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Your Commercial Property has Storm Damage. Now What? Part 3| SERVPRO of East Greenville County
9/16/2020 (Permalink)
Storm Damage can make way for Water Damage & Mold Damage, and even Fire Damage if not dealt with properly & swiftly. Give our team a call today!
What do you do when you have a flood from storm damage, a pipe burst or a roof leak? Our team has come together to determine the first steps you should take to minimize the damage done by storm and water damage. Look back through previous blogs to find the first two steps! Continue reading to learn more about step three!
Drying Out the Affected Area
If you’re determined to handle the dry-out work yourself, or the extent of the damage is minor, then it may be possible to remove the moisture causing the damage on your own.
However, you’ll need a few specialized tools to make sure you can completely dry out the area, including:
- Air movers and/or dehumidifiers to extract the humid air
- Pin and/or pointless moisture meter to track the moisture content of the building materials
- Wet vacuums to remove standing water quickly
- A thermo-hygrometer to track the humidity in the room
If the structure has a climate control system, then turning up the temperature slightly can help to keep water from becoming condensed – allowing dry-out work to proceed just a little bit faster.
When drying out a room in a building that has experienced flood damage, it’s imperative to keep the building as sealed against exposure to outside air as possible. Otherwise, mold spores and other contaminants can work their way inside and, with the help of the excess moisture in the structure, begin to spread. Any air movers attached to an opening should be sealed in place in such a way that they constantly force air out and prevent outside air from getting in.
Any moisture-compromised furniture should be assessed and removed. If it is too water damaged, it will need to be thrown away and replaced. The same goes for any building materials in the affected area.
Have Water or Storm Damage?