WATER DAMAGE RESTORATION

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Regardless of the cause of water damage, one thing is certain. It is of the utmost importance for it to be addressed before it causes even further damage to your property. Although some homeowners and property management teams may attempt to complete the water damage restoration process themselves, it is highly recommended that homeowners contract a certified and professional water restoration technician. The truth is, water restoration is not solely about removing the water from the area, but utilizing specialized equipment and monitoring systems to ensure that not only is the standing water removed properly, but that all materials are dry or removed to prevent microbial growth and rotting of structural components of your property. 

 

There are currently no governmental regulations in the US for water restoration. However, there is an organization - the IICRC: the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification - that provides education, training, certifications, and standards for the field of restoration and mitigation work. We highly encourage you to always ask for proof of certifications before allowing any technician to enter and perform restoration services in your home. Our team of professionals are certified and knowledgeable about the standards of drying and restoration. Each of our technicians has a profile on our website listing their current certifications as well as when they will be taking courses to receive others. Our techs will also have this information attached to their ID badges for you to view prior to entering your home. You wouldn’t allow just anyone to build your home without knowledge, experience, and  the proper certifications; we feel the same way about ensuring that technicians restoring your home have similar requirements to ensure it is completed safely, effectively, and to IICRC standards. 

 

Our 3 Phases

 

Phase 1: Inspection 

 

The first step that a certified technician will take is assessing and evaluating the damage during an inspection that results in a scope of work or what we like to call the game plan. That includes assessing both the category of water and class of water damage to aid them in developing a scope of work necessary to properly remediate the water damage according to IICRC standards. 

 

There are 3 categories of water that address the cleanliness of the source of water. The category of water dictates the scope of removal of affected items as some items cannot be salvaged due to the health implications of the category of water that caused the damage.

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• Category 1 is “clean water.” Category 1 water that comes from a clean source and has little threat to humans. Examples of category 1 water are supply line leak and sink or bathtub overflow. If category 1 water is left standing for 48 hours it will then be classified as category 2.

• Category 2 water is “gray water.” Category 2 is water that contains contaminants & microorganisms that can potentially cause harm to humans. Examples of category 2 water would be toilet water with urine but not feces or water from appliance discharge lines such as a washing machine. If category 2 water is left standing for 48 hours it will then be classified as category 3.

• Category 3 is “black water.” Category 3 is water that is highly contaminated and unsanitary that is extremely harmful to humans. Examples of category 3 water would be sewage leaks and flood waters from rivers or seawater. 

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There are 4 classes of water damage that reference the difficulty in removing moisture from the affected sspace: class 1, class, 2, class 3, and class 4. These classes of water damage are decided by the probable rate of evaporation taking into account the affected materials in the damaged area. Essentially the class of water damage dictates the extent of saturation, how long it will take to properly dry, and what if any/specialty drying methods/equipment are needed. The class of water damage helps technicians decide the equipment amount and type needed to properly address the water damage according to IICRC standards.
 

Phase 2: Mitigation

 

This phase is where our certified technicians use the scope of work we built during the inspection process to properly remediate the water damage. This includes setting up containment to prevent the spread of affected materials as well as demoing and safely removing any unsalvageable affected materials that pose health concerns.

 

Phase 3: Dry Out & Close Out

 

This phase is where equipment is placed to begin the dry out process of any saturated materials. The drying process is then monitored every 24 hours where a technician will visit the site, record the drying phase the site is at, make any necessary adjustments to equipment, and provide an update to the homeowner or management company. Once the site has reached dry standards the close out process begins where equipment is removed, the site is cleaned, and the site is then ready for the reconstruction process.