Even with the advancement of meteorological techniques and early warning mechanisms, we are still helpless when it comes to enraged elements. The ensuing, ever-advancing storms, leave destruction in their wake. Apart from general structural damage to our houses, water damage is one of the major culprits that wreak havoc to our households.
There are different processes and terminology for water damage and the resulting mitigation and restoration endeavors.
In this post, we are going to discuss the key players in detail.
What is Water Mitigation?
Simply put, water mitigation is stopping water destruction from spreading anymore via ways of disposing of status water and drying affected areas. Water removal, moisture control, and structural drying are all parts of water mitigation to prevent further damage.
It is a situation that requires an immediate response because it couldn’t be delayed. Sometimes, two terms like water mitigation are being confused with water restoration but both are totally different. The level of water mitigation depends upon the seriousness of damage that is incurred.
Water Mitigation Vs Water Restoration
Firstly water mitigation is used for putting a stop to further damage and water damage restoration. While water restoration is used for repairing and changing damaged commodities. Secondly, mitigation is an emergency process that needs to be done urgently while the process of restoration is not needed to be done urgently and it is a time taking process. Simply we can say mitigation is all about diminishing the severity of the situation whereas restoration is all about protecting the solidarity of your possession like your home or restoring your property.
Water Mitigation and Insurance
In many circumstances, usual homeowners insurance policies don’t include water damage. But if the roof leaks due to a natural disaster, it will be included in the insurance policy. The owner might then just have to contact professionals from Roanoke roofing companies (if that’s where they live) or a similar roof repair firm in their vicinity, who can replace or repair the roof depending on the size of the leakage. That said, it might be important to note that the frozen pipes should be covered by the owner itself. Because they are not included in concealed damages of the house.
Also, mostly basic homeowner policies don’t cover the flood policy. For that, you have separate flood insurance like NFIP. Otherwise, you have to bear the damage to your pocket.
Water Mitigation Services
Water mitigation and restoration corporations provide many types of services. But all services are offered by a single company, for that it is needed to hire different companies. The most common services include:
- Flood water mitigation
- Water cleanup
- Fire and water mitigation
- Water damage repair
- Water testing for health risks
- Mold remediation
Process of Water Mitigation
- Stop the flow of water: Finding the source of the water loss and ensuring that no more water enters the property is an important element of avoiding additional damage and a mitigation company’s duty.
- Determine Mitigation Needs: Floodwater is classified into three types by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC).
Category 1: water is often referred to as “clean water,” and is comparable to water from a faucet, although it may have originated from a damaged water line or an overflowing tub.
Category 2: water is also known as Greywater and is likely to include chemical pollutants and/or debris.
Category 3: water is severely polluted “black water” that may include raw sewage, salt water, river water, and other contaminants.
- Remove standing water and dry up the property: Finally, the mitigation firm will likely remove any standing water from the property and may use portable extractors to extract any residual water. After the water has been extracted, the following stage in water damage repair is to dry off the damaged areas.
- Remove Damaged Items: Any item which is damaged will be eradicated.
- Provide temporary solutions: These solutions may be boarding up broken windows, covering areas with tarps, and more to prevent any more damage.
- Determine Next Steps: Professionals should formulate a plan for what they are doing next.
Cost of Water Mitigation
The price of water mitigation depends upon the damage incurred, the size of the affected area, and the type of work that needs to be done. The following data will give you a better idea:
- The average cost of restoring water damaged ranges from $450 to $7,000.
- Water cleanup ranges from $3.75 to $7.00 per square foot.
- The average of the total work is $1,152 to $4,752.
Water Mitigation Vs. Remediation
Mitigation is actually the removal of water damage and prevents any more damages. It requires an immediate response.
Water remediation includes cleaning, sanitizing the furniture, you can simply call it low-scale repairing. Sometimes, remediation is the best action that should be taken but it is as well as risky.
Work of Water Mitigation Company
Companies use specialized equipment and techniques to lessen the amount of damage. Work done by water mitigation companies are as follows:
- Ensures the structural stability of the house.
- Protecting the solidarity of the house.
- Removing damaged materials including drywall.
- Cleaning and disinfecting restorable material.
Time Taken for Water Mitigation:
Water mitigation should be done immediately because if the time exceeds more than 24 hours its capability of restoring starts decreasing. Time taken will be decided according to the amount of damage that occurred. According to the experts, the time taken for the drying process of the average-sized room will be approximately 72 hours.
Because mold spores take 24 hours to develop and they are high risks for health.
After drying, it takes another week for mold removal. After the beginning of reconstruction, you can expect that it will take one more week.
The overall process of reconstruction can take three to 3 to 4 weeks.
Safety Measures for Homeowner:
In any emergency situation do not accept any help without ensuring the validity of the company. Because sometimes, in difficult situations like floods, some corrupt people try to take advantage of the situation.
In many cases, we cannot preemptively save ourselves from all the trouble. That is the fact. However, we can act proactively once the damage is done to minimize the losses and speed up the restoration process. That will ensure our health safety and wellbeing in both the short term and long term.