Choosing The Best Drying Process - Protect Your Investment
Choose The Best Drying Process
So you have had a flood in your home. Everything is disrupted and all you want is to get things back to normal. You want everything dry. You assume that the process being used by your restoration contractor will get everything back to normal and to a pre-loss condition and that will eliminate future problems.
Customer Beware: Protect Your Investment
I am a certified Applied Microbial Remediation Technician (AMRT) with the IICRC and therefore perform quite a bit of mould remediation. The sad part about my work is the number of times I am called into a home to do a mould remediation assessment and find that the mould that is present is caused by inappropriate drying methods used by a restoration company that had responded to an original water loss call.
The first damage in most cases was covered by an insurance company. The mould remediation will come right out of the owners pocket unless they seek litigation against the former restoration company. I am also encountering people who have bought new homes and have gone through all of the recommended practices of hiring a home inspector to walk through the home with them prior to inspection only to find that after they have taken possession of the property that they have a mould problem. In many instances the mould is secondary damage caused by the ineffective diagnosis of an original water loss and/or poor drying practices being applied to the situation
And what happens when you go to sell your property in the future and you are asked by the potential purchaser, "Have you ever had a water loss?" If you answer, "Yes", as you should, and they ask for a report showing the drying process from beginning to end, which they should, will you be able to give them a complete report signed by a certified technician? In the midst of your grief over having a water loss, PLEASE reflect on your choices. My recommendation is to chose a company that follows what is recognized in the industry as the "best practices". "Best practices"is a technical term which means the practices recognized in the industry as standard procedure. The IICRC has published a set of standards for various forms of remediation and should be made available to you as a consumer by the restoration supervisor in charge of your drying project.
Some neighbours of mine had a sewer backup which was being remediated. They were concerned about some of the decisions that were being made and asked if I would come in a give a consultation concerning the process. I went in and assessed the project and found that there were many problems with the way the procedure was being handled. I went through the IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration with them as they took notes and explained what the standards demand of a restoration company facing a situation as theirs. They were able to lobby for better service and received a satisfactory conclusion to their remediation project.
My IICRC instructor said that when he is called into court as an expert witness the court acknowledges the IICRC Standards as being the recognized standards for the restoration industry. For your own protection, chose a company who operates by these standards and is very familiar with their application principles.
I felt that it was important for the consumer to have an idea of what the drying process looks like when these standards are applied. I describe them in the Insurance Adjuster section under the category, The New Science of Structural Drying. The new science of structural drying seeks to utilize the best practices available today to dry your property while maintaining the standards set by IICRC.
The New Science of Drying is More Effective and More Cost Efficient and thus a Better Choice.
Here is a summary of its benefits:
- Less overall cost for complete restoration
- Minimizes chance of future mold growth
- Less replacement of materials like carpet/pad, drywall
- Fewer repairs to the structure
- Fewer subcontractors to deal with
- Increases customer satisfaction
- Less disruption for the home owner
Super Bee Camrose Utilizes The DriZone System in Order to Effectively and Economically Address Water Losses.
