Posts Tagged ‘Super Restoration Tips for South Florida’

How a Restoration Company Can Help with Water, Fire, and Mold Damage to Carpet

Monday, September 6th, 2010
Water damage to carpet will be inevitable for many people. With the amount of pipes that burst during winter seasons, or just faulty water pipes in general, homes and businesses can be affected with massive amounts of damage. There is also fire damage that can happen if a home or a business catches on fire. When water is left in carpet for a long period of time, mold can start to set in, and a home can be a dangerous and toxic place to be in. Most water damaged carpets in small areas can be taken care of with a water filtration vacuum cleaner, but if a person’s entire house is damaged, or if a business has many floors of water damaged carpet, they are going to need a better recourse. Restoration companies were created to help homes and businesses save their property from massive amounts of water, fire, flood, and mold damage to carpet.

Restoration companies can bring carpets back from the brink by returning carpets back to their original conditions. Most restoration companies are equipped to help homes and businesses that have been affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, rainstorms, mudslides, monsoons, and windstorms, as well as burst pipes, sewer damage, fires, and explosions. No job is too big for most restoration companies. The areas of a home or business that a restoration company can work with are, fire damage, burned walls, clean up, restore, recover, redesign, and reconstruction. Restoration companies have the most state of the art equipment that can perform a dry down of a home or business when water damage has occurred. Their equipment can extract water from any carpet and floor boards underneath. Then,they will use a combination of demolitions, drying equipment, and air movers to further the restoration process. They are also equipped with infra red cameras that can find water damage that is unseen by most people. Once a home or business has been dried down, the recovery stage can take place. This is where the carpet will be restored, redesigned, and reconstructed.

Once a home or a business has been accessed for damages, a restoration company can have carpet back to new again within a few days time. Getting to the water damaged areas as quick as possible will help to save a home or a business from destruction.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.comIn your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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How to protect and prolong the life of tile

Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Decorative tile has become a popular decorating item in many homes. While tile adds to the home’s appeal, it is not without its weakness. Water can extensively damage tile and cause mold to grow in a person’s home.

A common place to find tile in a home is in the bathroom, specifically in a shower. These tiles are most often placed over drywall, as in homes built between 1965 to 1990, or cement walling, as found in newer homes. While tiles make for a sturdy shower space, they remain susceptible to damage from water left after a person bathes.

If a shower has a drywall backing, the remaining water will travel to the drywall, causing it to expand and swell. This expansion then causes the tile to become loose and perhaps even crack. The damage from cracked and loose tiles can be so significant as to warrant a shower’s needing to be entirely replaced. Cement walls do not absorb water; however, the water, instead of being absorbed into the walls, will travel to the showers floor. The water will then seep onto any surrounding floor tiling or carpeting and cause mold. Again, the damage can be so great that the homeowner may need to replace the flooring.

Home restoration professionals commonly recommend that a homeowner using grout to seal the cracks in between tiles to prevent the water from seeping into drywall. Grout is a cement-based product that, while not waterproof, prevents for some time the seeping of water into the drywall. Even more so, a homeowner should use inspect a shower’s grout and routinely replace it to ensure that the tiles will not be damaged. The grout should then be sealed with caulking. For newer showers that have cement walls, it is recommended that a weephole be placed in the shower. A weephole allows the water to travel back into the shower without damaging outside flooring or tiling. A weephole should never be filled with grout or caulk. Without an adequate weephole, a cement-backed tile shower stands to suffer damage to the shower pan and surrounding flooring.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.comIn your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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The Cost of Peace of Mind

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Property ownership can be both rewarding and fraught with uncertainty. Costly nuisances such as water, mold, or fire damage can come without warning. The purpose of insurance is to offset the high cost of uncertainty. The keyword here is offset, because peace of mind comes at a cost.

The insured–the party who purchases the insurance–must pay a premium and a deductible to the insurer. The insurer is the company offering the insurance. The premium must be paid regardless of whether there is property damage. The premium is the amount that the insured pays for the option to allocate the risk of property damage to the insurer. The deductible, on the other hand, is the threshold amount that the insured must pay the insurer before the insurer will reach into its coffers to cover the remainder of the expenses associated with the property damage.

For example, if the deductible is $1000 and the property damage totals $5000, then the insured must pay the $1000 before the insurer will pay the remaining $4000. The same is true if the damage is $20,000 with a $1000 deductible. The insured must pay the first $1000 before the insurance company will pay the remaining $19,000.

It is possible to have a deductible of zero; however, the price of a low deductible is generally a high premium. The reverse is also true; the price of a low premium is a high deductible.

The choice between a high deductible or a high premium generally hinges on risk. For instance, a person who lives in a floodplain or a place known for its fires may choose to pay a higher premium in exchange for a lower deductible. Where risk is difficult to predict, the choice will boil down to what you can afford.

Either way, it is difficult not to choose the security of insurance.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.com

In your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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The Insured’s Responsibility to Mitigate Immediately

Monday, August 23rd, 2010
If you have homeowner’s or flood insurance, are you aware of your responsibility to mitigate the loss? You need to take action to keep a problem from getting worse after making a claim or observing a problem. Failure to do so may affect the amount that your insurance will pay.

~What Does Mitigation Mean?

Imagine that a pipe breaks, causing a flood in your home. You have a responsibility as the insured party to make arrangements to stop the leak and clean up the water to prevent further damages. If you do not take these steps, the damage will get worse and more expensive. In this case, mold may begin to grow or water damage will increase.

~What are the Consequences of Not Mitigating Loss?

One legal case, Higginbotham v. New Hampshire Indem. Co., found that homeowners whose roof was damaged could receive payment for the damaged roof, but not for the water damage that occurred over several months before the roof was repaired. The judge determined that the homeowner could and should have taken action to prevent water from leaking through the damaged roof.

~How to Mitigate Against Further Damage

Be sure to contact your insurance company immediately and to take pictures of the damage that has already occurred. Then, take steps to prevent the problem from getting worse. This may include making temporary repairs, such as boarding up a broken window, or shutting off utilities, such as water to a damaged pipe. If a flood occurred, be sure to allow the area to completely dry to prevent the growth of mold or rust. You may also need to contact an expert to assist in repairs or flood cleanup. Save all of your receipts from supplies and repairs. Your insurance company may be able to provide emergency cash for these costs or may reimburse you after the fact.

By taking steps to reduce the chance of further damage, you are protecting your investment and avoiding unpleasant surprises down the road. If you have any questions about your responsibility in an insurance claim, ask your insurance company or a trusted expert for the type of damage that occurred.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.com

In your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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Contingency Planning For A Disaster In Your Home

Monday, August 9th, 2010
A home is most often a lifetime investment. Homeowners take pride in maintaining their property and keeping everything in good, working order. However, accidents and unforeseen damages are bound to occur and affect the order of the home. It is during times like these that you will be thankful if you have a contingency plan in place to remedy the situation.

There are three different, very common, ailments that can come down unexpectedly on a residence. The first is fire. Small kitchen fires, or fires caused by electric wiring, occur every day. The damage left by them can be as minor as the intense smell of smoke in the home, to actual damage to supporting structures and walls.

You can reduce the chance of having to deal with fire damage by following simple, common-sense safety practices when in the kitchen. You should also be aware of the electrical wiring in the home and take immediate action should things begin to seem amiss. Maintaining working fire detectors is also vital.

Another problem could be water damage. Whether this is from flooding in your area or heavy rain from above, water damage can be devastating to a home. Once the water has found a way in, it is sure to begin to rot away the interior walls, beams and maybe even cause damage to appliances.

Water damage can be avoided or reduced by making sure the roof of the home is in good shape, being observant of spots on the walls and ceilings, and installing a drainage pump in the basement in case flooding.

Finally, sometimes as a result of water damage, mold may develop in the home. Mold can not always be seen and may make the people living near it very sick for a very long time. Preventing water damage and looking for discolorations on surfaces are some of the only ways to prevent mold. Regularly cleaning bathrooms and other damp areas with bleach can also help to control this problem.

It is important for every homeowner to have a contingency plan to deal with these situations. If they can not be prevented, then it is imperative to have some money set aside to pay for the services of a restoration company.

A restoration company will come in and repair the damage, restoring your home to its previous state before the disaster. This can be as simple as removing a persistent smoke odor from a fire to replacing damaged wall beams rotted away by water. It can also include safe mold abatement and disposal.

Having a contingency plan will help to restore your home, health and piece of mind as quickly as possible.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.com

In your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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Lead Based Paint Remediation

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Lead based paint remediation is a job for a professional company that is certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This certification ensures that the company is knowledgeable and competent in water, mold, and fire restoration when handling lead-based paint. The managers, inspectors, and technicians of a lead-safe certified company take classes and do field work to garner skills and expertise in safely removing and disposing of lead-based paint. The debris from it is hazardous waste.

A new federal law applies as of April 22, 2010. It compels contractors that execute renovation, restoration, and painting projects that unsettles an area bigger than 6 square feet of paint in structures constructed before 1978 to be trained and certified in work habits that stop lead contamination. This law applies to work done in homes, day care facilities, and schools.

Professionals know the correct procedures to lessen, control, and confine lead dust produced by removing lead-based paint. They specialize in water damage repair, mold inspection and elimination, and fire damage renovation.

People usually get lead poisoning from lead contaminated dust or deteriorating lead-based paint. All of the methods for paint removal which includes heat guns, torches, sandpaper, chemicals, and scrapers may generate floating lead dust and fumes. People can inhale or ingest these dangerous contaminates, which cause lead poisoning. This poisoning may cause irreparable brain damage in children. In adults it may cause nerve damage, decrease muscle coordination, and raise blood pressure.

But trained professionals working for a water, mold, and fire restoration company know how to control the lead dust that is stirred up during the elimination or abatement process. The strict procedures they follow prevents the lead dust from contaminating your home, day car facility or school.

The professionals can remove window sills, molding, and trim to strip the paint outdoors. The restoration company can remove and change or cover-up lead-based paint. They can restore your home to a lead paint free condition that is safe for your family.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.com

In your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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Is Your Condo Protected?

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
So, you finally made a leap of faith and purchased your dream condo, but how do you know that it is properly protected? More often than not, your condo’s maintenance will be under the supervision of your respective condo association, who may not be hiring the proper restoration companies to take care of water, mold, and fire damage. So how can you convince them to do so? This guide will help you learn how to make sure that your condo association is using the best restoration company available to properly take care of water, mold, and fire damage if and when it occurs.

The first thing you will want to do when making sure that your condo association chooses a company that can properly manage such damage issues is to communicate to them the huge disadvantages of not contracting a company that can handle such repairs. Make it clear to them that hiring an unqualified company can lead to more damage and unforseen lost time. Let them know that hiring a qualified company will mean less headaches and less work for them in the long and short-term. More often than not, condo associations will hire a company based on their price quotes and not on the actual quality of work. Though this may seem smart to them, this is a huge mistake for those that own condos under the supervision of the association, since it can mean that the job will not be done right the first time. Such scenarios can lead to lost time for the condo owners, as well as an embarrassment when friends or family decide to visit them and see subpar work done, or worse, no work done at all on the damaged areas of their residence.

The second thing you’ll want to communicate to your condo association is that a cheap price quote from their current unqualified vendor may not translate into any price savings whatsoever. Let them know that a cheap price quote often means cheap work done, which usually only leads to more repairs down the road, which cause even more expenses, since the job wasn’t not done right the first time.

Call us today for a free consultation 800-516-8059 or by email at: info@superrestoration.com

In your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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Pack-Outs

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

When disasters, such as floods or fires, strike, the interior of a home or business can sustain severe water or smoke damage. In these cases, office equipment and personal belongings are often in states of disarray and disrepair. This is why the pack-out procedure is often a critical component of the renewal process. When Super Restoration begins the maintenance process, they must consider these items before any other work can commence.

As part of the pack-out, trained technicians catalogue every item in the home or office before removing them. Technicians document the item in both written and photographic form. Then the on-site manager that is coordinating the pack-out double-checks the item before it goes to the transport. During this process, pack-out technicians are working under the guidance of a range of experts, such as electronic technicians and hygienists. This way  Super Restoration can consider every factor before the item leaves the home or office. It also allows them to give immediate attention to those items that require it.

From the moment of departure, the homeowner or business owner has full access to the detailed documentation of their belongings and equipment. These items will now be en route to the company’s cleaning and storage facility. Once there, warehouse technicians immediately enter the items into the restoration process so that is absolutely no delay prior to the cleaning and deodorization process beginning.  Super Restoration will also handle the disposal of all items that the disaster has ruined beyond repair.

Belongings and office equipment are loaded onto the transport room by room. They are unloaded and entered into the renewal process in this manner as well. In this way, the restoration service can maintain the items, if storage is required, or return the items to the customer in the simplest and most logical manner. A premier restoration service, such as Super Restoration, understands that their customers are often in no position to take all of their items back immediately. They also understand their need for clothing and work items. As part of the pack-out process, laundry, dry-cleaning and expediting services are often included.

In your service,

Rene Vargas
Super Restoration
1 800 516 8059

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Super Restoration Tip: How to prevent damage from attic condensation

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Hello Reader,

After servicing most of the South Florida community over 25 years, we know firsthand that roof repairs can be among the most costly types of home maintenance. This winter some of the most extreme cold weather ever experienced has hit Miami, Broward and all of South Florida. This makes the roof vulnerable to a couple of extremely dangerous conditions. Ice dams and attic condensation are both particularly prominent during this winter season in Miami. Proper care of the attic is an excellent option to prevent the very expensive damage which can occur. This maintenance is not expensive and can save a great deal of money over costly repairs.

Ice dams, although are very infrequent in South Florida, do happen when cold weather strikes. Ice Dams form where water runs down a roof and then refreeze at the edge or the gutter system. This produces ice. If the ice melts slowly than water stagnates and causes water to accumulate. Over time this can eat through the roof and create a situation where extensive water damage can occur. The main cause of this issue is inadequate insulation. An insulation shortage will allow a great deal of heat to escape from the rooms below. To prevent this costly damage one must properly insulate the roof. This will not only prevent heavy damage but will also save on your heating bill. This situation typically occurs when low temperatures are experienced over several days. Don’t let this type of damage affect your home or even your business, call Super Restoration now and find out if we can help you prevent and restore further damage.

Attic condensation is another issue. Attic condensation is notorious for causing wood to rot. Over the last several years building codes have been created to lower the probability of this sort of damage. High humidity is the biggest source of this issue. Perhaps the best way to deal with this problem is to have a way to circulate outside air in the attic. This prevents excessive humidity problems and will save costly repairs.

If ice dams appear to be forming it is important not to remove the ice. Shingle damage can be just as dangerous as an ice dam. One must also not use chemicals or clean off the roof. If a professional is needed it is best if they don’t walk on the roof during the winter. An icy roof is a hazard and tends to be very brittle from all the cold.

Ice dams and attic condensation can cost lots of money. Fortunately, a properly treated roof will not experience these problems. If not taken care of quickly these issues can rot wood and cause expensive repairs. Consult a professional if you believe your home has either of these issues.

Super Restoration strives to keep the community informed with information and tips that will help prevent damage, however should damage take place don’t forget: When Seconds Matter, Call Super Restoration at 1800 516 8059

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