Faster Recovery After Flood Damage Incidents in St. Petersburg

3/9/2020 (Permalink)

We know the steps to get your St. Petersburg home back from flood damage.

You should always have a plan for when your St. Petersburg home floods

After a flooding incident, homeowners in St. Petersburg go through different stages of coping with the loss. At the beginning is the hope that the incident is not as severe as it seems, which is later followed by acceptance of loss. After establishing that various restoration steps can help salvage the property, the final worry is how long the process is likely to take. Engaging professional restorers is one way to ensure faster restoration.

Avoiding Repetitive Steps

One aspect that can lengthen flood damage restoration in St. Petersburg is the repetition of tasks or performing unnecessary restoration work. Our SERVPRO technicians use the combined skills learned on the job and through training to establish which tasks are necessary at each loss site. We avoid steps such as cleaning carpets or other porous materials submerged in flooding involving groundwater. Such efforts are usually futile because cleaning cannot remove all contaminants. We remove all affected porous materials, including the wet carpet and pad for disposal, and prepare the affected area for replacement, thus expediting the entire process.

Extraction Instead of Evaporation

The drying phase after a flooding incident takes considerable time. Proper drying is crucial to help prevent severe problems such as mold development, bad odor, and deterioration of various materials, including wood and metals, which can rot, rust, or develop other problems. One way our SERVPRO technicians expedite drying is by focusing more efforts on extraction before considering evaporation. We use high-efficiency extraction equipment such as truck-mounted water extractors, which offer more power, especially during processes such as wet vacuuming. We also have specialized extraction equipment such as drying mats, which help remove water trapped beneath hard floors.

Closed Drying System over Open Drying System 

After completing water extraction, cleanup, and other restoration steps, there is a need to manage moisture levels in the air and wet materials. Although it is possible to accomplish this by opening doors and windows, such steps only work when conditions are perfect. Our crews use a closed drying system whereby air movers boost evaporation rates, while dehumidifiers extract the moisture from the air expediting the process.

It is possible to expedite flood damage recovery by taking appropriate steps during restoration. Call SERVPRO of NE St. Petersburg at (727) 522-0000 to help. We're Faster To Any Size Disaster.

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