Are All of My Belongings Ruined When Flood Water Soaks Them?

6/17/2020 (Permalink)

The service vehicles of SERVPRO in Bristol are on the move again for a flood restoration project. Don't worry, Call SERVPRO.

Let SERVPRO Show You How Our Contents Recovery Technicians Can Transform Your Soggy Stuff Back to the Pride of Your Bristol Home

Bristol might be in for another rainy summer, and that can mean only one thing for some homeowners--flood waters that attack both structures and contents alike. Disaster recovery companies aplenty vie for the chance to help with knee-deep water in basements and soaked attics, floors, and walls. But who can help with the heart of your home--the furniture, household goods, and personal treasures and belongings?

Do Any Flood Restoration Businesses Take Care of What Is Inside My House, Too?

We have one overriding goal--to make it “Like it never even happened.” When flood damage overwhelms in Bristol, we understand that your concerns extend beyond a wet cellar and broken drywall. Often, the structural components of a flood-ravaged home can look even better than preloss after mitigation, remediation, and restoration. Unfortunately, it is hard to rebuild a photo album, recreate the afghan grandma crocheted, or find the exact Teddy that lulled your child to sleep after sustaining damage in dirty flood water.

Why Not Just Toss Things to Which You Have No Attachment?

When your insurance carrier reviews claims they are cognizant always that restoration is less costly overall. You certainly can decide to buy new, but you might not receive reimbursement for that choice in all cases. SERVPRO works as your liaison with your insurance company, and it is not uncommon for your agent to suggest reaching out to us initially because of the positive experience their other insured clients had with our team. We develop a system that keeps you, our skilled content technicians, and the insurer in the same loop. Sometimes all agree to discard and replace, but our approach trends toward employing continually evolving equipment and techniques in the restoration industry that bring back your damaged belongings to the look, feel, and function they enjoyed before the flood.

How Do We Record and Track Items Removed for Processing Elsewhere?

We use a Contents Claim Inventory Service (CCIS) to develop a hybrid written and digital record of the belongings we pack out. Checklists, digital photos, and barcodes combine as a comprehensive way to keep tabs on your property, and document the efforts made to clean, dry, disinfect, and deodorize items.

What Are Some Surprising Things We Can Save?

• Papers, Documents, Pictures

When water invades the storage area in your attic or basement after storm-related flooding, many items that you cannot replace are at risk. Boxes filled with awards, wedding albums and other pictures, documents from the historic (grandparents’ naturalization papers) to the necessary (handwritten wills) can look like pulp when you gingerly open the container.

How Do We Dry Papers and Photos?

Freeze-drying is an effective method for these fragile belongings. If there is a delay before our crew can arrive, stashing precious papers and photos in a deep freezer is a good strategy. Expect our technicians to ask you for a list of the items most essential to dry. We arrange for the wet papers or photos to undergo sublimation, whereby the frozen water is extracted to a vaporous state in a pressurized chamber, bypassing the liquid state.

• Electronics

Many things run off of electronic circuitry these days, including obvious things like phones and computers, and also “smart” appliances.

How Do We Make Sure Electronics Dry Out for Use Again?

We work with electronics experts who assess whether your property is safe to operate. In our production facility or a dry area of your home, we build contained small drying chambers within which we can manipulate temperature, airflow, and humidity to ensure the workings and connections are at normal moisture levels.  

• Toys and Other Beloved Soft Items

Although you can try to replace a much-loved blanket or an heirloom tablecloth, the reality is your family knows and feels the loss. Our content processing technicians have many strategies and plenty of patience and experience to get these items back to pre-damage condition.

How Do We Turn the Clock Back on Textile and Soft Item Flood Damage?

Our content cleaning specialists have a “can do” attitude, and valuable experience in the trade. We work hard to return treasured possessions to our valued customers using our on-site commercial wash systems, small drying chambers, immersion tanks, proprietary detergents, and other tools and products.

The entire team at SERVPRO of Bristol is on board with both sides of flood damage cleanup--at your home for structures and our facility or another staging area for contents. Call us at (860) 582-3330 to start the flood damage remediation process fast.