Water Damage
A Water Loss has occurred. What happens next?
Once you realize that you have experienced a water loss, such as a toilet over flow or basement flood, you should follow these steps:
A. Call American Technologies Inc. / American Restoration at (800) 400-9353.
B. Determine the Source of the Water and Eliminate the Source.
C. Contact your Insurance Company.
The Process
Once we have received a loss from the owner, we will dispatch a crew according to your needs, based on the amount of water in the loss location and the number of rooms and or floors that are affected. Once we are on-site, we will discuss the entire project with the owner and develop a scope of work.
The first step is to extract the water from the floor coverings which could include a combination of carpeting, wood flooring, tile and vinyl. Until the water has been physically removed, the water will continue to damage the building's structure and contents. Contents are more likely to be affected the longer that they are sitting in standing water. The technician will determine if the pad and the remainder of the floor coverings can be dried out in place or if they need to be removed.
After the flooring has been completed, the technician will use his moisture detection tools to monitor the water damaged building materials including the drywall/plaster, trim work, cabinets, etc. When we have determined how saturated the building materials are, we will either dry these items in place with drying equipment or the building materials will be removed and or a combination of those two actions will take place.
The final step is to determine the amount and type of equipment that should be used on the project. For a typical loss, there will be a combination of drying fans, dehumidifiers and potentially negative air machines. The number of pieces necessary for each project will be determined at the loss location as there are many factors to take into consideration including: when the loss occurred, how wet the building materials were and the size of the affected areas.
In our industry, one of the biggest misnomers is how often you should monitor your drying equipment on restoration projects. Industry standard says that your projects should be monitored each day. With new technology such as remote monitoring, you can eliminate some of the on-site monitoring but not all of it. The purpose for monitoring the equipment is to ensure that all of the areas within the structure are drying adequately. During the course of a project, there will often be one to two areas that are having difficulties drying and due to these situations, monitoring must take place.
Mold tends to occur on restoration projects when one of three things have happened throughout the course of a loss:
A. Monitoring never took place and several areas remained wet and mold growth occurred.
B. The drying on the restoration project was not sufficient.
C. The insured took too long to call in the claim.
The Drying Science
Understanding the specific relationship between temperature, humidity and air flow (psychometrics) can help dry materials faster and more thoroughly. It helps determine the type, methods and capacity required for dehumidification. Water damage restoration is as simple as the A, B, and C:
A. Remove as much water as quickly as possible in a liquid form
B. Vaporize the remaining moisture as quickly as possible.
C. Remove the vaporized air as quickly as possible.
Categories of Water Damage
Categorizing the level of contamination of water in a damaged structure is required to perform loss assessment and evaluation activities. The category of water contamination must be considered so the correct procedures can be established for processing water-damaged structures and materials.
Water damage is divided into three general categories:
1) Category 1 - Clean Water
2) Category 2 - Gray Water
3) Category 3 - Black Water
However, the category of water contamination should not be identified solely by the color of the water, but by the source, contents, history and characteristics of the water.
Category 1 - Clean water originates from a source that does not pose substantial harm to humans. Examples of clean water sources may include, but are not limited to, broken water supply lines, melting ice or snow, falling rainwater, broken toilet tanks and toilet bowls that do not contain contaminants or additives. Clean water that has contact with structural surfaces and content materials may deteriorate in cleanliness as it dissolves or mixes with soils and other contaminants, and as time elapses.
Category 2 - Gray water contains a significant level of contamination and has the potential to cause discomfort or sickness if consumed by or exposed to humans. Gray water carries microorganisms and nutrients for microorganisms. Examples of gray water sources may include, but are not necessarily limited to, discharge from dishwashers or washing machines, overflows from washing machines, overflows from toilet bowls with some urine (no feces), sump pump failures, seepage due to hydrostatic pressure, broken aquariums and punctured water beds. Gray water may contain chemicals, bio-contaminants (fungal, bacterial, viral, algae) and other forms of contamination including physical hazards. Time and temperature aggravate Category 2 water contamination levels significantly. Gray water in flooded structures that remains untreated for longer those 48 hours may change to Category 3.
Category 3 - Black water contains pathogenic agents and is grossly unsanitary. Any persons with compromised immune systems, respiratory problems or allergies, or who are under 2 years of age or elderly must remain off the job site until the building is judged safe for occupancy. Black water includes sewage and other contaminated water sources entering or affecting the indoor environment. Toilet backflows that originate from beyond the toilet trap is considered black water contamination, regardless of visible content or color. Category 3 water includes all forms of flooding from seawater, ground surface water and rising water from rivers or streams. Such water sources carry silt and organic matter into structures that create black water conditions. The water is considered to be Category 3 water in situations where structural materials and/or contents have been contaminated with such contaminants as pesticides, heavy metals, or toxic substances.
Drying Equipment
Air Mover - These are the cage fans that you may see on job sites. They are specifically designed and engineered to deliver a high volume of airflow over and under surfaces to expedite the drying process. This is the most common type of drying equipment in the industry.
Refrigerant Dehumidifier - They work on the principle of condensation, the same as an air conditioner or refrigerator. As warm moist air passes over cold coils, moisture condenses on the coil fins and forms droplets that are collected. It is important that conditions remain conductive to collection of the droplets before they can re-evaporate. This requires high airflow and proper temperature/humidity conditions. These units do not work property in cold conditions or in areas with low relative humidity. However, these units thrive in warm conditions and high humidity. The ideal scenario for these units are when a project as conditions reflective of 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 60% relative humidity.
Desiccant Dehumidifiers - They create the lowest vapor pressure and use the absorption principle of removing moisture from the air, depending upon the type of desiccant material used. Desiccant disadvantages include more efficient operation at lower relative humidity below 20% relative humidity and temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Disadvantages include their high unit costs, high energy consumption and they must be vented outside of the building.
Moisture Detection Tools
Moisture Sensor - The most basic of moisture detection instruments. It is designed to detect the presence of abnormally high levels of moisture in carpet and pad. They indicate abnormal moisture levels through an audible beep that increases in frequency if moisture levels are higher.
Invasive or Penetrating Moisture Meter - This operates on a principle that is very similar to the moisture sensor. The main difference is its ability to quantify the moisture readings. It quantifies the moisture either on a relative or absolute scale.
Non-Invasive or Non-Penetrating Moisture Meter - They use radio frequency signals and conductive pads to measure either impedance or capacitance through a sample of the suspect materials. These meters enable you to test a much larger area in a relatively short time period. However, they are less accurate and the material variations that you might be testing will affect the meter's signals.
Thermo-Hygrometer - This instrument measures temperature (thermo) and relative humidity (hygro). Some of the more advanced units have the ability to calculate the GPP and display these figures on the digital read out so that users can read the surface temperature. These units are used to monitor any air that can influence the drying environment. They are used to verify equipment operation and to evaluate the need for additional equipment, particularly with equipment intended to reduce the humidity and/or control the temperature within a drying environment.
Infrared Camera - This device is capable of reading the surface temperature of most materials without direct contact. Readings are acquired by measuring infrared light, which will vary with the surface temperature of that material. The key thing in using infrared technology is to not forget the importance of moisture meters. If you have suspected areas that appear wet with a thermal imaging camera, you cannot act upon the readings until they have been verified by one of the moisture meters.
