Stuffed Sharks Do Not Flush

2/18/2019 (Permalink)

Water can cause more damage to the rooms below where a loss occurred. It is always a good idea to consider calling a professional mitigation company.

Mornings can be hectic. You have to make sure the kids are getting dressed for school, check out the traffic reports to make sure that you don’t have to change your commute, make breakfast, and all while making sure that you are ready for the day yourself. Sometimes the during the controlled chaos you may not notice that one of your younger children is performing their very first science experiment focusing on the “flushabilty” of their toys. This was recently the case for one Greenville, SC resident.

A busy working mom trying to get two of her children on their way to school plus a very curious, and quiet, toddler and his action figures and stuffed shark and a toilet. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out a lot.

A second-floor bathroom, packed to the brim with superheroes, building blocks, and one stuffed shark. Oh and gallons and gallons of water with nowhere to go but the living room below.

The homeowner had left to take her kids to school and daycare when she realized that she had forgotten something very important for work and needed to rush home. She opened her door to see that the ceiling fan in the living room had upgraded itself to now have a waterfall feature. The ceiling was saturated, the walls were soaked, and the furniture in the living room also drenched. The forgotten item turned out to be a blessing in disguise, but had she not come home the toilet would have run until the afternoon, but instead, she was able to turn the water off to the toilet. Imagine the damage that would have caused.

The homeowner made three calls: one to work, one to her adjuster, and one to SERVPRO of East Greenville County. Our team was able to be on site within 30 minutes of her call and started working immediately. The standing water was extracted, while air movers and dehumidifiers were placed to dry out the floor, wall, and ceiling. Unfortunately, the many of the materials were too saturated to reach a dry standard within a reasonable amount of time, and our production manager recommended that the flooring in the bathroom and ceiling in the living room below be replaced. SERVPRO of East Greenville County always places and focus on repair and restore versus remove and replace, but sometimes replacement is the more cost-effective action plan. This was one of those times, we may have had to run drying equipment for several more days, and it still may not have reached dry standard without risking further damage to the other materials. The decision to remove and replace the flooring in the bathroom and living room ceiling reduced not only the cost of mitigation but also the amount of time that the homeowner and her family were displaced from their home.

SERVPRO of East Greenville County does have access to advanced technology and techniques, but it is our experienced team that adds the most value for our customers when they need us.