How Long Will Flood Water Cleanup Disrupt My Stockton Household?

6/30/2020 (Permalink)

Take precautions when facing flooding in your home. Contact SERVPRO for water removal and remediation efforts.

SERVPRO Flood Damage Mitigation Helps Restore Your Stockton Interior Faster Than DIY Methods Alone

Unpredictable weather, flash flooding, and high winds can be detrimental to your Stockton home. If you get left with floodwaters throughout one or more rooms of your home, you need to act fast to ensure secondary damage does not take hold. SERVPRO works quickly to lessen the devastation and cost, and help you return to your routine sooner. We are available 24 hours a day with crews on standby to get the prompt action that you deserve.

What is the Recovery Time Like After Flooding?

The great thing about calling in the help of skilled technicians for assistance with flood damage in Stockton is that you get fast response and efficient results. SERVPRO features a team of IICRC-certified technicians that have been through extensive training and uses all of the latest techniques to handle any size water loss event. Our crew chief comes out to your property in as little as a few hours or less after your call to begin the assessment and planning for fast cleanup and restoration.

Why is Flood Water Considered Dangerous?

Whenever you experience a storm that results in high levels of flooding in Stockton, the water that comes into your home may contain:

•   Mud, silt, and other debris
•   Chemicals or fuel
•   Fecal matter and high levels of bacteria

Homeowners have the tough decision to make whether to attempt cleanup with DIY methods or calling in the help of expert technicians. However, DIY plans alone using consumer products and equipment take longer, and you run the risk of leaving moisture and potentially harmful contaminants behind. When SERVPRO is on the job, we come equipped to handle flooding situations with an extensive selection of tools, such as:

•   Extraction Tools & Pumps
•   Industrial-Strength Fans & Centrifugal Air Movers
•   Professional-Grade Dehumidification Equipment
•   EPA-Registered Disinfectants & Cleaning Agents

The higher the humidity within the loss zone and your interior, the longer the drying times will be. We use a specialized formula that allows us to monitor the relative humidity within your home, and we adjust all of our equipment accordingly. The temperature within the space impacts the ability to extract water from materials as well as the capacity of the air to hold moisture. Our skilled technicians understand all of the best practices for manipulating both humidity levels and temperatures to create an environment that allows us to achieve our drying goals.

For any water loss event, we pay close attention to the critical factors of drying:

•   Humidity – we must lower the humidity ratio within your home to lower vapor pressure. This allows water to evaporate more rapidly as long as the air located above the saturated materials has lower pressure.
•   Airflow – while the water is evaporating from various materials, the air in the boundary layer above it becomes saturated and cool. Targeted airflow disrupts this boundary layer to increase the evaporation rate with warmer, drier air.
•   Temperature – it is vital to increase material temperatures. Doing so helps increase energy within the trapped water molecules, thus increasing evaporation rates.

Will Flood Mitigation Efforts Be Safe?

SERVPRO always works carefully to ensure a safe working environment for our technicians and anyone else in the home. We take the time to look for potential hazards in and around the affected area, such as:

•   Slip and fall hazards due to standing water on floors or subflooring that has begun to deteriorate
•   Electrical dangers and the potential for shock due to water intrusion 
•   Hazards overhead, including saturated ceilings that could collapse
•   Contamination within the floodwater itself
•   Hazards due to inadequate lighting in the flood-loss zone
•   Safety concerns for bystanders or occupants during the mitigation and restoration process

Why is Time an Issue with Flood Damage?

The longer that water intrusion is left to dwell within your living space, the higher the chance the microbial growth sets in. Microbes are present within all water damage situations and can grow at an exponential rate given the right environment. Clean water situations can turn into gray water situations within days. With a floodwater event that includes contaminated water, the need for immediate action becomes amplified. The potential health hazards from microbes come about when they enter the human body by way of:

•   Breathing them into your lungs
•   Ingesting them
•   Absorption into the skin

The longer that the floodwater is left to fester, the more the health risks increase. Our crews work fast while wearing all of the right personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure our safety while ensuring that contaminants do not get tracked from one zone to the next.

When you call SERVPRO of Stockton to help with flood damage after a storm, you can trust that we get to work quickly and follow best practices to ensure quality results. To have a crew deployed to your property 24/7, call us at (209) 477-3090.