What Timelines Should We Prepare For After Flood Damage Affects Our Cape Canaveral Home?

8/29/2020 (Permalink)

We can also help take steps that help speed up the process.

SERVPRO Helps Homeowners Affected by Storms Understand the Implications of Various Damages Thus Reducing Frustrations

Timelines can be a thorny issue in the aftermath of a flooding incident at your Cape Canaveral home. While you may want your home clean and fully restored as fast as possible, various obstacles can develop interfering with your intended goals. One way to manage the situation is having the knowledge of the expected timelines for completing different restoration tasks.

What typical aspects of flood damage restoration in Cape Canaveral consume significant time?
    •    Full evaluation of the damage
    •    Preparing the loss site for restoration
    •    Performing the restoration processes
    •    Finalizing the restoration

Since most aspects of Cape Canaveral flood damage such as wet materials and soiled areas are readily identifiable, your recovery plans might not factor in the time necessary for a full evaluation of the property, yet it is a crucial process that helps reveal the full extent of the damage. For instance, noticing pools of water on the floors does not reveal how far the moisture migrates into the floor cavity or the percentage of materials affected by contamination beyond restorable levels.

Although it may seem to be a waste of time doing evaluations rather than embarking on immediate restoration, taking such a step eliminates the possibility of surprises cropping up later on in the process. Evaluation can also help reveal opportunities that you might otherwise miss. Our SERVPRO technicians can help speed up the evaluation by using various specialized equipment for simplicity. For instance:
    •    Thermal cameras reveal wetness in floor or wall cavities without demolition
    •    We use penetrative and non-penetrative moisture meters to get the actual level of saturation
    •    Luminometers help reveal contaminated surfaces

What sort of preparation does a flood-damaged property require?
You may expect that after evaluating the damage, renovation processes start immediately. However, doing so without taking some time to prepare the loss site might not be the best approach because it can delay some processes during the renovation or create fertile ground for accidents. Preparing the loss site involves a variety of tasks, including marking hazardous areas such as slick surfaces, moving obstacles out of the way, and setting up protective barriers, which can take some time.

When our SERVPRO technicians prepare your storm-damaged property for renovation, we set up a staging area within the house to hold the equipment we need for cleaning and other tasks. We consider various aspects that increase the convenience levels, including setting up the staging area close to a bathroom or another location where we can readily access water. We also bring utility equipment such as portable generators and heaters to supply power and heat at the loss site in case there is no power at the property.

How long does restoration of flood damage take?
Mitigating the effects of storm damage in properties can take varying periods depending on the total areas affected or the types of contents held in such areas. The time that is taken before responding to the loss incident also plays a role in the restoration timelines since materials keep deteriorating the longer they are exposed to moisture, soils, or other factors such as extreme temperatures since the disconnection of power from properties is common after most flooding incidents.

In case of building materials on the floors, walls, or other sections rot or deteriorate significantly in other ways, removal is necessary. Tearing down and replacing such materials takes longer compared to simple restoration through cleaning or drying, considering there is dust, shattered wood, and broken drywall to deal with. Our SERVPRO technicians can help expedite demolition and restoration of affected areas since we use a variety of equipment based on the suitability to handle a specific task conveniently. For instance, our tool-kits have simple and advanced tools for simplifying the job, including:
    •    Perforation rollers
    •    Pry bars and crowbars
    •    Rubber hammers
    •    Molding lifters

Does every restoration project require finishing?
Finishing helps guarantee that your property looks clean, feels clean, and smells clean. Whenever there is a flooding incident at your property, steps such as deodorization, repainting or refinishing surfaces in other ways help remove traces of the incident, “Like it never even happened.” Although it might be possible to occupy the house without or before some of the finishing processes, setting aside some time to complete them is worthy.

Time is a critical factor in the restoration of flood-damaged properties. SERVPRO of Central Brevard can help you understand the expected timelines for completing individual tasks or the entire project. We can also help take steps that help speed up the process. Call us at any time at (321) 638-4947.