When your home suffers water damage, there are two kinds of services you could require: water mitigation and water damage restoration. Although the two often go hand in hand, they are actually completely different services for two different issues. Depending on the kind of water problems you have, you may need both services or only one. For the most part, you’ll always need water damage restoration. You’ll likely only need water mitigation beforehand if you’ve experienced a flood or a leak that went unnoticed for an extended period of time.
Water Mitigation
You don’t always need water mitigation for water damages. However, if necessary, you will have mitigation before water restoration. Water mitigation is the process of preventing further water concerns. You’ll most likely need this if you still have water standing in your home or if there is a continuing leak in one of your pipes.
Water damage can spread quickly, creating a host of problems throughout your home. Mitigation attempts to protect you, your property, and your belongings by keeping them out of harm’s way. Water mitigation services could include:
water removal
fixing burst or leaky pipes
moving furniture and other objects out of an area affected by water damages
sealing off electrical components
testing for other signs of water damage
Smaller water damage problems may not need mitigation services. However, for larger projects, mitigation is an important step in the cleaning and restoration process.
Water Damage Restoration
Restoration will always need to be done when your home experiences water problems. Restoration is the process of cleaning up the damages and returning your home to pre-loss conditions. A technician will check to ensure that no mitigation services are needed before moving on to the restoration process. If there is still water in your home or a source of damage that’s not fixed, there’s no point in restoring the damages already sustained; new ones will just form to replace them.
Water restoration is an important part of keeping your home healthy and safe. There are several dangers of leaving water damage untreated, such as:
mold
structural weakness
electrical damages
rodents, insects, and other pests
Once your home is water-free, a technician will restore all the damages and return your home to its original condition, sometimes even better.
Many home restoration companies offer both water mitigation and water restoration. When you call a company for water damage repair, they’ll conduct an initial inspection to assess the extent of the damage and determine the necessary services. Semper Fi Yuma provides water mitigation and water damage restoration services, depending on what your home needs. You can call us at (928) 260-5817, and we’ll schedule a technician’s visit as soon as possible to evaluate the damages. As a veteran-owned business, we know how important your time is, and we will work with Marine dedication to return your home to pre-loss conditions as quickly as possible.
How would you like to have a job as a Biohazard Cleaner? Around the clock, you answer calls from home and business owners who want their property restored to normal.
You pull up to the location and assess the situation. You put on your protective covering: a hazmat suit, rubber gloves, booties, and respirator.
Unless you work in healthcare or as a first responder, you don’t think much about the dangers. Even so, biohazards can occur anywhere: workplaces, private homes, food services, schools, chemical laboratories. And that’s the short list.
Anywhere people exist, biohazards can turn lives upside down.
Do you know the telltale signs? Some biohazards require professional cleanup; others do not. Consider the following:
Biohazard Cleanup for Bloodborne Pathogens
It’s break time, so you head to the nearest caffeine fix. Your coworker drops the coffee pot and cuts his hand. Now there’s blood all over the counter. You rush to help, grabbing a paper towel or napkin and start wiping it up. Are you wearing gloves?
Your coworker leaves to get stitches. You continue to clean the counter with a rag found in the sink. Do you spray the surface with disinfectant? Do you alert other coworkers and management to the incident so they can decide whether or not further action is needed?
How do you dispose of the bloody rag – in the trashcan? Did you bag it first?
Bloodborne pathogens are no joke. Depending on the severity of the injury, blood can seep into crevices.
Bloodborne pathogens can cause long-lasting infections, including Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). These viruses can lead to diseases, liver damage, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Cleaning up blood doesn’t always require a professional. When you slice your finger fixing supper, you stick your finger underwater and then apply a bandage.
However, if there’s a good amount of blood, such as a crime scene, or a vehicle accident, your wisest strategy is to use caution. Do not touch it if at all possible, and call a professional.
Mold
Your basement floods every time it rains. Although the landlord installed a pump, the basement walls continued to stay wet, and now you’ve got mold. Your bathroom wall has a black spot, and there’s a mushroom growing out of the tub. Outside the tub! By the way, mushrooms in the bathroom are more common than you may think.
If you’ve got the kind of moisture that promotes fungus, you can try to remove it, but you probably won’t get it all unless you have the right PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and the problem repeats itself.
Mold exposure can release allergens and poisons into the atmosphere and cause serious health issues, including headaches, allergy symptoms, coughing, wheezing, tiredness, and shortness of breath. Unsure whether you have a mold problem? Try doing a wellness check. How are you feeling?
Perhaps you’ve gone to the doctor, only to return days later because the medication didn’t work. One of the last things you might suspect is mold, so how’s the doctor supposed to treat it?
Human Waste
Human waste is a nasty biohazard. Although it is an embarrassing subject, if left unaddressed, those living in these conditions can suffer repercussions such as E. Coli, Hepatitis A or E, and Norovirus, to name a few.
Rodents
You moved to a new house a year ago during the winter and haven’t finished unpacking the boxes stored in the garage.
It’s spring now, and you notice that many of the boxes have evidence of mice, and there are rodent feces.
Rat feces can carry bacteria. After rodent droppings are dry, particles can become airborne and spread bacteria. Food service inspectors are adamant about eradicating rats and mice from food establishments because of this bacteria.
But you don’t have to eat food contaminated by rat droppings to be affected.
In addition to droppings, rodent urine and saliva can also carry viruses and other diseases; Salmonella, Hantavirus, and even Bubonic plague and rat-bite fever.
Any place with shelter, heat, and food will attract rats. Rodents infest homeless camps and hoarder homes and houses occupied by squatters.
Hoarding
Your friend has a high-school-age special-needs son. For years he’s shown signs of hoarding, but his mom kept on top of it. She’s done his cleaning, laundry, and food prep.
Things were getting worse, though, because she fell on her kitchen floor, broke her femur, and spent two months in a rehab facility. Her husband did his best to take care of their son and work full-time during that time.
Although she contacted the state and asked for help, they informed her that they couldn’t help her.
She came home from the nursing facility and took over caring for her son, but because she was still unable to walk, she couldn’t make it down the hall to his room. Besides, he had it barricaded with a chair because he wanted his privacy. He didn’t want his mom to know he was hiding used food containers, half-eaten hot dogs, and open packets of ketchup and cola under his bed.
His mom started seeing roaches, and when she finally got to his room with her walker and opened his door, cockroaches were everywhere. On the ceiling, the walls, in his bed. She immediately called an exterminator, who sprayed and disinfected. Her only recourse was to pay someone to purge his entire room, including the furniture, his DVD player, and all of his clothes.
Sometimes circumstances get the better of people. Sometimes they need help but lack the resources.
Hoarding is an intense problem that can cause roach infestations, which in turn can cause health conditions such as diarrhea, cholera, and even typhoid fever.
Call Semper Fi Yuma for Help with Biohazard Cleanup
Biohazard cleanup is not a profession for the squeamish. It takes equipment, knowledge of the substances, and proper disposal of waste materials to avoid legal penalties.
Biohazards are not as rare as people think. They can occur at any time, intentionally (such as a murder or suicide) or unintentionally (such as a chemical spill).
If you need a professional biohazard cleaning service, don’t hesitate to call Semper Fi Yuma Floor Care and Restoration today. It’s the best way to protect yourself.
Mold is a hazardous household threat, and it’s never ideal to find it growing in your home. It’s not recommended for a homeowner to try and remove the mold on their own. Mold has toxic qualities that can cause infection and allergic reactions. It’s always best to call a professional mold remediation company to help you remove the mold and repair any damages it may have caused. However, it’s still important for homeowners to understand mold, the threats it can pose, and how the mold remediation process works.
Testing and Identification
The first step in mold remediation is identification. Knowing which type of mold you have in your home will help make the removal and clean-up process move swiftly and efficiently. There are a lot of ways you can identify mold, but the most common way is by simply observing it. Each mold spore has a different color and visible texture/pattern to it that can make narrowing down the possibilities easier. Although some molds may overlap, the environment it grows in can be useful to pinpoint which specific mold you have. Some molds only grow on soft, porous surfaces, such as wood or cardboard, while others grow on harder surfaces. Of course, a mold remediation specialist will be able to run a test to confirm which mold spore they’re dealing with.
Removal
Once the mold has been correctly identified, the removal process can begin. It’s essential that homeowners do not try to remove or in any way upset the mold on their own. Without the proper training and equipment, mold can cause severe health issues and infections. A mold remediation technician can remove the mold safely and effectively. Even if you’re using gloves and wearing safety goggles, you can still be affected by mold. Mold removal requires specialized equipment and training to avoid any dangers.
Restoration
With the mold gone, technicians can begin restoring the damages it caused. Because mold normally grows in moist environments, it will likely be accompanied by other water damages. When you find mold in your home, you may have to repair walls and floors from the water damage. This could include fixing bubbling wallpaper, recarpeting an area, or getting pipes fixed and insulated. Your mold remediation technician can locate the source of the water and help restore the area to prevent further mold growth.
When you discover mold in your home, remember to never try and remove it yourself. Mold is highly toxic and can cause serious health problems. Always call a certified mold remediation company to remove the mold for you. Semper Fi Yuma is available 24/7 at (928) 260-5817. Our trained and certified technicians are standing by, ready to quickly and efficiently remove the mold from your home. After successfully removing the mold, our technicians will restore any damages and locate the source of the water. Call us today to get your home back to a safe, healthy condition.
When water creeps into your home and causes damage, repairs are often large and expensive. Leaky pipes, insufficient bathroom ventilation, and high humidity are common causes of water damage for homeowners. Deterioration from water often leads to significant, costly repairs by destroying your walls, floors, foundation, and more. But how can you tell if water has invaded your home? Look for these signs of water damage daily as you walk through your home.
1. Water Damage Often Appears as Spots on Your Walls and Ceilings
Spots and stains on walls and ceilings are an easy way to spot water damage in your home. As your house ages, the materials used begin to wear down. Eventually, leaks and cracks form, allowing water to intrude. If you see dark brown or yellow spots forming on your home’s inner walls, it is time to call an expert water mitigation team.
2. Puddles of Water Help Identify Potentially Severe Problems
Water doesn’t only seep through your walls and ceilings. It’s likely when damage occurs that water will also pool and create puddles. Keep an eye on your basement, crawlspace, bathrooms, and kitchen. Any reservoirs you find will act as an early indicator of issues that can cause water damage.
3. Watch for Bubbling or Peeling Paint
When water creeps into your walls, it may cause the paint to begin bubbling. Bubbles or warped paint are more indications of water in your home. When you notice these bubbles forming, contact a maintenance specialist immediately. If the water is allowed to remain in the walls, your house’s drywall and studs will deteriorate. As the water sits, the likelihood of mold growth also increases.
4. Look for Sloping Ground Around the Outside of Your Home
As a homeowner, regularly walking the outside perimeter of your home is critical to preventing damage to your foundation. If you notice the ground sloping toward your house, water is likely seeping into the surrounding soil. Over time, this water will erode your home’s foundation, creating significant and costly issues.
5. If Your Water Bill Spikes, You May Have Leaks in Your Home
Finally, keep a close eye on your water bill. Unknown leaks and water line breaks may be hidden to the naked eye, but your water bill will tell you more. Call a water mitigation expert if you notice your account usage spike in one month. Trained technicians are prepared to evaluate your property and provide a resolution.
Have Water Damage? Contact Semper Fi Yuma Today
At Semper Fi Yuma, our team comes equipped with years of experience in handling water-damaged homes. Our fully licensed and expert technicians are ready to repair and restore any amount of water damage in your home. Our team pinpoints the source of your leak, fully dries and dehumidifies the area, and remediates any mold. Call (928) 223-4816 or email info@semperfiyuma.com to schedule your water damage service today!
Maintaining your home is a major task, but keeping your floors clean can make your home feel fresh and healthy longer. Proper floor care goes beyond just cleaning them when they appear dirty. To truly care for your floors, you need to provide routine maintenance and keep yourself aware of the dangers they may face. Here are five floor care tips you can utilize to maintain your home.
Protect Against Sunlight
Natural light is great for most things, but the sun can damage your floors as much as dirt or dust can. Harsh UV rays can cause your floor to fade prematurely. Hardwood floors are particularly affected, but all kinds of flooring can sustain damage. To help protect your floors and keep them in good condition, be sure to close your blinds and shades whenever possible to block the sunlight. You can also install UV-blocking shades that can allow light in without damaging your floors.
Use Doormats
The dirtier your floors get, the more likely they are to sustain long-term damage. Keeping your floors clean is key to maintaining them. To protect your floors from outside debris, be sure to place doormats near all outside entrances and ask guests to wipe their feet. You can also implement a no-shoe policy and leave outdoor shoes at entryways, preventing them from tracking mud and dirt on your floors.
Dehumidify When Needed
Floors are highly impacted by the atmosphere and weather of your home. When the air gets humid, your floors can lose their color and shine. In worst cases, floors can even start to warp or crack if the moisture levels in your home rise too high. To help keep your floors healthy and strong in the long run, use humidifiers to keep your home’s humidity down.
Vacuum Up Dust
Sweeping is a great way to pool all the dirt and debris on your floors into one area, but vacuuming is the best option for removing as much as possible. Sweeping can disrupt dirt and dust, causing the smaller particles to spread around in the air. Vacuuming traps the dust and dirt better and can stop abrasive substances from scratching your floors when swept around.
Get Regular Cleanings
Your floors need their routine cleanings every day/week (depending on the kind of flooring and amount of traffic), but they’ll also need regular professional cleanings as well. With specialty equipment and training, professional floor cleaners can tackle dirt, dust, and debris that regular cleanings can’t get rid of. They’ll also be able to restore your floors and put preventative measures in place to keep them clean and healthy over time.
If you want your floors to be fresh and clean all year long, call Semper Fi Floor Care and Restoration today at (928) 223-4816. Our trained and certified floor care specialists can help get your floors cleaned, restored, and protected against damages. Your floors will look and feel healthier than ever before.
