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Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration

Archived Why SERVPRO Blog Posts

Fire Sprinklers Save Money and Lives

7/31/2022 (Permalink)

Fire sprinkler Have your fire sprinkler ready in your Fremont Street, NV business.

Three Important Things To Know About Fire Sprinklers

No business in Fremont Street, NV, wants to deal with the destruction caused by fire. One of the best ways to minimize potential damage and associated expenses is to maintain a commercial fire sprinkler system. A sprinkler system is a highly effective fire suppression strategy that can prevent many significant losses.  

1. They're Activated by Heat, Not Smoke

A sprinkler system is not activated by smoke. Instead, the heat generated by fire rises to the ceiling, where the sprinkler heads are located. Sensors recognize the change in temperature and trigger the release of water. Only sprinklers in the area of the fire will be activated. It is possible that only a single sprinkler head will deploy.

2. They Use High-Pressure Water

The pipes that feed the fire sprinkler system are filled with pressurized water at all times. There will be no delay between the activation of the system and the release of water. The volume of water from even a single sprinkler can help contain a fire, which reduces fire and water damage to the rest of the structure. By the time the fire department arrives, the fire will likely not have spread further. It may even be extinguished by the sprinkler system.

3. They Can Minimize Cleanup After a Fire

Minimal fire sprinkler cleanup is another key advantage of a sprinkler system. While there will still be fire and water damage, it is likely to be much less extensive than what you'd find in a building without a sprinkler system. The fire damage should be limited to the area where sprinklers activated. The water damage from sprinklers is far less intrusive than water damage caused by fire hoses.

Any fire will cause structural and water damage. The primary benefit of a fire sprinkler system is that inevitable damage will be kept to a minimum, resulting in saved dollars and saved lives.

How To Replace a Leaking Toilet

6/27/2022 (Permalink)

Bottom of a toilet seeping water How do you know when it’s time to replace a leaking toilet?

How do you know when it’s time to replace a leaking toilet? If you see water stains on the floor around the base of your toilet, or if you experience an open-drain smell or a moving seat when you sit, you may need to replace the toilet.
This is a simple toilet repair, and anyone can do it. Local water damage restoration experts in Medical District, NV, recommend fixing water leaks promptly to prevent expensive repairs to your home’s floors and ceilings.

Five Steps To Replace a Toilet

You’ll need a few tools: a wrench, a putty knife, an old towel, a sponge and a bucket. Gather your tools, then follow these simple steps to replace your toilet.

1. Shut Off Water
Usually, there is a shut-off valve next to the leaking toilet. If not, there will be one in the basement.

2. Drain Water 
Flush the toilet to empty the bowl and the tank. There will be residual water in the tank; use a sponge to soak it up. Get the tank as dry as possible.

3. Remove Toilet
Closet bolts hold the toilet in place. They’re under those little plastic caps by the floor. Remove the covers, then remove the nuts from the closet bolts.
Rock the old toilet back and forth to break the seal underneath. Lift the leaking toilet up off the bolts and set it aside on your old towel.

4. Set New Seal and Toilet
Remove the old wax gasket from the flange (the metal ring around the drain), and scrape off as much of the residual wax as possible.
Place a new wax gasket down, centered on the flange. Set the new toilet on top of the gasket and press down. Replace the nuts on the closet bolts. Sit on the toilet and shift your weight to settle the toilet into the wax seal. Tighten the bolts again.

5. Reconnect Water Supply
Attach water supply line to new toilet, turn the water back on and test for leaks.

Why Choose SERVPRO for Your Business's Document Recovery

4/26/2022 (Permalink)

An office, cardboard boxes and folders on wet floor. Document restoration is just one of the many services SERVPRO can provide.

Document Restoration

When a flood at your office soaks or submerges vital documents, you need to undertake urgent document restoration measures. Fortunately, professional document drying and data preservation professionals from SERVPRO can safeguard your data to ensure you never worry about losing it again.

Urgent Cleaning

Taking action as soon as possible is the best way to ensure your water-damaged documents' recovery. Our 24-hour response service means we can get to the disaster scene in time to remove your papers and send them to our restoration facility, where they may undergo various disinfecting, cleaning and odor removal procedures. Among the methods we may use include:

  • Air drying
  • Dehumidification
  • Freeze drying
  • Vacuum freeze drying
  • Vacuum thermal drying

Depending on the type of documents we encounter, it may not be possible to restore your papers fully. However, we can often significantly improve their structural integrity and sanitize them to allow you to handle them safely.

Preventative Measures

SERVPRO document restoration professionals can undertake the digitalization of your documents and records to ensure you will never worry about losing your valuable data to a future disaster. Our team members take care to provide a thorough transfer of records that eliminates the need for costly and cumbersome physical storage solutions.

Thorough Tracking

Our team will update you at every stage of the document drying and restoration process so that you always know the status of your sensitive papers. Our goal is to maintain detailed process records and open communication with you and your representatives so that we can address your questions or concerns as soon as they arise.

Document Destruction

Whether your documents are unsalvageable or you no longer require hard copies of your data, you can count on our team to handle your papers' destruction with care and confidentiality on your premises.
Document restoration is just one of the many services SERVPRO can provide to help your business recover from a flood, fire, or another disaster in Winchester, NV.

What To Know About the Claims Inventory System

2/17/2022 (Permalink)

Hands of a person an electronic inventory system A claims inventory system is designed to keep track of various types of data.

SERVPRO - Claims Inventory System

When it comes to keeping track of an insurance claim in Downtown East, NV, there can be a lot of details to remember. When your client is looking at water, fire, mold, or storm damage to their property, the restoration process can be complicated. Fortunately, the professional restoration service known as SERVPRO has a claims inventory system that can help. Here’s what you may want to know.

What the System Tracks

A claims inventory system is designed to keep track of various types of data. These include

  • Claims organized by loss type
  • Claims organized by damage type
  • Individual file reviews
  • Both regional and national company comparisons
  • Job file costs
  • Response times

Much of the data can also be organized by location, meaning that you can look up information by whether it falls under a regional, state or national category. In many cases, data can also be located by county.

How the System Works

As the team collects the information needed for the insurance claim, they upload it to their corporate database. This information typically includes both the original estimate and any updates to the information that may need to be made. As an insurance provider, you can then access this information through the management dashboard.

How It Can Benefit You

The dashboard allows the insurance agent to quickly access the facts they need to complete a claim. The ability to log in to the dashboard can help save time that might otherwise have been spent making phone calls, searching through paperwork, or seeking the right contact. This tool can also allow you to quickly look over the information needed to help answer any questions your client may have about their claim.

When processing an insurance claim, using the claims inventory system provided by SERVPRO may help. The restoration team collects the information needed for the claim and then uploads it to the database. This allows you to easily access the data needed to process your client's claim.

Bread Mold: The How, Why and Dangers of Food Mold

1/5/2022 (Permalink)

Mold growth on bread Bread mold typically occurs because of the age of the bread.

Bread Mold

Many homeowners are familiar with bread mold, the fuzzy blotches of green and black that seem to show up on your loaf of bread overnight. It is a frustrating conundrum, but common enough that people accept it and move on, but why does it happen and what are the potential risks?

1. How and Why Mold Forms on Bread

While fungus does not enjoy frigid temperatures, it is not unusual to find moldy food in cupboards, and there are instances of fridge mold as well. Mold enjoys cool, dark and damp spaces, and while a bread drawer may be a dry space, bread does have a somewhat moist consistency that suits mold well. Additionally, bread is filled with food for this type of organism.

2. Safety Precautions

While moldy bread is not the most dangerous substance, it should still be handled with care. Therefore, to protect yourself, you should follow four steps when discarding moldy food.

  1. Do not smell the food item.
  2. Seal the item and discard in a covered bin.
  3. Scrub and disinfect the storage area.
  4. Ensure that the mold did not spread.

3. Other Potential Mold Concerns

While moldy bread may just be moldy bread, it is possible that it is the result of a more substantial fungus growth problem. Truthfully, food mold is common and likely not the symptom of a more significant issue, but if you notice the spread of mold in addition to bread molding quickly, you may want to call a mold remediation specialist in Las Vegas, NV, area to inspect your property.

Bread mold typically occurs because of the age of the bread. While it may not be harmful in the long term it is a fungus, and you should handle it with care.