Water Damage Restoration

The primary function of a restoration contractor that performs emergency mitigation services is to handle the claim professionally, expeditiously, and cost effectively. Professional restorative contractors should understand what it means to be professional when conducting their business. They should also understand the importance of prompt response and quick action to limit the scope of the loss. However, a difficult area to institute and control is how to be cost ef-fective. This is especially true when customers are making demands and expecting quick action concerning what is happening to their home and belongings.

Water damage mitigation that is performed by using the PuroClean QuickDry System (PQDS), focuses not only on stabilizing and reducing further damage, but also includes reducing unnecessary services that increase direct costs. Direct costs are labor, time, and materials that contribute directly to the total dollar amount of sustained damage. The PQDS reduces that total dollar volume by enacting tested and proven procedures while performing water damage mitigation services.

Many water mitigators use a light wand extraction which removes some water and may involve moving all or half of the furniture from a room so that the carpet can be pulled back far enough to remove the cushion (pad). The furniture has to be re-moved from the room so that air fans can be placed under the carpet in a corner to “float” the carpet. The concept of floating the carpet with air makes the room difficult, if not impossible, to occupy. This is a major problem in bedrooms where headboards, footboards, and rails need disassembling, and mattresses and box springs need to be carried into a dry, unaffected area. That is, if any dry areas ex-ist. Under the PQDS, furniture in any affected room only needs to be manipulated enough to extract the water. Furniture is then placed on blocks and tabs to prevent the transfer of furniture stain or the development of rust marks. The time and labor saved in performing this function alone is substantial, espe-cially if multiple rooms are involved.

These PQDS procedures include a new extraction technology that enables water to be removed from the carpet and cushion (pad), simultaneously without disengagement of the installation. This extraction removes 90 to 95% of the total liquid moisture available in the carpet and pad. By removing this quantity of liquid moisture, less time is required to evaporate any remaining moisture by airflow and dehumidification. Most projects are completed on the average within three days.

Removing wet carpet from the installation is risky business. Carpets that are totally saturated are more easily damaged when wet than when they are dry. This is due to the fact that the latex binder between the primary and secondary backings is 50% weaker when saturated with water. Even with the best intentions, removing the carpet tension with a knee kicker or pulling the carpet from the tack strip can often cause rips or tears.

If the carpet is not disengaged, the pad is not removed, and the furniture is minimally disrupted, then the entire cost of new cushion, professional power stretched installation, and furniture remanipulation is not required. This results in a tremen-dous direct cost reduction.

The aggravation, frustration, and total inconvenience of the old process must also be considered as an indirect cost reduction. A non-monetary form of indirect cost is the price that one pays in stress and duress when processing a claim incorrectly which creates fear, suspicion, and distrust on the part of the customer and inevitably the insurance adjuster. The PQDS takes these issues and other factors into consideration when mitigat-ing a water loss.

Structurally, the PQDS employs many cost effective philosophies, for example, drying drywall in place. Many schools originally taught that any initial wicking of water into drywall specifically dictated the removal of baseboard molding, both vinyl and wood, as a necessity to dry the lower wall area. Technicians went so far as to poke holes in the wallboard to increase evaporation and ventilation. Some even sprayed water based antimicrobials into the holes increasing the wetness factor. These actions dictated, providing that the area dried properly, that new baseboards will need to be installed and that the entire room or rooms will require painting to correct the damage done to the surface during the demolition.

The PQDS does not initially require removing baseboards when wetness is detected. PuroClean structural dryers are deployed forcing air directly towards the wet walls drying the area in most cases without removing the molding. This direct airflow against the lower wall dries the baseboard, the wallboard, and the framing structure. Many types of insulation, for example, fiberglass batt, will dry as well. Baseboard molding removal would be necessary only if cellulose or rock wool insulation were present. These materials lose loft and respective R value when wet and compressed. Replacement is war-ranted for these materials.

When comparing the old drying procedure and philosophy to the new PuroClean QuickDry System, there is no contest. The direct cost effective savings as well as the indirect time and incon-venience reductions are obvious. Call your local PuroClean office to take advantage of the PuroClean QuickDry System to help reduce your costs when processing water damage losses today.