WATER DAMAGE REPAIR AND
RESTORATION:
When water or flood damage occurs it is critical to take immediate action. As minutes turn to hours, the scope of water damage increases exponentially together with the cost of repairs and remediation. Even in areas of the structure away from the immediate damage, collateral or secondary damages often occur due to increased humidity levels alone. Under these circumstances, water vapor is rapidly absorbed and wastes no time damaging porous materials like arts, drywall, wood and composite furnishings, laminate countertops, papers and other finished surfaces.
Stopping the water, drying out and mitigating additional damages are not only crucial to your property and your checkbook but the actions are also a basic requirement for insurance coverage. Remember, your insurance coverage is contractually dependent upon the performance of your duty to “immediately” make every “reasonable” effort to: stop the water damage, perform a dry-out and mitigate further damages.
FWR Professionals will respond immediately, using advanced equipment and techniques to remove the water quickly. We monitor and document the drying process to ensure that your property is completely and thoroughly dried out. Proper drying takes the proper amount of time dependent upon the materials and circumstances - drying too fast or too slow can also create damage of its own. FWR’s certified technicians are highly trained to understand which tools and techniques should be employed to deliver the best efficacy. Time is especially important in the conservation or restoration of vulnerable items like arts, photos, papers, wood furnishings and personal property items.
See 7-Steps: The Water Damage Repair Process: for more detailed information about our processes.
FWR’s 3M Limited and Transferable Warranty
7-Steps: The Water Damage Repair Process:
- Emergency Contact
First, contact a trusted emergent service provider and give them as much detail about the source as possible, however, never go into a flooded basement due to risk of electric shock or worse! All water damage is NOT the same; for example: a sewer back-up is handled very differently than a broken potable water line - it’s best if your service provider understands the circumstances in order to deliver the best suited equipment and best suited skills as quickly as possible. If you just don’t know - tell them so, it’s okay. FWR’s emergency services number is: (585) 622-4621
- Damage Assessment
Upon arrival, a certified Project Designer and water damage technician will perform a detailed assessment and determine the extent of the water damage (Types of water damage). They will then establish a protocol for: stopping the damage; drying out damaged property; protecting the property and contents from additional damage; then communicate those findings to you. Almost immediately, furniture and contents will be blocked and/or salvaged and removed from the damage area for preservation.
- Water Removal / Water Extraction
Water extraction removes the majority of the water from your damaged home or property. This reduces the time required for drying and helps mitigate collateral damage caused by water and mold. Powerful pumps and purpose made extraction units remove hundreds or even thousands of gallons of water from basements, elevator shafts, stairwells, rooms, wall interiors and carpeting.
Your floors and walls may look reasonably dry after extraction but anything that was wet is still holding water. Most porous building materials, like wood, engineered materials like OSB, drywall, plaster and insulation are still distributing the water they’ve absorbed deeper into the material in search of equilibrium. These materials will hold and retain a significant volume of water for a very long time if drying and dehumidification are not begun immediately. Water left in these materials will cause mold, warpage, swelling, deterioration and spoliation.
- Dry-out / Dehumidification
A successful dry-out consists of the manipulation of several variables: temperature, air movement and relative humidity / water vapor in order to remove the retained water from deep within building materials. FWR uses specialized equipment including: industrial dehumidification equipment and specialized air movers that technicians will balance to create a highly evaporative environment. These tools give us the ability to perform drying in a controlled and measure way. These methods allow us to extend our evaporative environment to hard to reach areas and reach deep within wet materials. As well, we use wall and floor drying equipment specifically designed to pad-extract that last bit of moisture from wall cavities and wood floors. It’s science; Our IICRC / ANSI certified technicians will monitor the progress with periodic quantitative and point-specific measuring tools so that the process is made as fast as possible yet non-destructive - drying out too fast or too slow can cause its own damages. The data collected from monitoring is used to document the efficacy and scope of the damage and further allows us to evaluate the performance of our work and better adjust a specification for specific materials
- Cleaning / Sanitizing
Walls, floors, and other contaminated surfaces will likely need to be addressed with professional cleaning and sanitizing treatments prior to the commencement of restoration work. Flooding and water damage often require odor removal and antimicrobial treatments since wet materials have, and will continue to incubate undesirable organisms and odors. Where possible, we utilize environmentally sound materials to prepare your property for restoration.
Contents Cleaning and Sanitizing:
In addition to structural cleaning and sanitizing, FWR Professionals are specially trained and certified to evaluate, inventory and restore personal property and content items like furniture, upholstery, clothing, and other restorable personal items that are damaged by the water. This includes conservation of high-value assets, arts and antiquities.
- Contents Restoration
FWR Professionals specialize in restoring contents damaged by water, fire, smoke and/or mold. Their expertise can help you strike a balance between the sometimes difficult choice between “restoration” and “replacement”. As well, we can assist claimants in their documentation of these losses to reflect not only their pre-loss condition, but also Actual Cash Value, Depreciation and Replacement Costs. These exercises can help you save money while preserving items of high monetary or sentimental value including items like photos, heirlooms, keepsakes and other personal items that cannot be replaced.
FWR performs:
· Contents restoration; Personal and Business;
·Arts, photos, papers, high-value assets
conservation;
·Odor Removal / Ozone / Fogging / Sanitizing;
·Wet and Dry-cleaning; Soft glove cleaning, polishing;
·Deep foam, electrostatic and steam cleaning;
·Abrasive and particulate media cleaning;
·Immersion cleaning; Furniture restoration;
·Electronics and appliance testing, repair;
·Packing, boxing, storage & delivery of finished goods.
Damaged Personal Property Disposal and Debris Removal:
FWR Professionals will remove and dispose of damaged materials and personal property items only upon consultation with, and direct guidance from, you
- Structure Restoration
The structure water damage restoration process begins with a detailed inspection of the property, including a damage assessment. Note: If FWR has already performed the clean-up and loss mitigation phases of your work, the damage assessment is no longer applicable.
Your damaged structure should be:
A. Prepared for restoration by a thorough clean-up and proper removal of all compromised building materials, components and debris. In some cases, when permanent repairs cannot be immediately completed at the time of damage, temporary repairs will be performed in such a way that your chosen restoration contractor can seamlessly step in and go to work. We work well with everyone.
B. Before building restoration is considered, it is critically important that agreement be reached with the insurance adjuster. That is to say; establish a written agreement as to the complete scope of loss and damage along with a credible and detailed estimate of repairs. For small jobs, this is often relatively straightforward. For larger or complex losses, it is not unusual for there to occur a difference of opinion as to how, and/or at what expense a professional restoration should be best executed. Having an independent third party like FWR on your side to speak the language and establish the true nature of the damage is incredibly valuable. This most often delivers more money faster.
C. FWR delivers professional and detail oriented restoration services. Notwithstanding this, we believe that providing restoration services and certain claim-related services for the same client can create the potential for a conflict of interest and for this reason; we reserve the right to review the merits of restoration work on a case-by-case basis.
