Floods and Water Damage, what you need to know!
We have had an extremely wet spring this year in Oklahoma! While working various flood jobs this week I am compelled to write on what you need to know when your home or business floods. There are different causes of flooding. It can be a hot water heater, toilet overflow, broken pipe, a roof leak, water from heavy rains, overflow or runoff from a creek, river or even a storm drain. Not all water is alike. These different types of water damage require different treatment.
Clean water is water that comes from a fresh water source. This is a pipe break, sink or bathtub overflow, dishwasher malfunction, hot water tank etc. Clean water is water you would consider clean enough to drink. Clean water damage is the easiest to fix. Dry the affected materials quickly and there will be no further issue. Pull back the carpet and pad and put fans on the wet area. If the pad is saturated, you may want to remove it and lay it out in the sun to dry faster. Make sure that the walls did not get wet and no moisture is trapped under wood flooring etc. If the area is too large for a wet vac to effectively remove, call a company to handle the water extraction for you.
Extracting the maximum amount of water is the most crucial step as it is the fastest way to remove moisture. Evaporation from the fans is effective but a much slower process so good extraction is important. If the walls are wet, you will need a professional trained by the IICRC in water damage to dry them. Companies like Exceptional Carpet Cleaning have the proper training and equipment to dry trapped moisture inside walls and ceilings to prevent mold spore growth. If you dont discover the leak when it happens, often times you will start to notice a foul odor. This is a warning that bacteria is starting to grow and a antimicrobial needs to be applied to kill any bacteria that is starting to grow. This can also be done by a water damage professional. Clean water loss, if handled quickly and efficiently, does not require replacement of the affected materials.
Gray water is water that was clean but may have become contaminated by other sources. Rainwater that passed through or over the ground, building materials etc. is an example of this. A toilet leak that did not contain waste materials also fits in this category. Consider it to be water that you once would have drank but because of where it has been or what it came in contact with, you no longer would consider safe for consumption! These situations are case by case but generally would require replacing carpet pad and treating affected materials with a medical grade disinfectant. Please use protective gloves and shoe covers while handling any questionable materials. Gray water damage or even more extensive clean water losses are best left to a water damage company. Delaying calling them can cause the level of damage to escalate as water can travel to unaffected areas rather quickly.
Black water is water from sewage backup, toilet overflow containing waste materials, water from storm runoff and creeks etc. This requires the removal of affected materials and should only be handled by a professional! Protective clothing and equipment such as a respirator, eye protection etc. should be worn at all times. After drying, effort should be made to clean, disinfect and sanitize all areas involved. Air scrubbers may be used to remove airborne contaminants.
Technology allows a well equipped and trained water damage professional to quickly, effectively and safely dry virtually any material from any source. Our company has heated wall and floor drying equipment, dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, and meters to find all your hidden water and remove it quickly. Our mindset is to treat your home the way we would want our home treated. At Exceptional Carpet Cleaning, we dont tear out walls and materials until it is absolutely necessary! Every effort is made to dry walls with small holes behind the baseboards so we can minimalize the damage and reconstruction of your home. We use low amperage equipment where possible to keep your energy costs down and help prevent tripping circuit breakers. We take careful environment readings daily to measure humidity in the air and moisture levels in walls and flooring. This helps us to determine how effective our drying methods are and how much equipment is needed. We dont load up your home or business with unnecessary peices of equipment to pad our bill! We constantly monitor and adjust our equipment to keep costs down while maximizing the drying time.
If your home or business experiences a water loss in Edmond, Oklahoma City, or the greater Oklahoma City area, please consider calling us at Exceptional Carpet Cleanng at 405-326-5487. If you live outside our local area, I hope this blog helps in knowing what to do and when to call a professional. Beware of unscrupulous companies that dont take adequate meter readings or try to tear out materials so they can charge you to reconstruct the damage they did. This is necessary on occasion but can usually be avoided.
Exceptional Carpet Cleaning is a family owned, locally owned company that specializes in carpet cleaning, tile and grout cleaning, upholstery cleaning, oriental rug cleaning, water restoration and wood floor cleaning for customers who want the very best service and quality. We are an IICRC Certified Firm and I am a certified Master Textile Cleaner. Feel free to contact us with any questions. We are always happy to help in any way possible.
