Water Tight Advice

11/26/2018 (Permalink)

Water Tight Advice!

  SERVPRO of Sussex County responded to a call from a very smelly business about four months ago.  After a thorough inspection we found that the source was water intrusion which caused growth and mildew.  The lobby smelled like the most intense “locker room / body odor” smell that I have ever encountered.  Obviously, the business owner was concerned that this would not be good for business. 

  The water was coming in through leaking windows and since the structure was over 25 years old; this was not surprising. Over time, the water saturated carpets and flooring and proper drying never occurred; hence the intense odor.  The window sills and frames were also showing signs of water damage as well.

  We placed air movers and air scrubbers and recommended an Industrial Hygienist to inspect and offer protocol. The protocol offered by the Industrial Hygienist recommended that all of the affected windows be removed immediately and replaced. We offered the contact for a local window contractor and of course our agreement with the plan offered by the Hygienist.  We removed the smell and the growth; however they did not replace the windows.

  Let’s fast forward to two weeks ago – early October. We got another call from the same business after an intense weekend of rain and this time they had a water damage with standing water and saturated carpets, drywall and flooring throughout the basement and first and second floors.

  Again, our team responded and this time applied extraction and more drying, air scrubbing and cleaning.  Between the two losses the business incurred thousands of dollars in remediation expense.

  There is an old saying that goes “You can pay me once or pay me twice.” Which implies that if a lesson is not learned initially – more expense will occur.  If the business had heeded both the Hygienists and our recommendations – the second loss would not have happened.  The moral of the story is that these types of problems do not fix themselves and when a business or a resident is offered sage advice to prevent future issues – that advice should be heeded.