Water Damage Restoration job in San Tan Valley AZ

7/30/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of North Central Mesa water damage restoration equipment

Water Damage Restoration Job in San Tan Valley

Last week we had a water damage restoration job we were working on out in San Tan Valley. The cause of loss actually occurred around 3 months ago, right when everything started getting shut down due to the COVID19 issue. Somehow the pipe underneath their kitchen sink broke and water started shooting out from underneath the sink. Luckily they were home because everyone was home, and they caught the issue before it got too serious. Or so they thought. 

In response to the pipe break they turned off the water main outside, cleaned up the water that had flowed into the kitchen, dining room, and living room and fixed the pipe. Everything felt dry, and the fixed pipe seemed to be working well. They thought they were in the clear and avoided a potentially huge disaster. 

But Wait… There’s More!

Fast forward 3 months, they noticed some discoloration on the sink cabinet while looking for some cleaning supplies. They thought it might be mold, so they called us out there to come to take a look at it. We went to check it out and were pretty positive it was mold growth. (technically we don’t do mold testing because it presents a bit of a conflict of interest.) So we had Randy at Adaptive, our Environmental Consultant who does mold testing, come do a mold test. Sure enough, it was mold and it had spread through most of the bottom kitchen cabinet and had affected a lot of the drywall behind the cabinetry. Pretty much everything had to come out to be replaced along with the tile flooring throughout the kitchen.

They didn’t think to have someone come take a look at things because they thought they had dried everything out. Most restoration companies have advanced equipment to see issues most people aren’t able to detect with their hands and eyes. What seems to be dry could very well be saturated with water and waiting to produce mold. The job mentioned previously quickly escalated to a $15,000 plus fix and it could have been avoided by having us come out to see what you can’t. Generally, when we get called out to one of these jobs there is some saturation in the cabinetry and flooring. If we are able to catch it in time and dry everything in place it may cost $600 to $1200 to fix instead of $15,000+.

What’s worse is that their insurance company didn’t cover the loss because they considered it negligence because it wasn’t properly taken care of during the original event. That stung. 

Our Water Damage Restoration Tools

SERVPRO of North Central Mesa uses top of the line water damage restoration technology to help our customers get the best results possible. You might be curious about what all we use when we are coming out to inspect your property. I’m going to list most of that equipment here. 

Moisture Detection Technology

Moisture sensors and readers are used to detect the amount of moisture on specific surfaces and materials and in the specific area in general. We have penetrating and non-penetrating sensors that show us the amount of moisture and saturation in walls, cabinets, and other items. We are able to monitor the amount of moisture on surfaces so we know when they have been completely dried out. We use Thermo hygrometers to measure the temperature and relative humidity of the area affected. It allows us to make calculations to create the optimal drying conditions.

Fans and Dehumidifiers

These guys are the workhorses. You may have seen some of our work on Instagram. If so, you might know that a lot of our fans look like snails. That’s what we call them too. We have other fans that also look like mini spaceships. You might have guessed that they are a bit more effective than that box fan you may be used to keep your rooms from feeling like a fryer in the Arizona summer. You would be right. They can also be pretty loud depending on the surrounding environment. So be prepared for that. The dehumidifiers are one of our secret weapons. They suck the moisture out of the area surrounding the affected area being dried out to speed up the drying time. They are pretty cool machines, but before you rush out to buy one to play with, realize that they will set you back around a couple thousand bucks!

Disinfectant Fogging and Deodorization

Assuming we are able to dry everything in place and not cut out any drywall or other materials, the job is almost done. Generally, disinfection and deodorization services will also be required. The disinfection usually involves wiping down surfaces with our proprietary hospital grade cleaners. Occasionally ultra low-volume fogging machines or thermal foggers may be required to reach hard to reach areas. You may have seen us using these machines in person or on social media lately with all of the disinfectant fogging we have been doing for local businesses and some of the local law enforcement vehicles. It’s basically the same concept. We are just targeting mold instead of COVID19. 

We use commercial grade ozone machines to get rid of any lingering smells if there are any. They do some pretty serious work. When we use them the areas that we use them in have to be vacated for the duration of the treatment. That could be anywhere from 12 to 24 hours. A nice time for a vacation or camping trip!

If you have any questions about an issue that pops up in your residential or commercial property please feel free to reach out to us. We are here to help. Generally, our goal is to dry as much material in place as possible to keep and repair costs and times as low as possible. No one likes living in a construction zone and insurance companies, and those who end up not being covered, appreciate the fact that we try to keep repair bills as low as possible.