Water Damage Evaluation/Inspections and Consulting
Water damage to homes or businesses is more than just vacuuming up water and placing fans and dehumidifiers in place to dry out the building. The person should be certified to perform this type of work.
Here's what is involved:
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A visual inspection to determine what Category the water damage is and what class the water damage is to determine what action needs to be taken.
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Determination of what damage materials needs to be removed.
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Calculation of drying equipment needed to dry out the area or building.
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Moisture readings have to be taken and recorded. This involves a moisture mapping with the locations of where the readings were taken, as well as where the equipment was placed, and location indication of moisture is located.
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Daily readings of temperature and relative humidity is recorded to indicate the progress of the drying.
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An application of anti-microbial is to be applied to the affected areas.
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Then a report for the mitigation process should be issued.
All work should be in accordance of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) Manual S500 Standard and Procedure Guide to Professional Water Damage Restoration (Note: This is considered a legal document in the United States Courts)
Questions you have:
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I'm not sure the drying process was done properly.
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The people I feel were not certified in water damage restoration.
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I feel I have water damage to my home or business, but don't know what to do.
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I'm buying a house and found evidence of water damage.
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I'm building a new home, and it has been flooded.
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My mortgage company needs a verification inspection to validate the drying process was done properly.
Our process are as follows:
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We do a visual inspection of the area where the water damage has occurred.
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Pictures are taken of areas of concerned.
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Then a temperature and relative humidity reading is taken at the time of the inspection.
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Moisture readings on building materials using a moisture counter and moisture probe to determine that the materials are dried to industry standards.
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A FLIR Camera is used to look for hidden moisture within the structure.
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A Moisture Mapping is drawn up to show locations where the moisture readings were taken.
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Then a final report is issued confirming our findings. This report will indicate if the area has passed or fail for a verification request.
Category of Water Damage:
Water Damage have three Categories, they are as follows:
Category 1: (Clean Water) Water originated from a sanitary water source and does not pose substantial risk from dermal, ingestion, or inhalation exposure.
Category 2: (Gray Water) Water contains significant contamination and has potential to cause discomfort or sickness if contacted by humans.
Category 3: (Black Water) Water is grossly contaminated and contains pathogenic, toxigenic or other harmful agents.
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Then there are four classes of water damage associated with the categories.
The four classes are as follows:
Class 1: Least amount of water, absorption, or evaporation.
Class 2: Large amount of water, absorption, and evaporation.
Class 3: Greatest amount of water, absorption, and evaporation.
Class 4: Specialty drying situation.
