Process for Water Removal in Dallas

12/20/2018 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of North Irving is the leading restoration company for water damage in Dallas. We have restored thousands of properties since 1986.

Do you have water damage in Dallas?

You may be wondering what is about to happen, how long the remediation process is going to take, and, if you’re filing an insurance claim, how to navigate this claim with your insurance adjuster.  

While every property is different and requires its own plan of action, our office follows a general guideline for every water damage.  This process has been refined for decades and is scientifically proven and accepted by the restoration industry.

Our franchise has successfully restored thousands of homes and businesses in Dallas since we began operations over 30 years ago.

When you call our franchise for water damage, this is what you can expect:

24 Hour Emergency Service

Our franchise is available for 24-hour emergency service.  When you call, our on-call manager will ask you a few questions that’ll help our crew prepare for dispatch.  We’ll ask for:

• The size of your property
• The number of rooms and affected
• The type of flooring in each room
• The source of the water damage
• Ask if you are filing an insurance claim

Cutting off the Source of the Water

It’s important to cut off the source of the water damage as fast as possible.  Leaking pipes can be stopped by shutting off the water to that area of your home or by cutting off the water completely from the street.  If you need assistance, please call a plumber.

If the source of water damage is from a leaking roof or ceiling, please let our on-call manager know so our technicians can be prepared to install temporary tarping.

If your water damage is the result of Dallas flooding or storm damage, please be aware that some insurance companies may consider this a flood claim.  For more information about flood insurance, please see FEMA’s article on flood insurance.

Home Inspection

When we arrive, we’ll ask to inspect your property.  We will start at the source of the water damage and work our way outwards.  We may ask to go into rooms where the floor may appear dry. The reason for this is that we need to test the walls or ceiling to ensure no water is hiding in them.  The goal is to find all the affected areas and prepare a remediation plan.

Insurance Documentation

We’ll start documenting the water damage by taking measurements, photographs, and taking a digital sketch of the affected areas of your room.  All documentation is uploaded to a secure, proprietary program owned by SERVPRO. This documentation may be shared with your insurance adjuster if you are filing a homeowner's insurance claim.

Our crew members will also ask you to sign documents authorizing us to start work at your home.  

Disinfecting

If the water isn’t clean, we will disinfect the affected areas like the flooring and portions of the wall.  Our disinfectant is EPA registered and OSHA compliant. It is used for the safety of all occupants in the building and our water damage technicians.  It is sprayed and allowed to dwell for an appropriate time to be effective.

Water Removal

We will remove all standing water from the home.  Water is removed using either portable extractors or a truck mount extractor that is attached to our service vehicle.  Our technicians will move furniture as necessary to reach all the water. If necessary, they will also remove or detach the carpet and floorboards.

Carpet Removal / Drying Setup

If a room with carpet has been affected, our technicians will either remove the carpet or detach it. Our decision will be based on water classification.  

If the water is clean, we will most likely only need to temporarily detach the carpet in order to set drying equipment underneath it.  If the water is gray or black (contaminated), then the carpet is not salvageable and will have to be removed.

Our technicians will keep a sample of your carpet and take it back to our office where it will be tested for the color and textile type.  We will prepare a report of your carpet’s type and send it to your insurance adjuster so it can be replaced with one of like quality and color.

At this time, our technicians may also have to remove baseboards and possibly drill small holes on the base of your drywall.  The air holes will allow our equipment to dehumidify and spread warm, dry air and dry your property properly. Many times, the baseboards are salvageable and can be reattached to the walls after the drying process is complete.   

Equipment Setup

We will set up the professional drying equipment around your home.  Our most common equipment is the use of air movers and dehumidifiers.  For larger properties, a desiccant is used. For a property with specialty floors or unique circumstances, other drying equipment may be used.  

Our equipment will remove the humidity from the property and introduce warm, dry air into each affected room.  

Please keep the following in mind:

• Our equipment will make noise.  We understand the noise may not be ideal.  All equipment we place is necessary to achieve a dry state at the speed we need in order to reduce the risk of mold growth.  As we get closer to our drying goals, our technicians will remove the equipment.
• Do not move the equipment.  All pieces are strategically placed.
• Do not shut off the equipment.  Our machines are meant to be run throughout the day and night in order to achieve the results we need.  Turning off the equipment will cause a delay in the drying process.
• Some equipment may appear to turn off at times.  This is normal. The equipment is defrosting and will turn back on when it can continue the dehumidification process.
• Do you think a piece of equipment is malfunctioning?

Drying Monitoring

We will schedule a time to visit your property each day to monitor our equipment and record atmospheric readings.  We use our data to validate our drying process. This data is also sent to your insurance adjuster.

How long the drying process takes depends on a variety of factors.  Even the temperature outside can affect the speed of drying! Structures are typically dry in less than a week.

You don’t have to be home for our technicians to complete their daily drying monitoring.  Just let us know you can’t be home, and we will install a temporary lock box to let ourselves in and out of your property.  

Filing an Insurance Claim

We’ll do the majority of the heavy lifting to make sure your insurance claim is processed.  When you experience water damage, give your insurance provider a call and receive a claim number.  Tell them you have chosen SERVPRO as your restoration provider. By law, your insurance provider must honor your choice of restoration company, regardless of what they or an adjuster suggest.

Then, give us your claim number and our office will contact your insurance provider to begin the claims process.  Throughout the project, the documentation our technicians obtain will be forwarded to your adjuster. By the end, our invoice will be sent to your adjuster, and we will work with them to collect payment.  

Our office works with all insurance companies.

Insurance Payout

Every job and every insurance policy is different, so we cannot say what your water damage will cost without visiting your property and visually inspecting the damage.

If you are filing an insurance claim, you will be responsible for your insurance deductible.  This is the amount of money a homeowner owes before your insurance covers the rest of the invoice.  Please ask your insurance provider what your deductible amount is.  Your deductible can be paid directly to our office using a major credit card, wire transfer, or check.

What if your insurance won’t cover all or part of your claim?  We will let you know what your adjuster has agreed to pay for. If there is work you need completed that isn’t covered, our office will work with you.

Do you have more questions about the insurance process?  Check out our article About Insurance Claims FAQ.  

Water Damage Repair in Dallas

If your carpet had to be removed or any other portion of your home that needed demolition, our franchise can also rebuild anything that was affected.  Don’t worry about hiring another business or a series of small contractors to put your property back together! Just let our office know you’d like to use our reconstruction services.  We will send our reconstruction manager to inspect your property and add the rebuild portion of your claim to the documentation we are already sending your insurance adjuster.  

Many families and businesses trust us to be their one and only disaster restoration company.  We can handle your restoration from start to end. Working with just one business saves you time and stress.  We are one of the few businesses in DFW prepared to handle every aspect of the claim, and we are ready to help you, too.

Do you have other questions?  We’re here for you! Contact us.

Trusted Leader in Water Mitigation in Dallas, TX

SERVPRO of North Irving is locally owned and operated leader in the restoration industry.  We have the expertise to handle any size fire and smoke damage restoration in Dallas, Texas.  We have performed residential and commercial restoration work in the Dallas community for over 30 years.  We also have a Texas Mold Remediation Contractor License and offer free mold inspections.

Our crews are available dispatch for 24 hour emergencies every day of the year.  We are faster to any size disaster! Reach us 24/7 at (972) 986-7677for Dallas water damage restoration services!

We are a family owned and operated business. Learn more about us.

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