Restoration services involve the process of bringing back a damaged object or thing to its original state. These services can be employed for cases as simple as water damage from a leakage or as serious as homes and buildings affected by disasters.
Unfortunate circumstances like fires and floods that destroy properties often happen suddenly, leaving homeowners in need of a restoration service company. These companies are known for their quick response to distress calls and emergencies. Their workers are highly trained to adopt the best methods to remedy any situation and they do that by taking strict safety measures to ensure their safety and that of the contents of their client’s homes.
Types of Restoration Services
There are five types of damage restoration services and they include:
- Fire
- Water
- Mold
- Contents restoration and,
- Data recovery
Fire Damage
Fire incidents are things that can happen at any time. This is because our homes and buildings contain things that may start a fire or easily spread it. Things like faulty ovens, cookers, and electric sockets are known to be common fire starters in residential areas.
Also, houses often contain objects that are easily combustible and can spread fire quickly making fires very destructive to buildings. Victims of fire damage should never hesitate to employ the services of expert restoration companies who are quick to respond to distress calls.You can visit Lightning Restoration to learn more about finding the right company.
The process involved in restoring fire damages is in three stages. First, the fire has to be put out completely. Next, soot and smoke have to be dealt with so that the building is safe for the final process which is the recovering and cleaning of the contents of the building.
Water Damage
This is the most common type of damage to homes and buildings. Floods and water leakage from faulty plumbing are often the culprits here.
Technology has brought about an increase in home plumbing fixtures. Now more than ever, homes contain a lot of things that water runs through. There are more baths, showers, dishwashers, and washing machines, all of which can have leakage that can compromise a building’s structure.
In the case of flooding, the first step of a restoration service company is to dry out any water left in the building. Once this is done, they sanitize and disinfect the area to eliminate any bacteria and lastly, if agreed upon by the building owner, they fix whatever is damaged by the flood.
Mold Damage
This usually comes after water damage because molds thrive in cold and moist environments. They can begin to grow as quickly as 24 hours after a flood.
Molds can affect the integrity of buildings if left for a long time. They are often responsible for wood decay and insect infestation. These fungi have bad smell that makes living in places with them uncomfortable and unsafe as they pose certain health risks. Click here to learn more about molds.
In restoring buildings destroyed by molds, remediation experts first identify the type of mold before taking the appropriate steps to remove them. Typically, they isolate the contaminated areas to prevent spread during the restoration process. After this, they treat the molds with antimicrobial and antifungal treatments.
Content Restoration
As the name suggests, this type of damage restoration involves restoring the damaged contents of the affected building. These items range from furniture to documents, and even art pieces. Depending on the extent of damage sustained by these items, content restoration may cost less than completely replacing them.
Data Recovery
This involves recovering data lost in a disaster. It is often the case of companies and businesses that were affected by a water or fire disaster. Data recovery processes are employed to recover soft copies of files that contain clients’ information, business contracts, and other documents stored on computers and hard drives.
Employing the Services of Restoration Companies
Not everyone has experienced a disaster. For many, it is always the first time, and they hardly know how to go about salvaging what’s left of their homes. The first step should always be reaching out to your insurance agent. Visit https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insurance/09/property-insurance.asp to learn more about the many benefits of having home insurance.
The insurance agent upon receiving your call will notify the closest restoration service company to your home to begin cleaning up. It is important to note that the choice to hire the company called upon by your insurance agent is entirely up to you to make, and if you do decide to hire them, put it at the back of your mind that they work for you and not the insurance agency. So, they should do as you say.
Being the first responders following serious damages to homes and buildings by disasters, it is the job of the company to prevent further destruction on these properties.
Once the company’s representatives arrive, go through your homes with them to discuss what needs to be taken away, or cleaned and restored. After this, the next step is to go over the paperwork involved.
Ensure that all you discussed with the company is clearly written in the document before signing it. Your insurance company should be responsible for the payment of this process. However, on certain occasions not all the services offered by the restoration company are covered by your insurance policy.
During the process of the cleanup, it is your responsibility as the customer to inspect and oversee the work being done on your house. If you encounter a problem with any of the services of the company, it should be settled between you two because you are in charge of the process and there is no reason to contact your insurance company.
Make sure you are satisfied with the job done by the company before signing off and letting them go.
Conclusion
Restoration companies like fire fighters are very important in the society as they help in the protection of properties. As earlier mentioned, their services are not limited to disasters only. They can be hired for much simpler tasks like carpet cleaning or more complex ones like environmental or biohazard remediation. Whatever the case may be, they are lifesavers in a totally different way.
Leave a Reply