacuums.

The Remediation Process

Removing mold damage is a product of several approaches. We focus on the actions necessary to remove active colonies impacting housing materials at vastly different depths. Some remediation methods include:

• Surface Treatments

Using sporicidal and antimicrobial products, we can destroy surface mold colonies and create a buffer against repeat infestations.

• Hand Sanding

This technique is especially effective with wood framing and similar materials. Sanding removes the outermost layer of the material without compromising structural integrity.

• Abrasives

Media blasting can be an effective method of cleaning substrates hosting mold colonies. These efforts use pressurized air with abrasives like dry ice or baking soda to destroy mold without ruining the supporting material.

• Removing Damaged Materials

When all else fails, SERVPRO technicians can eliminate sensitive materials. Protecting your home sometimes demands direct demolition and safe disposal of mold-infested building elements.

Stopping Mold from Coming Back

We strive to do more than remove the mold threat to your home. We want to protect your property for the future by resolving where moisture found its way inside the structure. We have skilled professionals for repairs and reconstruction. This build-back and sealing can be even more effective with mold-resistant paint that helps stall microbial production in moist environments like bathrooms.

SERVPRO of Bay Ridge can help when mold damage threatens your home. We understand the urgency of these situations and have effective remediation solutions. Call us at (718) 765-5572.

Water Restoration Tasks You Should Anticipate at Your Bay Ridge Home

4/10/2023 (Permalink)

SERVPRO can rescue your flood damaged home in Bay Ridge with rapid water extraction and drying. "Like it never even happened."

Enlist SERVPRO for Your Bay Ridge Water Damage Management

The driving rain or rising groundwater characteristic of storms can leave your Bay Ridge property inundated. Such water accumulation creates several problems, which at the very least, diminish comfort or extreme cases, create hazards. If it's your first time handling water restoration, you may not know how challenging the process might become. However, a seasoned professional like SERVPRO readily understands the problem and thus can help you prepare well to tackle it.

Even if it is your first time handling water restoration at your Bay Ridge property, some of the necessary actions are not difficult to deduce. For example, you cannot leave water pooling on the floors within your property, so a response such as mopping the affected areas comes naturally. SERVPRO crews take the same steps, but we use superior techniques and equipment to improve the outcomes.

How we improve ordinary restoration actions

• Ensuring timely water extraction
• Cleaning all areas to sanitary levels
• Expediting and closely monitoring drying processes

When restoring a property, the speed of water removal is as essential as completeness because stagnation promotes microbial growth, which can lead to mold infestation. Such contamination can start in as little as 48 hours, so completing extraction and starting drying before this period elapses is essential. Our crews use vacuum extractors to fast-track water removal. We can also use specialized equipment such as drying mats which remove water-trapped breath tiles or wooden floorboards.

Unseen Issues Can Hamper Restoration

Storms can soil your property by depositing silt and mud inside. There are also invisible pollutants dissolved in the water, which might remain even physically eliminating the visible soils. The contaminants may be hazardous or emit unpleasant odors compromising indoor air quality.

Specialized tasks for complete restoration

• Decontamination
• Deodorization to eliminate
• Refinishing stained surfaces

SERVPRO of Bay Ridge ensures water restoration fixes all the problems that develop in a flooded property. You can reach us at (718) 765-5572. We’re Faster To Any Size Disaster.

Fire Damage in Bay Ridge Includes Tobacco Smoke to Kitchen Fires

3/14/2023 (Permalink)

Fire damage? SERVPRO is prepared with restoration equipment and experienced technicians.

We Protect Houses From the Effects of Fire Damage

Quitting smoking is a wonderful accomplishment, but doing so can make it clear how badly tobacco smoke can make the interior of your house in Bay Ridge stink. One of the worst pitfalls when learning to cook something new might be a yucky grease fire. Both are considered side effects of fire damage.

Many families in Bay Ridge trust SERVPRO's fire damage experts for cleanup and restoration. Long-term smoking inside results in the accumulation of tar from tobacco, and a grease fire is very similar, although it happens within a short period.

Our highly trained crew can handle freshening up your home after either, giving you and your family a clean, fresh, and beautiful start. Read on for explanations of how we clean tobacco tar and cooking grease accumulations from certain surfaces in local residences:

• Painted surfaces
• Porous wood
• Varnished wood

Painted surfaces can develop stains from greasy smoke, including that from ongoing smoking or a cooking accident. We remove deposited layers from painted surfaces using a wet cleaning method that includes our Wall and All Surface Cleaner (#351). These surfaces can include walls, ceilings, paneling, countertops, cabinetry, and shelving. Stained areas might require applying a sealer, followed by repainting.

Porous, unfinished wood is often found inside cabinetry, drawers, and attics. Several methods are used to clean by-products from fire or smoking in these areas. Because of their porous nature, they absorb particles more easily, making odor control very important to the results. We dilute the residues with alcohol, then apply SERVPRO's in-house Smoke Deodorizer (#302). During this time, we place anything from drawers and cabinets into bins so we can return everything correctly when we finish.

Cleaning varnished wood is similar to cleaning painted surfaces but also requires the application of conditioners to keep the wood underneath from drying out.

When you need a professional crew to help with damage from fire, call SERVPRO of Bay Ridge at (718) 765-5572.

Bay Ridge Homeowners Trust SERVPRO with Water Damage Repairs

2/6/2023 (Permalink)

SERVPRO's advanced LGR-low grain refrigerant dehumidifiers remove airborne moisture from Bay Ridge homes. Then we can repair them when needed.

Water Damage Restoration in Bay Ridge—Call SERVPRO

Water damage to your Bay Ridge home can cause lasting structural damage if not handled promptly. Professionals like SERVPRO have the knowledge, training, and tools to ensure that the water does not cause irreparable harm to your home. We use state-of-the-art technology to restore your home to its preloss condition as quickly as possible.

SERVPRO techs use scientific principles to manipulate the drying conditions to accelerate drying while restoring water damage to your Bay Ridge home. Our IICRC-certified experts create ideal drying conditions by controlling various physical properties of the air, such as temperature, moisture content, and velocity.

The Role of Psychrometry in Water Restoration

Psychrometry is the study of air and its properties. Restorers measure the various properties of the drying air, like temperature, humidity, vapor pressure, and dew point, to evaluate whether the conditions are favorable for drying. If not, the restorers manipulate these conditions so that water evaporates more readily from the surfaces. 

• Temperature plays an important role in speeding up the rate of evaporation. Warmer air can accommodate more moisture and dry a surface faster than cooler air.
• Humidity is the volume of water in the vapor form in the air. The more moisture the air carries, the less efficient it is for drying. SERVPRO techs use dehumidifiers to remove excess moisture from the air and to make conditions ideal for drying.
• Vapor pressure is the pressure that water vapor exerts on surrounding surfaces. Wetter air has higher vapor pressure, forcing moisture into the surface rather than out of the surface. Reducing it results in an acceleration of the rate of drying.

Combining Techniques

Rather than relying on a single drying technique, SERVPRO techs use a combination of methods using strategically placed dehumidifiers, heaters, and air movers to ensure that your water-damaged home dries as quickly as possible. "Like it never even happened."

Call SERVPRO of Bay Ridge at (718) 765-5572 today.