Dealing with natural disasters is never an enjoyable experience, be it heavy rain, blizzard, hail, fire, or flooding. Recovering after the disaster is even worse — broken tree branches and leaves lying all over the roof and clogging drains, a leaky roof, and mold growth have never made any homeowner happy. Some situations definitely require a professional approach to disaster restoration.
Some events we cannot predict, but we can be ready to deal with consequences. Many homeowners do keep contact details of reputable contractors providing damage repair and restoration services — whenever help is needed, they know what to do and have a trustworthy crew to restore the property to its normal condition.
Recovering from Disaster: Step-by-Step Checklist
Not to let natural disasters catch you off guard, you’d better have a checklist of actions required to keep you safe, minimize the damage, and restore your house back to normal as fast as possible.
Step 1. Contact a professional restoration services provider. If you don’t have a phone number of a reliable local contractor saved on your phone, look for a licensed and certified company. Reputable companies that provide disaster restoration services usually publish their license numbers on websites. Additionally, you can check customer reviews on third-party platforms.
Note: While choosing a contractor, pay attention that the company provides emergency services, you don’t want pros to arrive next week or so.
Step 2. Safety. The safety of you and your family is the first priority. Even heavy rain can cause significant property damage and undermine its safety. A leaky roof and puddles on the floor aren’t fearsome at first, but considering the presence of multiple electric appliances and outlets, you’d better handle everything with care and make sure your family and pets are in a safe area or part of the house. If you can enter the damaged house, turn off the gas, power, and water supply. If the switch is in the flooded area, you’d better wait until the pros arrive.
Step 3. Document the damage and contact your insurance provider. As stressful as seeing damage is, you need to document the damage before the initial cleanup. Take photos, record videos, and compile a list. This is a vital step for filing an insurance claim. Reputable contractors usually help to file a claim and relieve you from stressful interactions with insurance companies.
Disaster Restoration: What Is It?
Disaster restoration services include initial damage assessment, repairs, and cleanup. In case of significant damage, restoration of the house construction can be required. Generally, restoration means bringing a property to its initial condition.
After any damaging events like water damage (heavy rain, flooding, storm, or fire), a restoration company is your principal assistant in recovering from the disaster — with the right contractor, the entire situation will seem less stressful.
What do disaster restoration companies do?
Actually, restoration pros offer a wide array of services for recovering from various emergencies and disasters, including:
- Water damage. Leaky roofs, flooded basements, and damaged plumbing, regardless of the cause, might be a nightmare for any homeowner. If not repaired promptly, excess water might trigger mold growth, which is toxic and poses a threat to human health.
- Fire damage. Smoke and fire of any origin are extremely destructive. Pros have dedicated equipment to repair damage and restore the property to its initial condition.
- Storm damage. Storms can cause significant damage to the property, leaving broken windows, water, and debris for a homeowner to deal with. Storm damage requires urgent attention and repairs. Fully equipped, the restoration crew cleans up, decontaminates, dehumidifies, and repairs the damaged area.
- Mold remediation. A high moisture environment (due to faulty plumbing, a leaky roof, or a natural disaster) is perfect for mold spores to spread. Once settled, mold grows and affects larger surfaces within hours. Known for its toxicity, mold should be treated as fast as possible. Equipped with IR detectors, dehumidifiers, and antifungal remedies, specialists will remove existing mold patches and sanitize the mold-prone area to prevent future infestations.
What to expect when you hire a restoration company?
- Emergency response and damage control. The first priority is making your home safe. At this stage, the crew verifies that water, gas, and power supplies are turned off, removes debris, and provides fast repairs if needed.
- Damage assessment and detailed repairs planning. When the scene is clear, the company representative makes a thorough inspection and evaluation of the damage and required materials for repairs and restoration. Equipped with advanced tools, pros inspect the property for signs of mold growth that can be invisible to the human eye but hazardous to house inhabitants.
- Property restoration. This stage includes all required repairs: removing excess water and repairing damaged plumbing, walls, roof, or flooring. If necessary, the team will remove and remediate mold.
- Cleanup. Typically, pros enclose the damaged area to prevent destroying and making a mess in the unaffected part of the house. Once the work is completed, the team cleans up debris, removing leftovers of materials and dirt.
How to choose a reliable damage restoration services provider?
- First of all, choose a licensed company that provides certified services. The certification guarantees higher standards of offered services.
- Specify if the company is insured.
- Look for companies that operate 24/7 and offer emergency services. Make sure that the crew is ready for a quick response. The faster the team arrives at your home, inspects it, and starts repair work, the higher chances are of avoiding further damage.
- References and reviews. Ask your colleagues and neighbors for contacts of a trustworthy contractor. When you have at least three options, research independent review platforms for customer feedback — negative reviews can help to filter out some prospective contractors.
- Detailed estimation in-situ. Reputable companies provide a comprehensive estimation.
- Check if a company can help with filing an insurance claim. Companies with vast experience in the industry are usually well-versed in this aspect and willingly cooperate.
- Stay away from scammers. Avoid companies that don’t have transparent license data or ask for a large cash deposit. A lack of references and customer reviews might also put you on alert.
Wrapping it up, qualified help is essential to recover your damaged house and avoid further unwanted consequences. With the right team of dedicated professionals, you will stay reassured and less stressed watching how your home is restored to its perfect state.
