Water Damaged Properties
Water damage in offices and houses can be extremely disruptive and distressing, especially if it occurs in the family home. A flooded house can be caused by a number of things including a burst water pipe, a badly finished roof repair, fractured shower plumbing, a broken domestic appliance or even a bath or toilet leaking, which is often very unpleasant to have to endure. Burst sewage pipe clean-up, in particular, needs to be extremely thorough and needs expert handling.
The overall reinstatement of a water damaged property may have to include mould removal, drying a wet carpet, rug or laminate floor as well as the trace and access of the water leak itself, so that it can be quickly repaired. Thankfully specialist restoration companies should be able to tackle all aspects of flood damage clean-up and they should also be highly proficient in all aspects of water leak detection using modern equipment and systems.
Water damage events are actually quite common and most of us have experienced the need for home repairs due to water leaks at some time or other. Frozen pipes bursting in the spring thaw is a classic scenario. Thankfully most homes are covered by house building insurance policies and insurance loss adjusters will quickly check water damage claims and will give approval to appoint a building restoration company. However, it should be noted that some restoration companies that tackle insurance reinstatement projects are more proficient than others, so most insurance companies will likely recommend a respected and trusted building reinstatement company to you. This takes much of the pressure off the property owner as they are more likely to get claims processed quickly.
Full Damp Inspection
The key to full reinstatement is to ensure that the source of the leak is fully repaired and that a thorough inspection of the property then takes place. There may be pockets of moisture still present in the fabric of the building that are only detected using an inspection camera or testing with a damp meter. Also, there may be damp on walls that are not immediately visible or moisture soaked into insulation materials that could cause penetrating damp problems later on, if they remain undetected. This could result in all sorts of problems that would not be covered by insurance if not detected and reported at the time of the insurance reinstatement following the water leak detection phase of the repair. Dampness in building can cause black mould and fungus, especially if the water is present in dry, dark spaces between floors or in damp cavity walls with absorbent insulation materials. So the advice here is to absolutely ensure that a full and thorough inspection follows any water damage repair project.
If water is indeed detected at this stage you can rest assured it will be included in the insurance restoration claim. If not, you run the risk of subsequent claims being rejected. The building restoration contractor will advise the best way to ensure total water removal through drying or stripping out the affected areas and reinstating back to their original condition.
If drying is recommended the restoration companies will likely use a variety of drying technologies such as dehumidifiers and industrial drying equipment to ensure that all penetrating damp has been removed before deciding if any final damp treatment is required.
Based in Central Scotland, Paradigm Reinstatements is one of the UK’s leading water leak detection and damp repair companies with a wide range of cutting edge expertise and equipment and damp proofing services. Paradigm are one of the top “go to” building reinstatement companies appointed by many of the UK’s leading insurance companies.
