Who’s Your First Call for Commercial Water Damage?
When a commercial property loss such as water damage strikes, you may feel overwhelmed and powerless as water streams from the source. It’s dramatic and it’s an emergency. You see your business flooding as your building structure (walls, floors, ceilings) becomes saturated with water and your vital business operations necessities such as computers, desks, machinery, tools, inventory, and business records are threatened.
How do you react? First, shut off the water – if you need a video tutorial for you and your staff, you can watch here. Shutting off the water stops the thousands of gallons of water from further flooding your business.
You may wonder what to do next. You want to call a restoration company to get to work fast. How do you know that someone will answer the phone? How soon can they respond to your need? Do they have the capacity to handle your large loss water damage? In the case of commercial water damage restoration, a fast response is critical. Most restoration companies can’t get to you until the next day, by which time more damage will have occurred.
Every hour that passes costs money and will lengthen the mitigation and reconstruction process:
Within First Hour:
Quickly moving water will spread throughout the building, finding the path of least resistance, saturating everything in its path.
Stains/finish released from furniture could cause permanent staining on flooring and carpets.
Finishes on moisture sensitive furniture may begin to turn white.
Paper goods (books, magazines, artwork) may become unsalvageable due to saturation.
One to 24 Hours:
Drywall swells and begins to break down.
Metal surfaces that are unprotected begin to tarnish.
Laminated furniture begins to swell and/or split and finish can begin to crack.
48 Hours to 1 Week:
Mold, mildew and other contaminants have begun to grow and spread.
Unprotected metal begins to rust, corrode, and pit.
Furniture warps and begins to show signs of mold.
Paint begins to blister.
Adhesives begin to breakdown and release.
Windows, doors, casings, and studs begin to swell and warp.
Wood flooring begins to swell, warp, or buckle.
Persons with respiratory concerns or compromised immune systems could experience distress or a heightened sensitivity to allergens from microbial growth.
More Than 1 Week:
Claim cost and reconstruction time and cost increases due to more extensive restoration.
Structural safety and health concerns may pose serious hazards to occupants
Compleat is Your First Call for Commercial Water Damage Restoration
At Compleat, we’re here to help you 24/7/365. Your phone call will be answered by a live person who will connect you to a commercial project manager in minutes. It’s a good feeling to speak to a restoration professional who will dispatch an emergency water mitigation crew to help right away. The crew is onsite with a guaranteed arrival time of 2 hours (it’s usually within the hour). The emergency crew responds with water mitigation response trucks and trailers loaded with equipment and also brings years of commercial restoration experience to stop the water damage by extracting water, moving and protecting your contents from harm, and placing water mitigation equipment such as commercial air handlers and dehumidifiers. You may need large loss restoration equipment such as the Water Out trailer which is a water removal system that can handle large drying spaces and has a custom setup unique to your space. The Water Out also has the advantage of operating in scenarios where heat or electricity are unavailable.
Along with the water mitigation crew, your commercial restoration project manager will arrive to assess the loss and to help you develop your emergency business continuity plan so that vital operations remain intact during the loss and reconstruction. Your project manager also serves as your liaison with your insurance company, should you need to file a claim. When your building is dry, your project manager will lead the reconstruction team to perform any needed repairs, all while keeping you and your team apprised of timelines and details.
All of these measures are available and deployed simply by making Compleat your first call for commercial water damage restoration.