Water damage can come from many kinds of leaks, spills, and overflows. We typically see customers who have water damage from:
· Sewage backups from septic systems or public sewers
· Floods caused by excessive rain or by external plumbing failures such as burst water pipes or water from a neighbor’s property
· Appliance leaks, most commonly from dishwashers, refrigerator water lines, washing machines, and water heaters
· Plumbing failures including sink, shower, or toilet leaks and overflows, and pipes bursting in walls or under faucets and drains, and sump pump failures
So, exactly what is a water damage restoration? ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points are professional providers of water damage restoration services. We typically begin our work soon after the source of water has been stopped but before other repairs can begin. Water mitigation should start immediately. It is an emergency restoration service because water can continue to damage structures. The longer things stay wet, the more damage that can occur. Water removal (sometimes called water extraction) should be performed immediately to prevent water from spreading throughout the home or office and potentially causing much greater damage.
Water continues to cause damage until fully removed.
ServiceMaster Restore Water Damage Evaluation
Initially we come to your home or business and immediately begin to evaluate the damage from your water loss. Starting from the source of loss, we trace the water damage by checking for moisture in floors, walls, and ceilings below. An expert technician can determine where there is water damage both on the surface and inside walls and ceilings. Surface moisture is found on materials you can see and feel such as carpet, rugs, hardwood floors, tile, vinyl flooring, baseboards, drywall, and ceiling tiles, for example. Internal moisture is found in areas that you cannot see and feel such as insulation, framing, and plywood or concrete subfloors under the surface flooring. This is the key moisture to find because being trapped inside other materials means the excess moisture cannot dry out as easily and has the potential to do much more water damage than the surface water can do.
Once the water damage has been assessed, our water damage crew will remove any standing water through our water extraction process. They then proceed to remove all affected (meaning still wet and not salvageable) materials to open the space around those internal wet materials so they can be dried completely and correctly.
The crew will then install appropriate equipment to maximize airflow to pull moisture from materials and dehumidify the room to remove the airborne moisture from the air. This creates an appropriate drying chamber to safely dry all the areas of your home or business that were damaged by water. What is needed in this drying process varies based on other factors in the home such as whether mold has grown in an area, the occupants have allergies, if an older home needs to be tested for asbestos, etc. This means that the safest way to perform a water mitigation is to use a trained professional to ensure that all areas are dried and the safety of your family or coworkers is protected.
ServiceMaster uses a variety of equipment together to completely dry affected areas of a water loss.
Once the equipment is set to dry the damaged areas, the technicians will need to monitor the drying process with daily checks to make sure there is no new water damage, and that all areas are drying properly.
ServiceMaster technicians walk you through the process so the customer always knows what to expect from a water damage mitigation, and you can get your questions answered.
The customer can expect ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points to provide the best customer service available. We understand that while we do this 24/7, 365 days a year, you hopefully have NEVER been through this before. The situation is stressful and sometimes scary, so you need to know what to expect from everyone helping you through a water damage restoration. Our technicians will walk you through the process on day one so you know what they found in their evaluation of the water damage. They will explain what was damaged by the water. They will explain what needs to be done to dry out those areas and materials to protect you from further water damage. The office staff and technicians set every appointment and confirm arrival times when the technicians are on their way to your home or business. ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points work with all insurance companies to help customers with the claims process for the water damage mitigation. If at any point during the water damage mitigation you have any questions, we encourage you to ask the technician while he is there or call the office to ask right away. It is our goal to make the water damage restoration process as easy as possible, and in our experience, knowing what is happening and what to expect is the best way to accomplish this. Once the work is completed, our office staff will follow up with you to get feedback about the service provided and make sure everything is ready for repairs. If you have any questions or need any additional assistance with your water damage mitigation, ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points will be more than happy to provide answers or return to your home or business to help you complete the water damage mitigation so you can restore your home to its pre-water damaged state.
ServiceMaster has been selected by all major insurance companies as a preferred service provider. Our office staff communicates with your insurance company to upload all documentation required to process your water mitigation services for the insurance claim. We keep your adjuster informed daily of progress during the water mitigation process to be sure that the work performed will be covered by your insurance policy. This means you do not have to collect all the photos, drying reports and forms required by the insurance company for your claim because ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points take care of that for you! By being a preferred water damage mitigation service provider, we can follow your insurance carrier’s guidelines to ensure that our water damage mitigation services are covered under your claim. We follow the carrier protocols and adjuster recommendations which are usually based on the insured’s specific coverage.
If you don’t have insurance, ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points can still help you with your water damage. Since our technicians are working with you directly, they will review everything with you ahead of time so you can approve services before they begin. The technicians will review with you what needs to be done and how much the services will cost. Once the scope of work and estimate are approved, we will not only perform the services outlined by our water damage crew chief, but we will also document the water damage and the mitigation process in case you file a claim later or subrogation is needed to recover losses from the water damage. As the water damage mitigation is progressing, any changes we feel are required to achieve the dry standard we need to complete work will be discussed with you beforehand to get your approval for those changes, and to keep you informed of what is happening in your home or office.
Now that you understand a water damage mitigation, why use ServiceMaster of Gwinnett and ServiceMaster 5 Points? Simply put, we are the best water damage restoration service around. Our name declares that we are the Service Master, and we are. Our customers are telling you about our highly rated customer service on our Testimonials page. They value the attention to detail and the fact that we inform them of the process every step of the way, making them feel safe using our water damage mitigation services. ServiceMaster of Gwinnett started in 1991, and ServiceMaster 5 Points followed in 2013. Both companies are run by the founders and family, so we are bringing over 30 years of experience to every job we do!
Use our contact us page or call our office at (770) 962-0110 to get your water damage mitigation started today.
