24/7 Emergency Service
Flooded House Near Woodland High School
2/6/2020 (Permalink)
No matter what time of day or night SERVPRO of Bartow Count is always on call, ready to make it "Like it never even happened"!
SERVPRO of Bartow County received a call from a Cartersville homeowner on a Friday afternoon, requesting emergency water extraction in their single level ranch style home. The house was built in the mid 90’s and was located a stone's throw from Woodland High School. The homeowner was remarkably calm but was a bit frustrated due to the water in their home and the fact that they had earlier called another water restoration company and had been waiting several hours for a return phone call to schedule services. SERVPRO’s dispatcher let the homeowner know that we had several technicians in the area and that we could be on-site within an hour. Almost overjoyed with this news the homeowner thanked our dispatcher profusely and awaited our arrival. The homeowner did not have to wait long, because SERVPRO of Bartow County is located less than 5 miles away from their home. Needless to say they were impressed with our response time.
The first step in any successful water restoration project is to document the damage for the homeowner’s records and if applicable the insurance provider. Without documentation, restoration projects can get out of hand and can cause a ton of headaches for the homeowner. That’s why SERVPRO has invested in proprietary software to document and relay information and documentation to the homeowners and insurance companies. Documentation also allows SERVPRO of Bartow County to provide better customer service and helps ensure the quality of our work.
*The following is a synopsis of the services SERVPRO of Bartow County performed for this Cartersville customer. SERVPRO believes strongly in our customers rights to privacy and would never publish any materials related to the service we’ve performed for our customer, without their express written consent. This homeowner was gracious enough to authorize SERVPRO of Bartow County to share their experience working with us, and for that we are very thankful.
Cause of Loss: The cause of loss was a toilet with a faulty/leaking toilet wax ring in the hallway bathroom. The homeowner was out of town on business for almost a week and arrived home to find their master bedroom, master bathroom, hallway bathroom and hallway covered in pools of grossly contaminated water.
Hallway Bathroom - In the hallway bathroom, vinyl flooring, baseboards, and vanity toe kick were 100% affected by grossly contaminated water or “black water”, which required that all 69 square feet of flooring, 25 linear feet of baseboards, 25 linear feet of base shoe, and vanity toe kicks to be removed, bagged and disposed of properly. The drywall was also grossly contaminated and required a two foot flood cut from the base of the wall in affected areas. This meant removing 50 square feet of drywall then bagging and disposing of the contaminated drywall properly.
Heavy water extraction was performed throughout the bathroom to remove standing water and to prevent water from spreading to non-affected areas. Once all standing water was extracted using our of our Kleenrite Mega XL Flood Extractor, removing the vinyl flooring proved to be a little tricky due to the fact that the flooring ran underneath the bathroom vanity. This meant that the vanity would have to be removed prior to the flooring. The vanity suffered only minor water damage along the baseboards, so SERVPRO of Bartow County’s highly trained technicians carefully detached the entire vanity, removing the toe kick in the process. The vanity was in restorable condition and largely unaffected by the water damage, but as a best practice our technician cleaned and sanitized the vanity to prevent cross contamination while it was stored on-site in a non-affected area. The affected flooring and drywall could then be safely removed, exposing the cement subfloor and bare studs. After the flooring, drywall and baseboards were removed and the bathroom vanity was detached and safely stowed, the subfloor, studs and surrounding affected area was inspected, cleaned and sanitized using SERVPRO’s professional antimicrobial agents. Detaching the vanity helped facilitate the drying process in the bathroom and prevented unintended damage to the vanity while the flooring and baseboards were removed. Because the water that damaged the bathroom potentially carried contaminants like microbes, bacteria, and possibly even human waste, the toe kicks, vinyl flooring and baseboards where removed and disposed of in accordance with IICRC S500 Standards.
The above mentioned tasks were completed during our initial visit, on day one and within the first 24 hours of notification of the loss. The affected areas and all items/materials deemed cost ineffective restoration were documented and properly disposed of, and in accordance with the insurance adjuster and homeowner’s wishes. The restorable areas and materials were cleaned, sanitized and treated with antimicrobial agents to prevent future mold growth. Two Phoenix AirMax Radial Air Movers were placed in the bathroom to create airflow and an environment conducive to drying. Over the course of the next 3 days the bathroom was monitored by our drying specialist and project managers until it was dried to preloss condition and ready for reconstruction.
SERVPRO of Bartow County’s construction team reinstalled the sanitized and fully restored vanity, a new vanity toe kick, 69 square feet of Shaw resilient vinyl flooring, and 50 square feet of drywall. Due to the drywall repair work, 205 square feet of bathroom walls were painted using 2 coats of Valspar Optimus Interior Paint, and the toilet was reset in its place with a new (proper size) wax ring. The remodeled bathroom was given a final cleaning to insure the homeowners first impression of their fully restored bathroom would be one of wonder and amazement.
The construction team’s first step was to install new drywall in the areas removed by our mitigation team as well as eight linear feet of new baseboards. The walls and new baseboards were then painted with two coats of paint, and the salvaged and restored baseboards were painted with a single coat Valspar Custom Color Paint. With the walls and baseboards freshly painted, carpet was ready to be installed throughout the master bedroom. After a final cleaning the master bedroom was fully restored and good as new!
Master Bathroom - In the master bathroom, 55 square feet of vinyl flooring was removed due to contact with grossly contaminated water, along with 34 linear feet of baseboards and 50 square feet of drywall, all of which had to be bagged up and disposed of properly. The vanity toe-kick was removed for disposal and the vanity itself was detached, cleaned, restored and stored on site.
Heavy water extraction was needed in the master bathroom to remove standing water, when we arrived on site. Once water extraction was completed and the vanity was detached and stored safely on-site, our highly trained mitigation specialists removed the vinyl flooring to expose the master bathroom’s subfloor and facilitate the drying process. All baseboards were removed, bagged and disposed of properly due to contact with grossly contaminated water. Wire shelving and the toilet were also detached, cleaned, restored and stored on-site to be reinstalled after the mitigation process was completed. Heavy cleaning and antimicrobial treatments were applied to the subfloor, exposed studs and all affected areas to prevent future mold growth. During the drying process two low profile Phoenix Airmax Airmovers were strategically placed in the bathroom along with a single LGR dehumidifier. The master bathroom was monitored over the next three days by our project managers and drying specialist to ensure that the property was dried to IICRC standards and would be ready for the reconstruction tema to some in and make this water loss “Like it never even happened”.
In coordination with SERVPRO’s construction department and their insurance adjuster, the homeowner made the decision to upgrade the flooring in the master bathroom from vinyl flooring to tile. So after the drywall was repaired and painted with two coats of paint, the new tile floor was ready to be installed. This required our construction department to install ½” cement board over the exposed subfloor, to give the tile a sturdy and level base to be laid upon. The vanity was then reset in its place with a new toe-kick and P-trap assembly for the sink. New baseboards were installed and painted with two coats of paint after the tile, vanity and toilet were reset in their previous places. The restored wire shelving was reinstalled and all that remained was to complete the remodel of the master bathroom was the final cleaning to ensure our customers satisfaction.
SERVPRO of Bartow County is the locally owned and operated water restoration company that you can trust to make it “Like it never even happened!” Don't take our word for it. Check out what some of our valued customers have had to say about working with SERVPRO of Bartow County.