Water damage is a property owner’s worst nightmare. Thankfully, water restoration services exist that can help you deal with the aftermath of a pipe bursting, flood damage, or any other type of water damage you experience. To help you prepare for the healing journey post-water damage, here is a handy guide to water restoration services:
3 Types of Water Damage
Water damage can come in many different forms, and levels of severity. To ensure you are ready to handle needed repairs at a moment’s notice, people need to know the three types of water damage. A quality Portland restoration company can help you reclaim your property’s former glory:
1: Clean Water Damage
When looking at the IICRC scale used by restoration pros, clean water damage is the least serious, and easiest to handle. Category one damage includes issues such as broken water supply lines, broken pipes, and broken water-using sewage systems (such as toilets and tubs). Since this water is typically coming from a toxin-free source, it’s known as clean water damage and is much simpler to address.
2: Gray Water Damage
Next up on the IICRC scale, gray water damage occurs when toilets, washing machines, sump pumps, and other more toxin-containing water systems suddenly break or become corrupted. Since this water is coming from sources that contain toxins and bacteria that are harmful to people using a property, it becomes much more serious. Handling the gray water damage in a timely fashion can ensure it does not lead to severe, expensive water restoration service issues down the line, however.
3: Black Water Damage
Lastly, black water damage is the most severe level of water damage on the IICRC scale. This damage comes from severe water damage accidents involving floods, seawater, and groundwater damage. Because there is a wide range of potentially toxic materials involved in these accidents, and since the water will hit your structure much harder, black water damage is a deadly serious affair. If you want to keep your property from becoming unsalvageable, you’ll need a professional water damage restoration team on the scene immediately.
The 4 Steps of Water Restoration
Once the type and category of water damage you’re dealing with have been identified. A pro water restoration team can get on-site to help you restore and save your property. There are four steps involved in the larger water restoration process:
1. Site Inspection
Before any other step can happen, an IICRC-certified water damage technician will need to do an on-site inspection to survey your property, and every area of it that’s been damaged by water. From locating the initial source and cause of the damage to a lookover of your home’s structural integrity, the site inspection will ensure the restoration pros have the knowledge needed to save your property.
2. Mitigation
After the inspection is completed, water damage mitigation becomes the next crucial step. Truck-mounted water extraction equipment can be used to remove standing water, and other large pools of water from your property. Getting as much water as possible extracted is the main goal of the mitigation process. Additionally, if any emergency structural repairs are needed to save your property, they will happen during the mitigation step as well. Debris and any infestation-affected objects or structural pieces will be taken off to ensure the property is not hazardous.
3. Remediation
Residual water will be leftover after the mitigation process in many cases, especially if you’re dealing with category one or two water damage. This time around, special vacuum equipment will be used to successfully remove any remaining residual water. This step also helps to deal with mold-proofing the damaged property. Next, specialized technicians set up heavy-duty drying equipment to dry out the property. Pieces of property or structure that cannot be salvaged, sanitized, or cleaned will be removed to complete the remediation step of the process.
4. Restoration
Now that the water has been removed from the scene, and severely damaged structural pieces have been handled, the restoration stage of the process will begin. Structural replacements will happen during this scene, for example. If mold has built up as a result of water damage, it will be handled during the restoration process step. Content and other pieces of property that have been damaged by water (that are not structural), will likely be taken care of during this final step as well. To finish off the restoration service process, the pros will then do a final inspection to ensure the property is restored as effectively as possible. Ultimately, they aim to restore your property to its pre-loss condition.
Read Next: Restoring with Confidence: Collaborating in Nashville, TN