Water Damage Restoration – A Brief Preview
Water Damage Restoration is the process of repairing a house or property to its pre-loss condition. Damage to the property could be because of an overflow, flood or any other water damage event. The water damage restoration process involves several key procedures like loss assessment, categorization based on the water contamination levels, decontaminating and drying the structure, monitoring of the process and completion of the process. There are two large certifying bodies, namely the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) and the RIA (Restoration Industry Association) that recommends standards for water damage restoration. The S500 damage due to water guide is the benchmark tool that is used by companies that specialize in restoration of water damage.
Loss Assessment and Categorization
Loss evaluation is the first and the most important step in water damage restoration. The assessment has to be correct so that an appropriate response can be taken. In restorating the damage caused by water, technicians and the insurance companies must work together and understand what is damaged and how to go about restoring the damage. Identifying the source of the damage, documentation of damage, and accurate estimates are mandatory for a proper water damage restoration. Categorization is based on the contamination levels of the water source. The categories are listed below
Category 1 – This is water from clean sources like pipes, sinks and toilets without faeces or urine.
Category 2 – This is water that has some contaminants like water from a dishwasher, washing machine or toilet with urine.
Category 3 – This is water that is highly unsanitary and is capable of causing illness or death if ingested. Sewage water, water from toilet with faeces, standing water with microbial growth and floodwater are some examples.
Decontamination and Drying
After the evaluation is complete, the process of drying and decontaminating begins at the site. Based on the extent of damage, damage caused due to water can be classified into 4 types. Class 1 Damage- When loss is restricted to a small area and less water has been absorbed by materials. This results in slow evaporation rate. Class 2 Damage – When the damage is to the entire room and carpet area. Class 3 Damage – When the entire area is saturated with water and Class 4 Damage – when there are many deep saturation pockets. Decontamination and drying is a key stage in Water damage restoration and equipments like blowers, dehumidifiers, scrubbers and subfloor drying equipments have to be used. Decontamination has to be done if contamination has been detected in the area. Decontamination may be done for the entire area or in specific pockets where contamination has been detected.
Monitoring and Completion
Monitoring the restoration process of damage caused due to damage is critical to achieve the desired results. One has to be proactive during the monitoring process. Checking if the drying equipment is setup properly, assessing if the personnel involved are qualified for the job and checking if the equipments are in working order are all part of the monitoring process. Necessary steps are to be taken if anything wrong is spotted during the monitoring process. The entire process of water damage restoration would be classified as complete only once the humidity, temperature and the moisture content is as per industry standards. Upon completion of the water damage restoration process, the drying equipment can be removed.
Water Damage to Your Ceiling?
When you have true flood damage versus water damage in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas, it is important to know what your insurance policy covers in terms of various water flooding scenarios. Your water damage claim may be denied due to incorrect terminology or coding. Be an informed consumer and read your policy carefully.
Insurance companies usually do not cover natural geological events, such as landslides, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. Insurance companies are very specific in their definition of what constituted flooding. That narrow definition specifies that flooding is an overflow of a natural body of water, such as a lake or an ocean.
Water damages occur when water gets into your Dallas Fort Worth home other than through the overflowing of a body of water. Depending on your particular insurance policy, many water emergencies are covered, but there are multiple scenarios of what is covered and under what conditions. When you know what your water damage policy covers, you know what language to use to describe the situation for your claim to be approved. That means that if your water heater bursts and "floods" your Dallas Fort Worth home or your washing machine overflows and your basement has 3" of standing water, it does not qualify under the definition of a true flood, which is good because chances are your insurance would cover these water damage scenarios - just don't use the word "flood" when filing your claim.
The above examples show that when you call your insurance company to file a water damage claim, you should be honest, but be aware that you should be factual in your description of the water damage. Know what your policy covers and what it does not cover and present your situation accurately, without using words or terms that raise a red flag to the person on the other end. For example, if your water heater burst and when making a claim you say that your house just flooded, that is not within the narrow interpretation of the insurance company's definition of flood. So, although to you, your home is flooded because you are standing in 3" of water, when you report the incident to your insurance company, just state the facts: your home is full of water due to your water heater bursting.
Water damage describes a large number of possible losses caused by water intruding where it will enable attack of a material or system by destructive processes such as rotting of wood, growth, rusting of steel, de-laminating of materials such as plywood, and many others.
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