Whether water seeps into your property via leaking or burst pipes, comes through the roof after storm damage or rises up from the cellar during a flood, you may not notice it immediately, but it’s always a shock when you do.
Fire in a building, on the other hand, usually presents itself more dramatically. Smoke alarms may save lives, but they cannot prevent a fire from starting. These days, most house or office fires are not started by unattended candles or dropped cigarettes, but by technical defects in our multitude of electrical appliances.
After any immediate emergency has been dealt with, the next thing most people do is to call their insurance company. In the best-case scenario, their insurance agent will have a working relationship with a local company that offers a complete clean-up, as well as a renovation and restoration service.
As long as there are no suspicious circumstances that require police investigation, the specialist company will send one of their experts to the property within 48 hours to locate and secure the source of the leak, assess the water or fire damage, make sketches and take photos for their report. The report and cost estimate are then sent to the insurance company for approval so that the work can be started as soon as possible.
In the case of water damage, one of the first necessary steps is to install dehumidifiers. These might have to stay in place for one or two weeks as damp walls, ceilings and floors must be dried out before further work can begin. The advantage of dealing with a company that offers a complete restoration and renovation service is that they will have one person to manage the disaster at your property. They are also likely to employ their own carpenters, tilers, plasterers, painters and decorators, so the work can be smoothly coordinated and completed in a shorter period of time. This can simplify life for the customer at this stressful time, as they need only deal with one person at one company instead of many from different firms.
The restoration company will assess the property for mould, bacteria and other forms of contamination. If these do not cause any health or hygiene problems, the customer can usually stay in their property, as water damage is often restricted to one or two rooms that can be closed off. They may have to move out temporarily after a fire, as damage can be more extensive and pose a danger to the structure. Chemical cleaning agents may be needed to remove oily soot particles, and smoke can quickly penetrate carpets and furnishings so that they will need replacing, even if they did not get burned in the fire.