Will Flood Water Ruin Our Basement?

9/10/2020 (Permalink)

We understand how seriously flood water can impact your home. No matter when you make the call, we have technicians who can assist you.

To Help Inhibit Mold Growth and Structural Issues after Flood Damage to Your Niagara Falls Home, SERVPRO Arrives Fast with the Latest Restoration Methods.

A flooded basement is an event that brings worry and stress, which is never something that any Niagara Falls homeowner wants to deal with. When faced with a devastating storm, it is imperative that you address floodwater as soon as possible. The longer you allow standing water to fester in your basement, the more mildew and mold can multiply. Along with that, you face potentially harmful effects on your foundation, or moisture starts to migrate throughout other regions of the home. The best way to stop flood damage in its tracks is to call for help from trained water restoration technicians (WRT). 

Do I Need to Have Water Removal Right Away?

Waiting too long to address flood damage in Niagara Falls leads to many problems. Stagnant water in the home damages belongings and impacts structural integrity. Additionally, floodwater brings in a variety of contaminants and possible health effects from mold spores. Our team at SERVPRO works fast to halt the damage, which can save you a great deal of time and money.

Floodwater is a threat to the physical integrity of supporting structures of the home. This comes about due to the pressure and force of storm flooding, which includes:

• Metal or wood framing may bend or sheer off
• Doors, windows, and siding could begin to break or warp
• Areas of your foundation may crack or begin to wash out

Along with the harmful deterioration of your home’s structural components, you also may experience harm to all of the porous materials located in your basement. The longer that you wait to start cleanup, your particleboard, insulation, ceiling tiles, drywall, and the framework takes on water. This leads to crumbling, warping, or total inability to restore using traditional methods.

Is Flood Water Contaminated?

There is a risk of contamination with any loss from a flood when storms bring water into your home. The surfaces and contents within your basement are subject to contaminants, but your indoor air quality also comes into question. Some of the various hazardous substances known to lurk in floodwater may include:

• Mold, mildew, bacteria, and dangerous microbes
• Human or animal waste, both of which must get treated as hazardous pathogens
• Chemicals from various containers located outside the home or inside your basement, including oils, gasoline, fertilizers, cleaners, and more
• Asbestos or lead that infiltrates from other surfaces or structures disturbed from floodwater or other activity throughout the cleanup process

What Does Flood Water Cleanup Entail?

All of our SERVPRO technicians are trained and certified via the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC). We work using best practices and the latest methods for securing your structure. We mitigate the damage, working to slow deterioration while preserving your interior. All debris and potentially biohazardous materials are promptly removed and properly disposed of. Our crew chief monitors a plan of action that allows us to extract water, clean up the zone, and disinfect all areas impacted by floodwater. We adjust our course as needed to ensure we reach our drying goals so that everything is left in preloss condition, “Like it never even happened.”

What Happens First?

After our Green Fleet arrives at your door, we assess the damage and begin securing your basement and the entire flood zone. We do this by:

• Taping up any holes, tarping up or boarding up and broken windows
• Bracing your home’s structure, which ensures safety for our crew as they work
• Shutting off electricity and other utilities in the zone to eliminate shock or fire risks

SERVPRO slows damage in several ways. Initial assessment commences where our project manager or crew chief develops a detailed plan for water removal, cleaning, and restoration. Every project we get called to is unique, but common steps generally include:

• Extraction of all water in the basement
• Contaminated water containment, ensuring everything unsalvageable gets disposed of according to local guidelines 
• Buffer placement to help when only partial flooding is present
• Packout services to relocate belongings off-site for drying and cleaning
• Plastic sheeting containment barriers in conjunction with air scrubbers to create negative pressure

Our technicians always wear personal protective equipment (PPE) for their safety throughout the floodwater removal and cleanup. This step also helps eliminate the tracking of contamination and debris into unaffected areas of the home.

Can You Be Sure the Basement is Dry?

Along with removing water, cleaning all surfaces, and using EPA-registered antimicrobial agents for disinfection, we also use moisture monitoring tools to ensure your home is thoroughly dried. Thermal imaging cameras, moisture sensors, and moisture meters help us to locate hidden pockets of moisture to clear them up. We always reposition our heaters, dehumidifiers, and air movers until we obtain regular readings.

At SERVPRO of North Niagara County, We’re Faster to Any Size Disaster. We can help with emergency flood damage services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call (716) 299-0330, and we can send out a crew as soon as possible.