When a flood hits, it can be truly devastating. Whether it’s your home or your business, being flooded is completely disruptive. It’s dangerous and unforgiving. A flood can take everything from a person. So how do you go about dealing with the aftermath? What is flood restoration? Flood restoration is the name given to the process of returning a property to its pre-flood condition. Precisely how it’s done depends on how much damage there is, and what kind of flood occurred. In some cases, the flood restoration process simply involves cleaning measures and a bit of repair work and plastering to the affected areas. In other circumstances, it might involve replacing damaged materials and repairing structural damage to the property to avoid things like penetrating damp. Regardless of what the process involves and how bad the flood damage is, restoration is always possible, especially with the help of a flood restoration company. What kind of damage can a flood cause? In order to understand what the damage restoration process might look like, you first need to understand what flood damage might look like. First of all, floods are the most common weather disasters in the world. Flash floods are becoming more and more common each year. But, of course, floods can be caused by other things, too, such as sewage issues, pipes breaking, and tanks bursting. Whatever the cause of a flood, it can very quickly become dangerous. Waters can rise very quickly, and with external floods, there are often contaminants in the water that can cause health problems. Floods can cause damage to property, damage to furniture, structural damage, loss of precious items, loss of money, injury, and, in extreme cases, death. When extensive damage is done, it can take a long time to get the space back to ‘normal’. What does the flood restoration process look like? You’ve had a flood. Your property is damaged, and you don’t know where to start. After a quick search, you find a highly recommended flood restoration team nearby, like Clean Team Scotland. So you’ve contacted the flood restoration company, and they’re on their way. What is the process going to look like? How involved will you need to be? Will they just rip out the property damage and start again? Step one: assessment and emergency measures When the flood restoration company arrives, they’ll assess the situation. They’ll identify potential hazards and create a detailed restoration plan. From there, the property will be secured and any emergency measures taken. This might involve shutting off power and water supplies to the property. Before they step on the property, they will equip themselves with personal protective equipment to make sure that everyone is kept safe. Step two: water removal and drying process The first step is to remove any water and the remaining moisture from the property. It is impossible for the team to tackle the flood damage and proceed with flood recovery without removing the standing water. By using industrial dehumidifiers and industrial strength pumps, the flood restoration company can help prevent mould growth and remove the risk associated with standing water. This drying process can take anywhere between hours to days or weeks. It is vital that both standing water removal and moisture removal are allowed to take as long as needed. Otherwise, the property may develop mould growth later down the line and the property might suffer further structural damage. Step four: cleaning measures Once the home and business have been cleared of standing water, the water damage restoration process can properly begin. The affected areas of the flood-damaged property will all need to be cleaned and disinfected. Standing water often brings with it a range of pathogens and bacteria, so it is essential that this is removed after a flooding event. As a part of the water damage restoration process, the flood restoration company will use specialised cleaners and disinfectants on the flood-damaged property. Step five: restoration process As soon as the property is clean, damage restoration can take place. This involves replacing damaged materials such as floorboards and walls, all the way up to completely rebuilding a property says Damp Hero. What are the responsibilities of the flood restoration company? When you call and hire a damage restoration team, what exactly can you rely on them to do? It’s hard to know without having had to handle a flooding event or something similar before. The flood restoration company has a few responsibilities. First and foremost: damage restoration and prevention of further damage. However, it is also up to the flood restoration team to be your saving grace in a time of need. They will need to be professionals and handle the situation with a calmness that makes the whole process as painless as possible for you. With a team of experts and a collection of all of the necessary equipment needed to get the restoration process underway, the team will get on with it, providing you with high quality care and damage restoration. Can you protect against flood damage? Floods, like any natural disaster, are unpredictable, but there are a few things that you can do to limit the damage and try to stop your home from flooding. Taking these steps might just prevent you needing as intense a flood restoration next time! Protection against flood damage might include: Can I undertake the flood restoration process on my own? There is nothing stopping you from undertaking the restoration process alone, however, flood damage can be extensive and it can be dangerous. By hiring flood restoration services, you’re relying on more than one flood restoration professional who has extensive training, equipment and tools to take your home from damaged to delightful. Often, when people choose to handle flood damage themselves, the property ends up growing mould. The moisture from the flood, if not properly removed with specially designed vacuums can create the perfect environment for mould growth. There is also often structural damage to the property that you cannot see. This kind of property damage can be expensive, and dangerous, and is best caught early.
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