Storm damage, natural disasters, plumbing malfunctions, and more can all cause water damage to your home and belongings. But if the damage is minor and you can clean it up quickly, you may be able to get by without the help of a professional damage remediation company. It's the medium-sized cases that may cause the most puzzlement; if you successfully cleaned up your last burst pipe problem but this one's a bit worse, how can you decide whether or not to call in the professionals? Here are three criteria you can use to assess your problem and decide whether you should request professional help.
1. Assess the size of the damaged area
To decrease the likelihood that mold and mildew will set up shop in your home, it's crucial to get everything aired out and completely dry by the day after the damage occurs. If everyone in the house works long hours (or you live alone) and the damage seems trivial but extensive, you may need to consider calling in help. Whether this means asking neighbors or friends to lend a hand or hiring experienced professional help, it's worth it to avoid the health hazard and other complications that can arise. But remember, you should never ask your friends to help unless it's completely clean water and you know it won't be a health risk to them.
2. Assess the quality of the water involved
In the damage remediation industry, three grades of water are generally recognized. There's totally clean water, slightly dirty water (known as "gray" water) and extremely hazardous water (known as "black" water). Slightly dirty water may be involved in a dishwasher leak, where the water was initially clean but now has some detergents and possibly food particles in it. You wouldn't want to drink this water, but it's probably pathogen-free. Washing machine leaks and used bathwater are also in this category. Black water is stuff like soiled toilet water, sewer backup flooding, or any flooding from a natural disaster. You can probably clean up clean water spills on your own unless the damage is extensive and advanced, like if a pipe burst while you were away for the weekend and nobody noticed until water started dripping into the apartment below you. Small gray water spills are probably also within your purview if you get on top of them right away. Anything to do with black water, though, should definitely be handled by professionals.
3. Assess the value of the damaged items
Sometimes it's easier to get the insurance company to cooperate if you can prove that you hired professionals in an attempt to mitigate the damage. If there's extensive damage to your home that you want insurance to pay for, or if you have expensive belongings ruined, professional help may be the best way to go.
These three steps will help you decide if you should wing it on your own or call in the big guns on your water damage situation. Remember, if you try to clean up standing water on your own, DO NOT approach it until you've turned off all your electricity at the circuit breaker box. To learn more, contact a water damage restoration company like Servpro Of Washington County.
Share3 March 2016
Hi everyone, my name is Sandy. Welcome to my site about cleaning services. After starting my own company, I decided to rent out an office downtown. The office space was relatively small but still incredibly difficult to keep clean. I was spending at least an hour a night wiping down everything, taking out the trash and putting items back where they belong. I elected to hire a cleaning service to take care of all those tasks and more. I will use this site to talk more about the cleaning services I received and their benefits. Thanks for your time.
