What to Do if Your Commercial Business Floods

8/24/2023 (Permalink)

Water damage is always a headache whether it affects your home or your business. However, when it hits your business, you lose precious time and money if you don't act quick enough. Not to mention, not acting fast enough will also cause further damage, mold growth, and more headaches down the road. SERVPRO is experienced in restoring both home water damage and commercial water damage, so we're here to give you some tips as to what to do if your commercial business falls victim to flood water.

Get Everyone Out of The Building

If the water event is happening while there are people present in the building, evacuate immediately. It's very unsafe for everyone to be lingering inside while the water is present. Not only can there be contaminated water, but there's the chance of structural damage, ceilings falling, fires, and much more.

Some water damage emergency tips include considering:

• Is it safe to stay in the building?
• Electrical and "slip and fall" hazards are some of the most prevalent concerns.
• Only do activities that are safe for you to perform.
• Wet materials can be extremely heavy.

What to do AFTER flooding:

• If it's safe, remove excess water by mopping and blotting.
• Wipe excess water from wood furniture after removal or lamps and tabletop items.
• Remove and prop wet upholstery and cushions.
• Place aluminum foil or wood blocks between furniture legs and wet carpeting.
• Turn air conditioning on (if it's safe to do so) for maximum drying in the summer.
• Removed colored rugs from wet carpeting.
• Remove art objects to a safe, dry place.
• Gather loose items from floors.

What NOT to do:

• Don't leave wet fabrics in place.
• Don't leave books, magazines, or other colored items on wet carpet or floods.
• Don't use a vacuum to remove water.
• Don't use any kind of electrical equipment.
• Don't turn on ceiling fixtures if the ceiling is wet, and keep out of rooms where ceilings are sagging.

Don't take the risk!

Turn Off Utilities

When your business experiences this, it's important to shut off your utilities immediately. Leaving the gas and electricity on his a hazard to your building and those around you, as this will cause fires and much more damage than what you started with. If your business suffers from water damage due to a leaky pipe or a plumbing issue, it's important to shut off the water main as well to stop the water in its tracks.

Call Your Insurance Company

After you've turned everything off in your building, you need to call your insurance company ASAP. The faster you get your claim in, outlining the extent of damages, the quicker the adjuster will set up an inspection and have things ready for you.

Contact a Restoration Company

Right after you hang up the phone with your insurance company, you should contact a water damage restoration company. SERVPRO is an experienced and skilled restoration company that handles water damage restoration, fire damage restoration, mold remediation, storm damage restoration, and a plethora of cleaning services. Not only are our technicians skilled in everything that they do, but they come with the best equipment to have your business restored and dried out quickly and efficiently.

SERVPRO of West Somerset County has the training, experience, and equipment to handle large commercial flooding or water damage emergencies. Whether your water emergency occurs in a small office building or a big box store, we will respond quickly to mitigate the damage and manage the restoration project through to its completion. After you contact us, we come with:

• Water Damage Restoration Technicians
• Applied Structural Drying Technicians
• Odor Control Technicians
• Upholstery & Fabric Cleaning Technicians

We are a part of a network of over 1,600 franchises with special disaster recovery teams placed strategically throughout the country to respond to large scale events and disasters. We are proud to serve our communities that include Hillsborough, Bedminster, Branchburg, Raritan, Belle Mead, Somerville, Far Hills, Manville, Neshanic Station, and Skillman, NJ.

Construction Services, Building, and Remodeling Services

We understand the importance of quickly helping those facing structural issues in their homes and businesses after a disaster. A seamless transition between phases and keeping all of the work under the same roof saves our customers money, and it helps with more rapid job completion. From controlled demolition in fire and mold recovery efforts to renovations and remodeling built to your precise specifications, we have a team of contractors able to help.

For a list of the services we offer like board up, document drying, drywall installation, and more, follow this link!

Types of Water Damage

Water damage can come from plumbing issues like a leaking pipe, burst pipe, sewer backup, or toilet overflow, to natural disasters like heavy rain storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. It's important to understand the severity behind the type of water that has entered into your building.

These guidelines are established by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification board (IICRC) and are defined by industry's standards and regulations to identify the type of water involved in the specific incident.

• Category 1 - Ranking the lowest on the IICRC scale, this is usually referred to as "clean water" that usually originates from sanitary sources such as ruptured water supply lines, broken pipes, bath appliances like sinks and tubs, that may have overflowed. As this type of water is sewage and toxin-free, it does not pose as health effects and does not require decontamination procedures.
• Category 2 - This is referred to as "gray water" coming from sources such as overflowing appliances. These usually include washing machines, toilets, sump pump backups. While consuming or being in contact with it may not prove to be immediately harmful to humans, this water is considered contaminated and could pose a health threat later down the line.
• Category 3 - Also known as "black water," it is described as the most toxic type of water and the most extreme case of damage that will require immediate actions to mitigate its harmful effects. This category includes raw sewage water, flood waters and groundwater. In this scenario, your items and materials need to be removed immediately to prevent more damage and remediation requires the use of protective gear and extensive disinfection.

About SERVPRO Team Harvey
SERVPRO of West Somerset County is proudly owned by Lance and Jennifer Harvey - a husband and wife duo that owns three other SERVPRO locations, including SERVPRO of Lower Manhattan, SERVPRO of Hoboken/Union City, and SERVPRO of Aberdeen/Holmdel.

We understand the stress and worry that comes with a fire or water damage and the disruption it causes your home or business. Our goal is to help minimize the interruption to your life and quickly make it “like it never even happened.”

Learn about TEAM HARVEY: VIDEO