Water Damage Restoration Horsham

 

When a water loss occurs in your home, immediate action is vital. Our team is on-call 24 Hours a day, 365 days a year. You will speak to a Live Person, no matter the time or date, and you’re water loss will be expedited to minimize further damage to your personal contents and the structure of your home. If you’re filing the loss through your insurance, we will document the entire process, and work with your insurance company directly, and bill them to ease your worries.  Water Damage Restoration Horsham

The water damage restoration process begins with a detailed inspection of your property, including a damage assessment. We will identify and stop the source of water, so that the drying process can begin, and also identify the type of water and scope needed to bring your home back to pre-loss conditions. The type of water contamination will affect the specific water damage restoration processes used to restore your property.

Categories of Water

Category 1

Water from a clean source with no substantial risk of causing sickness or discomfort is said to be Category 1, or a clean water loss. In order to remain Category 1, water must not have been present for a substantial amount of time, and materials affected must be cleaned and maintained. Certain odors from the water damage loss can indicate that the water is not Category 1. Examples of Category 1 water include broken water supply lines, tub or sink overflows with no contaminants, and appliance malfunctions involving water supply lines. Once the water damage loss has been established as Category 1, the structural drying can proceed. It is possible to restore the structure to pre-loss conditions by thoroughly and rapidly drying materials, and only replacing materials which have permanent structural or aesthetic water damage.

Category 2

Water that does carry a significant degree of chemical, biological and/or physical contamination is said to be Category 2. Aquarium leaks, waterbed leaks, toilet bowl overflows that contain urine, dishwasher leaks and washing machine overflows, and water which enters the structure through hydrostatic pressure, like basement flooding causing minor or major water damage. With Category 2 water damage losses, special steps and procedures are necessary in order to return the structure to a pre-loss condition. Hot water extraction must be executed and the underlay of the carpet must be removed and disposed. Antimicrobials should also be used to mitigate growth of microorganisms especially when there are porous materials that are to be cleaned and restored.

Category 3

When water intrusion results from a grossly unsanitary source, or carries pathogenic agents, it is said to be category 3. Examples of Category 3 water sources include discharge from toilets that originate from beyond the trap, sewer or septic system, and intrusions from the surface of ground water into the structure like flood water. Many procedures are necessary to address cleanliness and safety when dealing with category 3 water losses. Worker and occupant health and safety are the first priority on such losses as they are considered potentially hazardous when completing this type of water damage restoration project. Individuals with compromised immune systems, individuals who have undergone recent surgery or chemotherapy, and those whose immune systems are suppressed by conditions such as AIDS should be evacuated from the structure until it has been judged safe for occupancy. Various cleaning and decontamination procedures must be applied, while surfaces that are too be restored must be thoroughly cleaned. Category 3 water damage loss, like all other losses requires immediate action, but materials that have been affected by this type of loss will most likely be discarded, unless those items can be restored, but the process is quite expensive. Appropriate biocides during and after the demolition process should be implemented to help control microorganisms while increasing the cleaning process. Be sure to check your contractors certifications and insurance prior to hiring anyone for a water loss. Hiring an uninsured contractor, or one that doesn’t have the proper training and water damage restoration certification needed for such remediation projects could result in thousands of dollars in damage. Water Damage Restoration Glenside

Classes of Water

Along with Categories of water, there are also Classes of Water. Classes of water describe the potential rate of evaporation based upon the amount of water present and the type of material affected. In this session, we will define the different classes of water.

Class 1

Intrusions involve only a part of an area, or involve a larger area that has only been lightly affected. In a Class 1 water damage loss, there is little or no wet carpet or cushion, typically, only low porosity materials such as plywood, concrete and structural lumber are affected. Examples of common Class 1 water intrusions are:

A concrete basement floor that only absorbed a small amount of water.

Losses where carpet and pad have been removed and there is no wet gypsum.

Class 2

Water intrusions are ones that have affected significant areas of carpet and cushion. Water damage may have wicked up the walls but is less than twenty four inches high, and structural materials are wet. Some examples of Class 2 common intrusions are:

A loss that includes wet carpet, cushion and gypsum wicked less than twenty four inches.

A structure that was affected by Category 2 water and where the underlay was removed, but wet carpet, drywall and structural materials remain.

Structures with no wicking on walls but where the carpet and underlay is being dried in place.

Class 3

Water intrusion is where moisture has wicked up the walls more than 24 inches, water may have come from above and/or wet insulation may be present and there is more water damage present than any other class. Class 3 water losses include:

Strong wins damage the roof and rain enters from above, saturating ceilings, walls, flooring materials and structural items.

Second floor water supply failure saturates entire areas below with large amounts of water.

Overhead water supply pipes malfunction, saturating entire areas with large amounts of water.

Class 4

A Class 4 water intrusion results in a specialty water damage restoration drying situation. Typically, wet materials present in a Class 4 water situation have very low porosity. Materials that are common to Class 4 intrusions include hardwood, plaster, brick, deeply saturated concrete, deeply saturated ground soil and stone.