Month: March 2020

What to Do Immediately After Fire Damage

Published on

What to Do Immediately After Fire Damage

Knowing what to do before a fire is already complicated enough. Handling things during and much less after a fire even more so. These aren’t events that a lot of us will have to deal with in our lifetimes. And although the severity and devastation vary from case to case, it’s obviously never a pleasant experience to go through. If you’ve been put in the unfortunate position of having to handle the aftermath of a fire, here’s a checklist that hopefully helps you get things back on track!

 

Safety

 

The first and foremost concern is obviously safety. If you haven’t already contacted emergency services, you should do so. It may seem obvious from an outside perspective, but the overwhelming number of thoughts flying around in someone’s head after something like this may cloud their decision making. Responders will tell you if your home is safe to be in at all, what parts aren’t if any, and hazardous conditions to watch out for. The last thing you need after a fire is having you or a family member take a fall through a fire-damaged home that is no longer structurally sound.

 

Insurance

 

The next step is contacting any insurance you may have on the home and getting the claim process started. This will potentially help in finding temporary housing, and at least start the process for putting you in touch with qualified professionals and a checklist of next steps in order to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

 

Security

 

The next step, unfortunately, is to secure your home. It’s quite common to have looting happen after a fire occurs in a home. A point should be made to secure the home as safely and reasonably as possible and contact a qualified restoration company to further secure the residence. Aside from having a physical presence on the property which drastically reduces the chance that someone will attempt to enter the residence, they can board up any windows, doors, or openings used to typically gain access to the property.

 

Call RestoPros for Fire Damage Restoration

 

Once these vital steps have been resolved, the restoration company will assess the area for damage, hazards, and potentially walk you through the property to explain what next steps need to be taken in order to restore your home to its previous condition.

 

It may feel overwhelming, and rightfully so. But try and break things down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Once you’ve got the safety of you and your family under control, starting the next steps towards recovery is a great next move. After that, make sure the house is safe from further damage and loss, and have the experts come and take a look to start the process of recovery and restoration.

 

If that’s the step that you’re in now, or even if you just had more questions about the process, give RestoPros a call today with any questions, concerns, or if you’d like to set up an appointment to get on the road to restoration!

Tell-Tale Signs You Have Water Damage

Published on

Tell-Tale Signs You Have Water Damage

 

Water damage is, unfortunately, quite hard to miss in the home. You can smell it, see it, and if it’s an internal source, you’ll see it on your water bill. Although you may take precautions against such things, it can still happen without warning. Anything from heavy rains, to bursting pipes, to a forgetful family member or backed-up drain. Here are some tell-tale signs you have water damage:

 

You Can Smell It

 

If you’ve ever walked into a room that smells musty or damp, trust your nose. You might just be smelling mold and mildew. This smell is similar to what you’d expect wet cardboard or paper to smell like and generally hangs heavy in wet or damp environments. Without assuming the worst, do try and find out the cause of the smell before concluding its water damage. But your nose is a great first indicator that something is potentially off!

 

You Can See It

 

Although we use our eyes more than our other senses, it’s easy to sometimes miss the visual signs of water damage. Not because you can’t see it, but because we’re generally not looking at where the damage is. You can check your walls, baseboards, and caulk in places like a bathroom and you’ll likely see mold.

 

The conditions in these high moisture areas are ripe for mold to grow. However, if you’re seeing mold in places that you’d expect to be dry, like closets, bedrooms, or living rooms, you might want to check for standing water or leaks in that area. Additionally, if you see yellowing or browning on your ceiling, you’ve definitely had water damage in that area at some point in the past. If it’s something you can’t associate with a fixed problem, then it’s definitely a cause for concern.

 

Whether you have paint or wallpaper in your home, you might see a rapid peeling as water penetrates the drywall it’s clinging to. Peeling and bubbling is a telltale sign of issues in the walls that needs to be investigated, especially if it’s sudden! Warped and broken drywall isn’t uncommon as the weight from the drywall increases as it becomes saturated to a point of failure.

 

You Can Feel It (in Your Wallet)

 

If you’re regularly seeing a higher than usual water bill, it may mean a few different things, but these spikes could also indicate that you have a leak somewhere that needs to be discovered. You can check common appliances, and the hoses, pipes, and main supply relatively easy to find any obvious leaks.

 

Call RestoPros for Water Damage Service Today

 

If the looming presence of water damage in your home sounds intimidating, or if you’ve checked yourself but still suspect there may be water damage somewhere you can’t see, give RestoPros a call today and have an expert come out and check your home. Licensed and experienced professionals can not only find any issues that exist but provide advice and services on how to remedy the problem, so if water damage is a concern, call today!

How Does Smoke Affect Homes and Building Materials?

Published on
How Does Smoke Affect Homes and Building Materials

We learn pretty early on that fire is dangerous. We know that so well, in fact, we sometimes forget all about smoke. Did you know that smoke is significantly more problematic for both people and structures compared to fire? It’s true. Smoke is the leading cause of deaths related to fire – three times over the flames themselves. Breathing in smoke is terrible for your respiratory system, but it’s also really bad for your property as well. But how does smoke affect homes and building materials?

How Does Smoke Affect Homes and Building Materials?

Ceiling

Typically, the ceiling directly above a fire is going to have the highest concentration of smoke residue. Assuming there weren’t any strong air currents to disrupt the smoke, it would continue to rise and collect straight upwards.

Walls

Since hot air rises and cold air sinks, this provides the opportunity for smoke to be pushed to the exterior walls of a room as well, this means further damage to higher points of exterior windows and walls.

Enclosed Spaces

Dressers, closets, furniture, behind drapes or blinds – these don’t seem like places that something like smoke would infiltrate, but it happens. As air cools down, particles floating on the wind stream fall down onto nearby surfaces, this means that heat may have carried debris into some seemingly enclosed spaces and deposited debris there.

Ductwork

Even though your HVAC system may not have been on, you’ll probably still find some soot and smoke damage within the ducts. Just like liquid, smoke will take the path of least resistance. This means as it billows into the ceiling and runs out of space in a room, it’ll be pulled into the vents and come to rest in the cooler ductwork of your home.

Synthetic Materials

Aside from your standard smoke, you’ve got to consider just how much synthetic materials exist in homes these days. This adds a whole new level of complexity as to the danger you face when breathing in the already dangerous smoke and soot leftover after a fire. These types of chemicals can cause all sorts of short- and long-term health issues down the road.

General Property Damage

Health issues notwithstanding, the property itself has received substantial damage as well. You will find that fabrics and upholstery like carpet, rugs, curtains, and clothing have become discolored. Furniture will likely be damaged at the very least, if not warped or completely destroyed. Walls and ceilings will be stained and warped, and windows will likely be discolored. Plants and potting can become contaminated with toxins, and concrete may crack from the sudden dehydration and high heat exposure. Wood will obviously be damaged, if not seriously discolored and in need of restoration. Highly acidic soot can potentially corrode exposed metal as well.

Call RestoPros for Smoke Damage Services

Smoke damage within a home can cause short- and long-term health issues, destroy or alter almost any interior surface, breach any non-airtight locations and reduce the value of homes significantly. So, don’t underestimate the damage smoke can do! Call RestoPros at 855-587-3786 today!

Common Breeding Grounds for Mold and Mildew

Published on
Common Breeding Grounds for Mold and Mildew

Nobody likes mold or mildew in their home. They are gross to look at, gross to smell and can be downright dangerous to some. But what are the causes? Where do they come from? And where are they likely to pop around your home? Here will discuss the most common breeding grounds for mold and mildew to grow, and why.

What Causes Mold?

Mold, for the most part, is a fungus. Microscopic little spores floating in the air that sprout. Clusters of these spores can cling to surfaces and eventually become visible to us. If you don’t have any sensitivity to mold, you may not even notice unless you see or smell it. The musty scent is pretty identifiable for most. If you do have an allergic reaction, you might respond with asthmatic attacks, sinus flare-ups, and various other forms of respiratory responses as your body fights the spores you’re breathing in.

Where Does Mold Grow?

There are key factors required for mold growth to occur:

  • The presence of mold
  • A surface for mold to cling to
  • Oxygen
  • Warmth
  • Moisture
  • Darkness

In the Shower

This is a usually wet, usually dark, usually warm place for mold to thrive! It might grow on shampoo bottles, walls, floors, ceilings, and curtains. Check hidden places like under bottles, near the showerhead, the folds of the shower curtain, washcloths, loofahs, etc.

The Sink and Toilet

Other most common candidates are the sink or toilet because of their proximity to the humidity of the shower, along with both having standing water in them. The most obvious place to check is the porcelain that’s visible, but be sure and look under the seat cover, the tank, any items surrounding the sink or toilet, and under the sink where humidity tends to collect in darkness.

The Bathroom in General

Having a closed, humid room with standing water and even slightly leaking pipes or faucets is a likely candidate. Check floor to ceiling, and if any rugs exist in the bathroom wash them regularly. Checking for any leaks or standing water aside from water in the toilet is a good preventative measure as well.

The Kitchen

As you may have guessed, the kitchen is the next suspect. Between expired food, water in sinks, appliances, and cooking, the kitchen is a prime spot for mold and mildew growth. Getting rid of expired food, wiping down surfaces regularly, and assuring fridge drip trays are clean and free of blockage, and cleaning and drying microwaves and stoves are key factors in combating the microscopic menace.

The Bedroom

Easy to overlook, after all, there’s no running water typically. Most of us don’t keep expired food in the bedroom, and no appliances to drip water unseen. But the risk is still there. Check your mattress, sweat and dander might provide the right breeding grounds for mold. Windows can collect humidity and moisture that causes growth as well. Finally, the vents from your HVAC system can cause condensation which again provides the right conditions for mold to flourish.

Call RestoPros for Mold Remediation

If you’d like to be sure about the risks of mold or mildew in your house, or if maybe you’ve spotted some and would like to address the problem early, give the experts at RestoPros a call today and schedule an appointment!