Basement Water Damage Cleanup

Water Damage Service Restoration Minneapolis

Michelle verity restoration in Portland Oregon. Today we're going to talk about basement water damage cleanup. So there are several things involved when we come to figure out what's going on with your basement flood remediation and how to best clean it up. The first thing that we're taking into account is the source of the water where did it come from. It a sump pump that has failed is groundwater from another source and it is a water heater that has failed over time or a pipe leak. All those things go into us figuring out how to best handle the situation. Second of all if it was clean water, to begin with, but it's happened over a long period of time or it happened all at once. But it took a while for it to get noticed because it was down in the basement and we have to figure out if the water remains reasonably clean or if there's now a lot higher risk for mold and bacteria. So, the reason to get things cleaned up quickly and correctly once you notice the problem is exactly that the longer that

water stays there bacteria can continue to grow.

Mold can set in both of those are really dangerous for human health and safety especially if any of the homeowners or residents are immunocompromised, so it's important to get that taken care of very carefully and cautiously. Also, there's more chance of structural damage and if the water damage sits with building materials long-term, the next thing that we're paying attention to is the presence of lead-based paint. So, houses from nineteen seventy-eight and older need to be tested very carefully to make sure that none of the layers of paint are positive for lead and if so it's not a huge deal it just needs to be handled carefully and by someone who is trained and licensed to do. So, the other thing that we're looking for is the presence of asbestos. While asbestos sounds like a very old tiny thing that of course, we don't use today. It's actually still found in products at Home Depot so any age of the home. We need to test materials that often have asbestos added to it to

make sure that there's none there. Actually is required now by DEQ the state of Oregon, that a lot of asbestos testing takes place for safety reasons and then also even to get it into the local dump and it has to go in with paperwork saying that's been the asbestos tested. So we will send in and a hero accredited inspector to take all the samples necessary to make sure that everything is handled very safely.

So after we figured out all of the safety issues going on with the removal process, we'll then see which of the materials need to be removed and which can be dried safely, so if the water is caught really soon and it was from a clean source it's definitely possible that some of it can be dried in place depending on a material type and then also likely parts of it may need to be removed depending on what we're dealing with. So we will put up a containment plastic sheeting to keep everything safe and contained and so your house doesn't get any more messed up than it already is and we'll do the removal that needs to happen, then we will sanitize anything that is leftover. Disinfect things and get rid of any of that mold growth or bacteria that may be in place. It's very important to remove the moldy materials not just bleach them and that doesn't actually take care of the health ramifications if you just leach it, so we'll make sure that everything is removed. Then from there on out, we'll work on drying it with drying equipment and will have dehumidifiers, high-powered air movers, and air filtration devices likely depending on the scenario. We'll get everything dry and tidy and then at that point you can work on the rebuilt part of the process.