Why SERVPRO - SERVPROXIDE

9/13/2022 (Permalink)

Did you know that when you call SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico to clean your home or business that we use our own in-house formulated surface cleaning agent? That’s right, we’ve developed a non-bleach disinfectant that can treat any surface hard and soft. SERVPROXIDE is our answer to all of your disinfecting needs.

SERVPROXIDE is 100% biodegradable and food safe. You don’t need gloves to clean with it, it can be used around kids and pets, and sanitizes non-porous surfaces in 60 seconds.

We offer 99.999% sanitation of food contact surfaces so that you can use it in your restaurant or any other place of business as well.

Our SERVPRO team prides ourselves on using high-standard disinfecting tools to ensure our customers that we mean clean.

Hurricane Prep Guide

9/7/2022 (Permalink)

Getting prepared for a hurricane in Richmond is not only about buying lots of water or filling up the gas tank.  There are steps needed to help protect you and your family if your home is threatened by a hurricane.

Stock Emergency Supplies

1. Water & food, at least a 3-day supply for you and your pet
2. Tools like flashlights, extra batteries, a wrench, plastic sheeting & duct tape, trash bags
3. Medical hygiene and cleaning supplies like a first-aid kit, necessary medications, glasses, contact lenses, moist towelettes, toothpaste, and personal hygiene products
4. Personal Items, like a sleeping bag for each person and a change of clothing
5. Activities like books, games, playing cards, paper, pencils, and pens
6. Radio for NOAA weather radio with tone alert and extra batteries
7. Other Items like a whistle to signal for help

Prepare and Protect Your Property

1. Do a Home inventory of the contents of closets, drawers, and cabinets. Store your home inventory lists, photographs, and videos in a waterproof place off the premises.  Keep receipts of high-valued items, which may separate insurance coverage.  Always update your home inventory after making large purchases.

Review Your Insurance Policies

1. Is everything up to date? If you’ve done any major renovation or made a major purchase, make sure your insurance agent is aware to help determine if your current limits are enough to cover the value.
2. Coverage for additional living expenses in case you can’t live in your home until it has been restored from damages.
3. What about flood damage? Do you have coverage?
4. Do you have comprehensive coverage on your car insurance policy? What happens if a tree falls on it, or water, wind, or flying debris damages your car?

Plan Your Evacuation

1. Become familiar with alternate routes in case travel becomes treacherous or traffic-congested.
2. If you don’t have a car, plan how you will leave if you need to evacuate; make plans with family, friends, or your local government or aid agencies.
3. Plan what you will do with your pets, leave them with family, take them with you, or to a kennel.
4. Keep a road map in your car in case you need another route on unfamiliar roads.
5. Prepare a bag or file with important papers, like your homeowner’s insurance policy, medical documents, and id cards, and keep it with you.

If you have suffered water damage after a storm, SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico is prepared to assist you after the storm to clean up the mess and help restore your home to its pre-storm condition.

How Many Fire Detectors Do You Need?

8/25/2022 (Permalink)

When it comes to smoke alarms, many homeowners do not realize that most homes require more than just a couple of alarms in order to properly give a warning in an emergency scenario. Here are a few things to keep in mind when figuring out how many smoke alarms your home will need.

The safest smoke alarms are ones that are hardwired and interconnected. This means that when one alarm goes off, they all go off. This is important because you may not hear an alarm go off in a different area of your house if you are too far away or behind closed doors. If your home has interconnected smoke alarms, you can still add battery-powered stand-alone alarms as well for additional safety.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, your home should have at least one smoke alarm on every level of the home including the basement. Additionally, there should be one in every bedroom and outside of every sleeping area. For example, a two-story home, with two bedrooms and a basement should have a minimum of five smoke alarms. One on each floor, and one in each bedroom. Another thing to consider is their placement, for example, if your smoke alarm is in your kitchen, you should place it at least ten feet from the cooking appliances like the stove and oven to help mitigate false alarms. You can also use a photoelectric type of alarm in your kitchen to further mitigate the chance of false alarms.

Smoke alarms don’t prevent fires, but they are the first line of defense for your family in an emergency. Properly functioning fire alarms are a crucial part of your home safety. You should check them once a month to ensure proper function and replace the batteries twice a year, usually, people use switching the clocks for daylight savings time as a reminder of when to change the batteries. Additionally, smoke alarms should be replaced every ten years.

While we hope you won’t ever have to call us, if you should find yourself in need of a professional fire restoration company SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico is here to help. With over 35 years of experience in the restoration industry, our teams are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to help make your fire loss “Like it never even happened.”

Why Your Building Needs Duct Cleaning

8/24/2022 (Permalink)

While most people know the SERVPRO brand for our water and fire damage restoration services, we also provide other crucial services to homes and businesses. One of such services is duct cleaning.

Air ducts perform the essential functions of moving the air around your building, providing hot or cold air depending on the season, and helping to maintain proper air quality and circulation. Like everything else in your home or business, it requires regular maintenance and cleaning to perform at its best. Over time, ducts can be filled with dust and dirt particles, or even mold spores, and other harmful contaminants. While your HVAC’s air filters are meant to help remove these things from the air, they don’t always get all of it, and a build-up can occur in the ducts. This buildup can limit airflow and ultimately affect your HVAC system’s efficiency. Not only will this increase your energy costs, but it can also make it harder to maintain a comfortable environment for your staff and customers. Not only are you losing efficiency and air quality by neglecting your air ducts, but if left long enough this dust buildup can become a huge fire hazard.

Air duct cleaning should be done roughly every three to five years, or more depending on the building and what it’s used for. If your business needs a duct cleaning give us a call or fill out our form online and let us know how we can help!

Warehouse Disasters

8/16/2022 (Permalink)

Warehouses are a crucial part of many businesses. From holding raw materials for production, spaces for equipment, and even offices, losing the use of a warehouse can lead to business interruptions that would be detrimental to any company.

Unfortunately, warehouses are not immune to the dangers of fire and water damage. Busted pipes can cause huge amounts of damage to inventory and fires can wreak havoc on a production space. Fortunately, our team here at SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico is experienced in handling losses of all sizes. Whether it’s a small storage space or a 50,000 square foot production facility we’re here to help. With a network of over two thousand franchises across the country, we have the resources to tackle any emergencies that may happen. If possible, we can work with you to build a containment area for the loss to help prevent any business interruptions and we also are able to perform contents restoration in some instances helping you to lower your inventory loss and ultimately the overall costs of getting your business back to preloss conditions.

When your business experiences water or fire damage at your warehouse, you’ll need a professional restoration company that can work with your needs and understands what it takes to get the job done efficiently and effectively. That’s why our team is constantly training in the latest technology and techniques to help ensure that we can make your warehouse loss “Like it never even happened.”

Things to Know about Fire Spinklers

8/15/2022 (Permalink)

Selecting the best fire sprinkler system for your commercial building can be a tough decision. There are many different options, all with their own pros and cons, and each with specific applications in mind. Here are a few things that you should consider when choosing your fire sprinkler system.

• Different Suppressors – The typical sprinkler system uses water to put out fires, but there are other kinds as well. If your building has a lot of machinery or electronics that can be damaged by water, there are also chemical suppressants, and even systems that use inert gasses to smother the fire that won’t damage electronics.
• The Amount of Suppressant – Different systems will use different amounts of suppressant. Depending on your building's size and use, this is something else that you should consider.
• Trigger Types – This is the part of the sprinkler that will cause it to activate and there are a few different types. Some are electronic sensors that are connected to the system and will trigger when they detect the presence of smoke, and others involve components that will break or burst at a certain temperature.
• Location – Deciding where to place your sprinklers is another important factor in your sprinkler installation. For this, it’s best left to a professional to walk your building with you and point out the key areas where they should go.
• Cleanup – One final thing that you should consider is the cleanup process. Because different systems use different means to smother the fire, the means by which you’ll need to clean up afterward will be different. In most cases, you’ll need the services of a professional company to properly clean up after the system is set off.

Choosing the right sprinkler system for your building is a crucial part of making sure you minimize the risks of fires for your business. While sprinklers do not stop fires from happening, a properly functioning fire suppression system could be the difference between a small business interruption, and a total loss of property. If your business has experienced a fire, our team here at SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico is available 24/7, 365 days a year for emergency services. Give us a call and let us know how we can help you get your business back to “Like it never even happened.”

Odor Issues in Your Commercial Buildings

8/12/2022 (Permalink)

Part of being leaders in the restoration industry is understanding the different odors that can be present in a building and how to deal with them. Deodorizing a large space like a commercial building can be challenging, but here are some of the most common causes of unpleasant odors and steps you can take to deal with them.

Restrooms – Obviously restrooms are first on this list. Most commonly, odors in restrooms stem from urine and/or mildew buildup. It’s important to regularly mop and wipe down the walls with a disinfectant. Pay close attention to corners, under sinks, and around toilets where moisture tends to build up.

Drains – Regardless of the building’s use, there’s likely to be multiple drains in a commercial building. Whether it’s kitchen drains, floor drains, bathroom sinks, or any other drainage, they can all be the culprit in causing unwanted odors in your building. Be sure that nothing is being put into the drains that shouldn’t be and it’s recommended to regularly flush out your drains to ensure proper function, and to clean out any debris that may have found its way inside.

Mold and Mildew – Mold and mildew are very common causes of odors in commercial buildings. Fortunately, these are usually the easiest to figure out as they carry that specific musty smell that everyone is all too familiar with. Most likely, you’ll find mold and mildew in areas that typically have a higher humidity like basements, crawl spaces, restrooms, or laundry facilities. If you have areas in your building that are often found to have higher moisture levels, you should consider utilizing a dehumidifier. If you do find mold or mildew, SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico is certified in mold remediation. Give us a call and let our trained techs professionally handle your mold issues.

When odors are often one of the first things someone encounters when entering a building, keeping your space odor free is a crucial part of creating good first impressions on clients as well as keeping staff from having to deal with them on a day-to-day basis. If your property is suffering from lingering unwanted smells our team is here to help! We’re constantly training in the latest techniques and technology to help ensure our process is as efficient and effective as possible.

Tips for Flood Prevention

8/11/2022 (Permalink)

Here at SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico, our team of professionals works tirelessly to help restore the homes and businesses in our local community. We’re equipped with the experience and technology to help restore your property regardless of the size or extent of the storm disaster. However, there are some steps that you can take to help prevent damages and limit your losses from a storm.

• Regularly inspect your home or business for damage and to ensure that everything is functioning as it should such as your sump pump, door seals, roof, and siding.
• Regularly clean your gutters and make sure downspouts are properly draining water away from the building.
• Make an emergency plan and know what to do should damage occur to your property. If you’re a business, we offer a free program called the emergency ready plan that will help you with this.
• Make sure you understand your insurance policies and what’s covered. Most standard policies do not cover flood damage and will require a separate flood policy.
• Install flood prevention measures if you live in a flood prone area.

While these tips may not completely prevent damage to your home or business in a storm, they will help to lower your risks of serious damage. If you’re in need of storm damage restoration give us a call, we’re available 24/7, 365 days a year for emergency services.

Flood Damage vs Other Water Damage

7/27/2022 (Permalink)

Water damage in your home is unfortunately not an uncommon problem for homeowners to face. From leaky toilets, busted pipes, or heavy rainstorms, there are a multitude of different ways water can damage your home. With all of these different avenues for water to get into your home, it’s important to note that not all water damage is treated equally. The damage caused and the means to clean it up will be different depending on the source. One of the biggest differences is between something like a busted or leaky pipe, and flood waters from a storm.

To better understand the difference between these events, you should know the difference between the three categories of water damage. Category one is considered clean water. This water does not pose a health threat actively and is typically caused by things like broken water lines or sink overflows. Category two is gray water. Gray water is water that may be contaminated and could potentially pose a health risk if ingested. Things like broken toilets (with no sewage) and broken sump pumps usually fall into this category. Category three is black water. This is water that is completely unsanitary and contains bacteria or other organisms that can make you sick. Water damage that falls into category three is usually caused by sewage, other water damage that has been sitting for multiple days, or flood waters.

Because flood water damage is caused by water entering the home from the outside, it likely contains bacteria or other organisms, as opposed to something like an ice maker line breaking and getting clean water all over your kitchen. Since this storm water poses a health risk it needs to be treated differently. PPE must be worn, and any surfaces that may have come in contact with the water should be properly sanitized or even removed depending on the extent of the damage. Since things like drywall, insulation, and fabrics are especially porous it can be difficult to make sure that they are cleaned well enough to not be a continued health risk after the water is cleaned up. Another factor is because the water is already contaminated with bacteria and microorganisms, the likelihood of mold growth and secondary damage is much higher than with something like a pipe bursting.

If your home suffers from a flood, you should not try and clean up the water yourself. Without the proper knowledge and safety equipment you’re putting yourself at risk as well as putting your home at risk if you are unable to properly find and dry out all of the hidden pockets of moisture. Our team at SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico is expertly trained in dealing with these scenarios and can help ensure that your home is dried out and cleaned up in the most efficient and effective way. We’re available 24/7, 365 days a year for emergency services. Please give us a call or fill out a form online and let us know how we can help!

Why Use Professionals for Water Damage

7/18/2022 (Permalink)

Water damage in your home is always a serious matter. Whether it’s a leaky washing machine or an inch of water in your basement, it’s never a good idea to try and take on the task yourself. Cleaning up water damage properly takes the right training and tools to make sure the job is done right.

Here are a few reasons why it’s important to call a professional company like us here at SERVPRO of Richmond and SERVPRO of Henrico to help with your home’s water damage.

• Safety
  • Any time there is water entering your home from the outside, whether from rain or a flood, it is considered category three or black water. This means that the water has potentially a large amount of contamination and could cause harm to your or your family if you try and clean it up without the proper protective gear.

• Tools
  • Simply put, soaking up the visible water with towels and using household fans to try and dry out the area is almost never enough. Water can seep behind walls, under flooring, and cause damage anywhere it touches. Our team is constantly training with the latest tools like water extractors, hygrometers, and thermal imaging, to help ensure that no hidden pockets of moisture are missed.

• Efficiency
  • When it comes to water damage time is truly one of the biggest factors in the amount of damage that is caused. Water will continue to degrade your property until it is completely dried out, and mold can start to grow in less than 24 hours. It is essential that your water damage is addressed as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Working in the restoration industry, our teams understand just how much damage can be caused by water and know the importance of getting your home back to preloss conditions as soon as possible. If your property has suffered from water damage please give us a call or fill out our online form and let us know how we can help to get your home back to “Like it never even happened.”