FIRE DAMAGE RESTORATION

Suffering through a Fire damage to your home or business can be one of the most stressful and chaotic events that any person will ever go through. More than the physical damage to your property, a fire brings with it an emotional and time consuming toll that most people are not prepared for. Luckily, Expert Services staff is prepared to help you with all aspects of your fire damage restoration from beginning to end and we are on call 24/7 whenever you need us.

Along with the actual damage from the blaze, there is a large amount of smoke damage that reaches far beyond the fire, filling other areas of the home or business. For every ten degrees the temperature rises due to the temperature of the fire, the pressure doubles. Many crevices open up when a room is super heated by the fire which allows smoke and soot to make its way deep into areas of your home or business. A well trained and certified fire repair contractor like Expert Services will be able to locate these areas and determine the best methods for restoring your fire damaged home or business.

One of the highest priorities, after the dwelling has been released by the fire department/fire inspector and deemed safe to enter is to take steps to prevent secondary damage caused by the water used to put the fire out. If a structure is not properly dried in a timely manner secondary damage including mold can occur and cause as much or more damage than the fire. Expert Services has specialized equipment for drying of the structure including desiccant dehumidifiers, Tes & E-Tes heaters, dehumidifiers, inject-i-dry floor and wall drying equipment and much more.

We also have a full list of fire restoration equipment including air scrubbers, media (soda & dry ice) blasters, thermo foggers, deodorization and cleaners to assist in the removal of any odors and smoke residue. Our on call staff is available for emergency board ups/tarping of roofs to minimize any additional damage. Expert Services family friendly staff is trained to remove your water and fire damaged contents, keep them safe in a secured and climate controlled environment and restore them to a pre-loss condition.

When calling Expert Services, either during or after business hours you will always speak with a company member, no answering service. Our on call staff will respond to your emergency within one hour. ESI works with every insurance company and can assist you with all aspects of the insurance claims process.

ADVICE

Look for a company that stands behind their work and workers. Beware of companies that want you to sign a blanket release of all liability. You may need to release companies of certain liability in order to keep the cost reasonable, but a company should be liable for any decisions you authorize them to make on your behalf.
Look for a no pressure sales policy. Beware of scare tactics. No one but a doctor should give medical advice. Some molds may be harmful to certain persons, but a good contractor should give you a fair quote and then give you time to research and consider all your options.
Look for a company that is fully insured for the services they are providing. Beware of companies working too cheap—proper insurance to protect your family from contractor error is expensive but essential. Not all companies that remove mold have coverage for problems they might cause while performing mold remediation services. You should always expect to get what you pay for and no more!
In the event of a water damage emergency in your home or business, act quickly to find an Expert restoration company to clean up the mess. In most cases mold begins to grow after 72 hours. Your insurance company may be unable to give your case immediate attention, but you are usually required to take proper action to mitigate the damages. Some insurance companies may have a list of contractors that they prefer, but you are not required to accept the companies on those lists. You are allowed to choose the contractor that you believe will take the best care of YOUR needs.
If possible, make arrangements with a mitigation service company before a disaster happens. When a major disaster strikes, systems can be quickly overloaded and you may not get service in time to prevent mold and other secondary damage. Call the Experts for help with preparedness and pre-loss planning.
Call your insurance agent and ask if additional coverage is available to protect you and your home in the event of an unforeseen disaster. For example how much coverage would you need if your basement had 6 inches of standing water? How much would it cost to replace all of your damaged furniture, electronics and other contents? How much would it cost to replace your carpet and the bottom 4’ of your drywall or all of your paneling? These are only a few of the costs associated with such a disaster. On top of all of the replacement costs, figure the cost of mitigation, tear out and drying to range from $3000-$8000 for a typical finished basement with 6” of standing clean water. If the water is category 3 (sewage), you can expect to pay even more for proper clean up. Most insurance agents can offer enough coverage to protect you from mold and water damage catastrophes, if you are willing to pay a little extra for good protection.

RESOURCES

The following are a list of resources to help you learn more about mold and water damage and what you need to do to protect home and family.

Websites

IICRC (The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) - www.iicrc.org

ACGIH (American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists) - www.acgih.org

USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) - www.epa.gov

CDC (Centers for Disease Control) - www.cdc.gov