Use Team SERVPRO's Resources to Navigate Your Way Through Mill Creek Commercial Flood Damage

11/29/2023 (Permalink)

A Different Way To Prepare For Commercial Flood Damage In Mill Creek

There are many ways a business prepares for tough times in Mill Creek. Your business plan has strategies for managing inconsistent income, finding new suppliers, hiring additional staff at busy times, coping when employees are sick or on personal leave, and a multitude of other issues specific to your industry. One thing a business often leave to chance is how to respond to natural or human-caused disasters like flooding or other water damage.

Failing to anticipate the devastation commercial flood damage can cause your Mill Creek business might be its death knell. Flooding can destroy inventory, weaken structural components, expose a property to the risk of mold damage, ruin equipment, and bring commerce to a halt. A business that ceases its operations for even a brief period to recover from a flooding event finds it impossible to reopen successfully 40 to 50 percent of the time according to national statistics.

SERVPRO® is Faster to Any Size Disaster, but we are at our most effective if we collaborate ahead of time on our signature Emergency Ready Plan and Profile (ERP). This unique offering provides an opportunity for our project manager to spend time at your site when all is well and operating normally. We have a chance to understand how your business works, from equipment and other systems, storage and staging of inventory, retail or other sales spaces, and a host of other aspects of your business that supports your profitability.

During the ERP assessment, we draw on our training and experience to pinpoint spaces or practices that make you particularly vulnerable to flooding damage. Long before any floodwaters lap at your doors, we can make suggestions that limit the potential damage should the worst happen. SERVPRO creates a concise digital document with the knowledge gleaned from our visit, presenting the crew we eventually send to your commercial property with an action plan that is personalized and intended to mitigate the damage rapidly.

You add refinements to the ERP by using our mobile app to list vendors and contractors who can help us recover systems and get equipment back online. You designate SERVPRO as your restoration contractor and can nominate key staff, family, or other whom you authorize to act on your and your business's behalf if you are not available immediately when the flooding disaster happens. Suggest ways we can help you continue to serve and reassure your customers during the restoration phase.

SERVPRO of La Porte County wants all our partner businesses to emerge from a flooding disaster whole and ready to resume operations. Call (219) 879-1883 now for a no-cost assessment to ready your company for flood damage and recovery.

Click here for more about Mill Creek.

When Your Warehouse In Westville Experiences A Water Damage Emergency Call The Professionals At SERVPRO

11/29/2023 (Permalink)

Warehouses In Need Of Commercial Water Cleanup In Westville Benefit From Local Services

A warehouse manager must keep up production levels as well as ensuring your staff has a safe working environment. Warehouses can become exposed to adverse weather or changing temperatures which put stress on pipes and infrastructure. Older pipes can easily crack under pressure causing water to spill on stock and vehicles or pool on the floor. In these circumstances using a professional service can help to get your business back on track with a minimum loss of revenue.

The speed of commercial water cleanup in Westville depends on the type of service you use. SERVPRO® is nationally recognized and uses local technicians on every job we do. Going local means we can send a team to your location immediately upon notification of loss. A SERVPRO cleanup team is led by a project manager with extensive experience who can keep you informed throughout the service.

The initial stage of any property restoration involving water damages is to remove standing water. For large warehouses, SERVPRO can mobilize truck-mounted water extractors capable of removing hundreds of gallons of water in one go. Where standing water reaches a level above two inches, we can deploy gas-powered pumps that transport excess liquid to an open sewer point.

Once pooling water is cleared away, SERVPRO works to reduce the risk of secondary damages occurring. We achieve this primarily by ensuring the property is dried correctly. Using moisture meters to detect any hidden moisture pockets alongside rapid air-movers and dehumidifiers we can comprehensively dry your property and make it safe for your staff to return to work.

At SERVPRO we believe in returning properties to their preloss conditions. As such we work toward a restore over replace method that can prevent your insurance rate from rising after a claim. Our experts also recognize how crucial it is to return your warehouse to a working condition as quickly as possible, minimizing the potential loss of revenue.

For nationally recognized restoration service, contact SERVPRO of La Porte County at (219) 879-1883 now.

Click here for more about Westville.

Ask The Experts: My Commercial Building Had Fire Damage; What Now?

2/19/2023 (Permalink)

Commercial fire damage can cause devastating effects, and most property owners do not know what to do when they face such situations. The fire-fighting efforts are not enough to take your property to its pre-fire condition, if anything, they introduce water damage challenges. No matter how small the fire is, the resulting soot and smoke damage can be so significant in your Westville business. We are here to take you through some of the restoration procedures that our technicians perform when working for you.

Irrespective of how well prepared you are to deal with commercial fire damage in Westville, there is no convenient time to face such events. When your business experiences a fire, removal of the charred contents is necessary, and our SERVPRO technicians should come up with appropriate cleaning methods and fix the fire damaged areas. We have the experience to determine what is restorable and what needs to be replaced - this how we can lower the claim costs.

Without the right equipment, it can be challenging to clean large structures such as warehouses. Our SERVPRO technicians are equipped with the right tools, such as Dehumidifiers and high-pressure washers. If we have to clear the smoke residues from the higher parts of the building and perform the required inspection, we can use a scissor lift to reach the target locations.

You usually find different items in a commercial building, which means the smoke residues that the fire leaves behind are not uniform. To adequately address the different residues, our SERVPRO technicians use several approaches. While agitation is the most common method of removing smoke particles from surfaces, we might also introduce chemical actions such as oxidation, dissolving, emulsification, and bleaching. Some of the cleaning agents work best at specific temperatures, so we are also keen on such requirements.

At SERVPRO of La Porte County, We're Faster To Any Size Disaster, and you can benefit from our 24-hour emergency services. Call (219) 879-1883 if you need us to return your property to its preloss state.

Steps to Drying your Water damaged Michigan City Home Effectively

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

We know how hard it is for your water damage in Michigan City, let us help.

Water damage can occur in your home after plumbing fixtures develop leaks because of a hose attachment or pipe joint failure. Internal wall leaks are hard to notice and can cause severe damage. After a water intrusion incident in your home, there is a process that can help you restore the affected areas to preloss condition.

When there is water damage in your Michigan City residence, contacting a professional restoration company like SERVPRO is a step in the right direction. We understand that water intrusion is a significant disruption to your life. Our Water Damage Restoration Technicians (WRTs) can assess the destruction and start the restoration process to prevent costly secondary damage to your home and its' contents. Standing water can:

•       Cause mold growth within 48 hours
•       Ruin appliances and electrical systems
•       Cause building materials to deteriorate
•       Ruin hardwood flooring and carpeting

Our crew can remove all the standing water using pumps and then dry the affected areas using air movers and refrigerant dehumidifiers. Refrigerant dehumidifiers are ideal to use at the beginning of the drying job when the humidity levels in the building are high, and temperatures are above 50°F.

Our technicians can also use advanced moisture detection tools like borescopes and inspection cameras. They enable us to look into cavities to examine the construction method and identify visible contamination. Many of these tools can take videos and record still images. We can also use thermal imaging cameras to locate hidden moisture in the drywall, floors, and subfloors. If moisture is present, we can dry the building materials to ensure that they are dry according to The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) standards. We can also speed up the drying process by drilling small holes along the bottom of walls and ventilating the wall cavity. We patch up the holes once the drying process ends.

Water intrusion can also cause health issues because microbes reproduce quickly in water. Therefore, sanitization is essential. We can sanitize your home using EPA-approved antimicrobial agents to prevent the development of microorganisms or limit their growth.

Hiring professionals soon after a water loss incident can make the restoration process quicker and more cost-effective. Call SERVPRO of La Porte County at (219) 879-1883 for an immediate restoration. We’re "Faster to any size disaster".

To find out more about Michigan City, click here.

SERVPRO is here for you when your commercial business is hit by fire

6/25/2022 (Permalink)

After something burns inside your grocery store, there are several conditions created that can negatively affect your building. Even the smallest burns can require you to call in a professional restoration company such as SERVPRO to conduct commercial fire damage mitigation. As soon as something ignites, it starts to emit smoke into the air.

The type of smoke put out depends upon the kind of fuels that the fire consumes. Smoke can vary from being thick smokes that create large amounts of residues to thinner particles that can penetrate porous materials deeper. The bigger the blaze that ignites, the more of your property the commercial fire damage can consume.

Set aside from the burnt materials and soot residues smoke leaves behind, unpleasant aromas can also become an issue especially when selling products that people consume as food. If the blaze burns for a long time, heavy smoke odors can become a significant part of your commercial fire damage project. Smoke consists of partially burned particles that do not fully combust or turn from a solid to a gaseous state once the heat is applied. These particles not only harden onto cooler surfaces in the form of soot residues, but they can be microscopic in size and penetrate deep into your building materials. These burnt, partially combusted molecules can then stick deep inside the porous substances in your store such as cardboard or paper products.

If foul odors still exist once all burnt materials and soot residues have been removed, then our SERVPRO technicians can conduct further deodorization procedures. To start with, we spray odor counteractants on any surfaces that got affected by soot residues. Then, we can apply vapor crystals to your flooring, attic insulation, and ventilation systems. We then can add a heavy-duty odor counteractant chemical to all of the affected areas and even use a specialized sealant paint to trap in any burnt smells.

As a final step, we can thermally fog your entire structure. If you ever happen to suffer from a severe blaze inside your grocery store, call SERVPRO of La Porte County at (219) 879-1883 24/7.

SERVPRO Is Here For You When Water Damages Your Business

3/30/2022 (Permalink)

Among the most substantial obstacles that business owners face, and one that our restoration specialists must overcome as promptly as possible is drying water damage in Michigan City properties. From the investment you have made in instruments and machines in your kitchen area to the potential compromise of furniture and flooring in the dining area, significant loss incidents need to get addressed right away. Our SERVPRO professionals can help.

While extraction is often the first action taken when it gets decided this approach is necessary, rapid drying solutions keep saturation from becoming a situation that causes irreparable harm to construction materials, contents of the restaurant, and fixtures like wooden chairs, booths, and other porous surfaces. Our team of technicians has multiple tools that can help address saturation and exposure, including:

• High-Velocity Air Movers
• Desiccant Dehumidifiers
• Low Grain Refrigerant (LGR) Dehumidifiers
• Injecti-Dry System
• Drying Mats

With drying being an essential phase of recovery of a water damage incident, we keep multiple units stocked on our production trailers at all times. This readiness ensures that we can remain diligently prepared for any emergency that might compromise your home.

Between our full team of water restoration technicians accredited through the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and our fast response to these emergencies, our SERVPRO of La Porte County team can make water losses “Like it never even happened.” Let us help you through every phase of rebuilding and reconstruction. Give us a call anytime at (219) 879-1883.

See more about Michigan City.

Avoiding Water Damage From A Failing Water Heater

3/29/2022 (Permalink)

Water damage from a broken water heater can ruin a home quickly. Fortunately, before they break, these appliances give off warning signs their service life is coming to an end.

Homeowners can avoid water damage from their hot water tank if they pay attention to some of the most common issues that arise before failure, such as:

• There is only cold water emitted from the tap.
• The water gets warm but never hot and goes cold quickly.
• The water heater rumbles or knocks
• The hot water has a muddy look from the tap.
• The water from the tank appears to be rusty.
• You notice a metallic smell or taste, especially when taking a shower or bath.
• There is noticeable water leaking from the water heater.
• Your water has a metallic smell or taste.
• Water is leaking around your water heater.

Expect a Large Amount of Water

A small water tank holds on average around 50 to 60 gallons of water; larger residential sizes run 80-gallons or more. Now, imagine that water on your floor. When the location of the tank is in an upper story in the home, the amount of water on the floor can quickly affect the ceiling and things in lower levels of the house. 

Common Issues to Avoid

Fast extraction is necessary to limit the damage to the home. SERVPRO technicians use their detection equipment to determine if the water is within the floor joists or wall cavities, requiring additional actions such as removal of baseboards or weep holes to assist with drainage. 

At the first sign of water damage, contact SERVPRO! The technicians are available 24/7 to restore your home to its preloss condition, "Like it never even happened."

Overcoming Kitchen Fires & The Downtime That Comes From Them

3/23/2022 (Permalink)

From the time that your La Porte restaurant first opens its doors for the day, your kitchen and its staff are off to the races. You have a steady flow of customers that demand the kitchen appliances and personnel to constantly keep a quickened pace to meet the expectations of these patrons and to increase your reputation throughout the region. A risk of this fast-paced environment is the potential for accidental kitchen flare-ups that can cause fast, yet destructive fires to spread throughout a small portion of your building.

No matter how fire damages come about in your La Porte restaurant, you need professional assistance to get your business running at its full capacity as promptly as possible. We have an experienced fire restoration crew with accreditations through the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) as both Fire and Smoke Restoration and Odor Control Technicians. Our SERVPRO professionals can utilize this training and hands-on experience to overcome the damaging effects of your loss incident. 

With a swift response to these emergencies, our professionals can work tirelessly to prevent your business from closing its doors. In restaurants, you want effective containment strategies to prevent detrimental effects like soot, smoke residues, and even harsh odors from reaching the dining area where customers could get affected. Our SERVPRO team can help with the installation of physical plastic sheeting and the use of advanced equipment like hydroxyl machines and air scrubbers.

We understand how devastating closing your doors can be for your business, so if this is necessary to restore your building, we can work around the clock to overcome the effects of the fire loss incident to get you back up and running right away.

There are many levels to even small kitchen fires that can occur in your restaurant, and our SERVPRO of La Porte County professionals have the skills and expertise to address them all. With our equipment and extensive training in fire recovery, we can make these loss incidents “Like it never even happened.” Give our experts a call anytime at (219) 879-1883.

Click here for more about La Porte.

Don't Ignore Damages On Your Roof - It Could Cause Flooding

2/7/2022 (Permalink)

When the damaged shingles on your roof cause flooding in the home, it's time to contact SERVPRO for remediation services.

A Damaged Roof Could Flood Your Westville Boutique

As a shop owner in Westville, you rely heavily on the foot traffic that finds its way through your doors during your operating hours. While business, in general, might have its ups and downs, a water loss incident within your building could derail your profits for the foreseeable future without immediate and experienced assistance from professionals like ours.

Flood damages are a nightmare to Westville businesses because they can cause damage to both the building and the stock throughout the shop that you have already invested in selling. Additionally, water damages can spread throughout the building and cause irreparable damage to construction materials, flooring, ceilings, and other contents. Worse still, this situation could have started from just a small puncture or weak area of the roof on the building.

There is something to be said for regular inspections into the structural integrity of vital construction components like the roof of your boutique. The more that you know about the condition of this defense for your building, the better prepared you are to face potential problems before they allow substantial water loss incidents to affect your business. The trouble is, most often business owners have to call our SERVPRO professionals for cleanup and restoration before they think to inspect the roof.

As water penetrates through a vulnerable portion of the roof in your building, runoff and pooling roof water find their avenue into the areas below. This spread begins with affecting the ceiling and insulation materials, much of which often must get replaced, and then finds its way to the walls and floors of the levels below the roof. Addressing these concerns is much more efficient when our SERVPRO professionals know immediately about the problem and our emergency response team can react.

While no business owner gets prepared to face flood damages from roof breaks in their building, knowing what to do when disaster strikes can ensure that your doors do not have to remain closed indefinitely. Our SERVPRO of La Porte County team has efficient approaches and industry-leading equipment to help tackle complex cleanup and restoration from widespread flooding effects. Give us a call anytime you need us at (219) 879-1883.

Click here for more about Westville.

After Water Damage Happens, Keep Calm & Call SERVPRO

8/16/2021 (Permalink)

When an emergency situation arises in your business, give us a call and we’ll be there fast with the help you need.

Flooding and water damage events at LaPorte County commercial properties are often complex with numerous issues that require a knowledgeable and flexible response. Whether we’re dealing with a relatively small water cleanup scenario or a large scale event, we work quickly to assess each unique situation and isolate the damaged area. In many instances, normal operations can continue in a temporary space while we restore your facility.

Restoring Commercial Properties Presents Unique Challenges

Our professionals are trained to be mindful of legal and environmental concerns and strive to fully restore the damaged area while working within your budgetary constraints. We understand that every hour spent cleaning up is an hour of lost revenue and productivity. So when an emergency situation arises in your business, give us a call and we’ll be there fast with the help you need.

About SERVPRO of LaPorte County

SERVPRO of LaPorte County specializes in the cleanup and restoration of commercial and residential property after a water damage event. Our staff is highly trained in property damage restoration. From initial and ongoing training at SERVPRO’s corporate training facility to regular IICRC-industry certification, rest assured our staff is equipped with the knowledge to restore your property.

SERVPRO of La Porte County Is Your #1 For Water Restoration!

6/11/2021 (Permalink)

When your warehouse faces the effects of water damage, it is time to contact SERVPRO for mitigation services.

As a Westville business owner, your primary focus for the company is doing things efficiently so that you are not cutting too deeply into potential profits when something goes wrong. The warehouse you can supply your wares or someone else’s, but a water loss incident in the facility can put these items at risk immediately. While you no doubt have a capable custodial staff, water loss incidents often require a fast response from trained professionals like ours to prevent unnecessary damages.

Even smaller scale incidents that only require water cleanup services for your Westville warehouse can still get done inadequately, which poses a significant risk to the contents of the building and the structure itself. Our SERVPRO team can work to provide you with the most cost-effective and efficient solutions for immediate mitigation to prevent loss and for the full cleanup and restoration of any existing damages.

Effective water removal is often the first step in this process once our team arrives at your facility after the incident. We can bring in portable pumps and other advanced extraction equipment to remove excess water quickly from the affected areas. This removal provides the opportunity for our SERVPRO technicians to assess the damage to structural elements and contents, even opting to remove items from the facility for a short time to protect them against potential damages while restoration work gets underway.

Excessive water damage often comes with cleanup duties, and our training in restoration work allows us to provide commercial customers with premier cleaning services that can return their facility to its original condition quickly. Whether it is the carpeted office space within the building or concrete flooring out on in the shop and storage areas, we have the advanced equipment and expertise to make it “Like it never even happened.”

We can respond quickly to a water damage emergency in your warehouse to help protect its contents and prevent unnecessary expenditures on prolonged restoration processes. You can reach our SERVPRO of La Porte County rapid response team anytime by calling (219) 879-1883.

For more on Westville, click here. 

Ask The Experts: Things you might not know, but should!

3/31/2021 (Permalink)

Many workplaces always call on the boss or the maintenance man when something goes wrong. What if they were home sick, or in a meeting and you need to locate the water shutoff, where do you start?

SERVPRO can help commercial property managers in planning for a water, fire, storm damage. How? With a free Emergency Response Profile created by the SERVPRO Marketing Department.

By having a plan of action, and including it in your regular training at your office, you can minimize the cost of an unplanned event happens like a busted pipe, fire or any other type of disaster.

Some property managers use this as a tool to keep everything organized in one central location.

Is your business ready for a disaster? Even a simple pipe burst can cause a lot of damage and headaches. With a SERVPRO Emergency READY Profile it can have the critical information to minimize damages, provide the resources for the employees of the company, and provide property details and information. This is a FREE service that we provide to commercial properties.

Make an appointment today to get started!

If the unthinkable happens, call your local SERVPRO seven days a week 24/7 to help you avoid the cost and hassle of secondary damages. We are faster to any disaster and will help make it "Like it never even happened." 

Ask The Experts: Things You Should Do If Disaster Hits Your Business

3/31/2021 (Permalink)

When disaster strikes your Michigan City bar, you need fast and effective cleanup and drying efforts to keep this water loss incident from getting out of control. With the right response from trained professionals like ours with effective mitigation and restoration equipment, you can get the doors back open quickly to your establishment to continue serving your faithful patrons.

Water damage can affect your Michigan City bar in many different ways, but overcoming these effects almost always requires the expertise and advanced equipment of certified professionals. Our SERVPRO team remains available 24/7 to provide a fast and effective response to emergencies that threaten your business. We have mitigation solutions to keep your out-of-pocket expenses to a minimum and ensure that the complete restoration is as fast as possible. This process begins with a thorough and honest assessment of the damage to your bar and what must occur to overcome these effects and get your doors back open.

A smaller leak in a fixture or pipe might be challenging to spot at first, but the effect that it can have on cabinetry, countertops and nearby structural elements become evident a short time later. When you diagnose water damage in your bar, you can trust in our professionals to arrive quickly with the necessary equipment to dry out these saturated materials fast. The quicker we can address this saturation into structural components and fixed shelving or cabinets, the less likely it becomes that these areas require replacement or reconstruction.

Our SERVPRO team can even locate the specific point of the break in the pipe or a broken fixture and work to repair this damage. Once the area has gotten thoroughly dried, we can work on ensuring that all of the affected areas and surfaces have gotten cleaned and sprayed with an antimicrobial solution if they became at risk of facilitating mold colonization.

You work hard to be available for your faithful and loyal patrons every day of the year, and we understand how important it is to get the doors back open after a water loss incident. Let our SERVPRO of La Porte County team show you that We’re Faster to Any Size Disaster with our effective mitigation and restoration solutions. Give our crew a call anytime at (219) 879-1883.