Water Removal Services for Your Durham Home After a Storm

8/6/2021 (Permalink)

When flood water takes over your home, call the experienced professionals at SERVPRO.

Steps to Successful and Thorough Water Removal

Flooding in the home causes some initial damage to books, magazines, and other paper items. Fabric (drapes and upholstered furniture) is another item that can suffer damage quickly before any restoration work can begin. Preventing permanent, more expensive damage soon becomes the objective.

When it comes to water removal for a North Durham home, time is critical. Just as important is removing it without causing further damage to the house. At SERVPRO, we have two goals: Minimize the damage that has already happened and get the water out before more damage can occur.

Our first step is to stop more water from coming into the home. If the source comes from a broken pipe or appliance, we turn off the water leading into the house. It stops the flow and allows our technicians to find the leak if we have not yet. If it is from outside (backed-up storm drains, for example), we try to block it using sandbags or otherwise redirect it.

Water Removal Services

Now, we bring in pumps to remove standing water. These commercial-grade machines work quickly on water over two inches in depth. Once the water is low enough to see the carpet clearly, we replace the pumps with water extraction wands. These specially designed water vacuums draw water out of carpets and from between floorboards without damaging either.

If the power in the home remains off because water got into the outlets or the local power was knocked out, we augment these devices with our generators. For larger jobs, we have generator trucks parked onsite to provide all the power we need for 24-hour operations if needed.

With a large amount of water removed, we pull up the carpets and remove the carpet pads. These items are challenging to dry, and it is not cost-effective to do so. Once they are gone, technicians may use water extraction wands again to remove the remaining small amounts of water, but in most cases, we introduce air movers and fans to dry the surface.

For wood flooring, SERVPRO checks the sub-floor for moisture and standing water. We try to pull up a small piece of the floor to insert a hose connected to a pump to drain water or an air mover to force warm air into this space to dry moisture that a pump or extractor cannot remove. Our IICRC-certified technicians may use an exhaust fan on floors (and carpets) to help draw out the damp air when needed.

Quickly removing water is the first step to restoring your home after a flood. SERVPRO of North Durham is fully trained and equipped to stop ongoing problems and prevent more damage from adding to an already stressful situation. To schedule an inspection or if you have a question, call today at (919) 467-0880. We are here for you.