Emergencies like any type of water damage or sewer backup present a real biohazard to the environment. Improper cleanup or delays in doing so multiply the damage and the risk a hundredfold. Here are some things you should avoid doing at all costs: DO NOT enter rooms where any electrical hazards exist. If walls and electrical outlets are wet, do not even go near them. Leave books, magazines, or other colored items on carpeting or wet furniture. These will often bleed color. This includes area rugs too, as some will have colors that will run. Turn on lights or ceiling fans if the ceiling is wet. Do not touch them either. Walk in affected areas, especially if the water is from a contaminated source. Use fans or turn air handling systems on if the water is contaminated - this can spread harmful pathogens. Use any personal hygiene products if they are exposed to water. Use TV's or other appliances in the wet area. Shock hazards are real. Turn your heating up high in order to attempt drying. This will increase evaporation and allow mold and fungi to spread to other areas and grow. Questions? Please call us anytime at 603-669-7733 or 603-432-3221 or you can always use our Ask an Expert feature on this site.

Water damage (and especially sewer damage) can easily cause much greater damage when restoration is delayed. Mold and fungi that are normally present now have a chance to colonize further, and building materials and other organic food sources will help them multiply at a dangerous level.   Wooden materials, walls and other structural components will warp and be permanently damaged if left alone. Furnishings will be damaged if ambient moisture in the room is too high and left there. Flooring will become more damaged: tiles will loosen, wood will disfigure and discolor.   Even clean water presents real danger and health risks. Why? It creates an environment where harmful pathogens can easily come alive and grow fast. Air quality will lessen in a very short time.   Questions? Please call us anytime at 603-669-7733 or 603-432-3221 or you can always use our Ask an Expert feature on this site if it's not an emergency.

View Helpful Information

Click on this booklet to view a helpful document about Water Damage and Sewer Backups. Inside it contains many handy tips and tells you more about our restoration service. We also have another one for Fire Smoke and Soot Damage too.

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Ask our experts your questions! Topics like cleaning and restoration, mold problems, fire, soot damage, or anything related to cleaning.

Category 3: Black Water

This is very serious contamination and could result simply from rain water that has run over any contaminates in the vicinity. It can be from ANY sewage backup, or any floodwater. These can contain dangerous chemicals, algae, harmful proteins, and more. This is HIGHLY unsanitary and can cause serious illness or even death. Serious health complications can develop easily through transmission: inhalation, hand to mouth, open cuts, sores, and the like. Every water damage loss involving any type of sewage should be of a serious concern to all involved and/or exposed. DO NOT EVER attempt to clean this yourself.

 

Call Us for Immediate Help

(603)669-7733 or (603)432-3221

Water Damage and Sewer Damage Cleanup: We're on the Job in a Flash

It is often said that water damage or sewer damage can be so much worse than fire because of its insidious nature. Water damage need not necessarily be an alarming flood of water from a broken pipe or an appliance that fails. It can happen very slowly over time with nobody even noticing it. The damage water can cause is not only the warping of wood and the discoloration of other building materials, but the inevitable result afterward: mold contamination and serious health concerns. A company like ours is well trained in all aspects of disaster restoration, because water damage can also occur with fire and smoke damage, and you need a professional restoration company to address the problem in its entirety. Water damage - as you may know - can also tend to happen at the most inconvenient times. It is by far the greatest cause of our midnight service calls and nighttime upset in a home or business. Emergency service technicians at Servpro of Manchester Derry Londonderry are skilled in all aspects of water damage restoration to handle the toughest jobs even if it's in the middle of the night. Our 1-4-8 response protocol is what property owners and insurance companies depend on to minimize water damage and get emergency mitigation procedures underway as soon as possible.

From Hot Water Heaters to Pipes to Weather-Related Problems

Water damage can happen from all kinds of sources. Broken or frozen pipes, sump pumps, heating systems, appliances, sewer backups, and weather related problems like heavy rain and wintertime ice dams just to name a few. It is absolutely crucial to address ANY water damage problem when it happens. Delaying professional restoration efforts with any type of water damage or sewer damage really compounds the problem to very great lengths and seriously increases property damage and health risks immensely. Servpro of Manchester Derry Londonderry not only is armed with the right tools and drying equipment, but also the electronic instruments required in water damage restoration work to properly discover hidden pockets of moisture. We monitor differences in temperature and relative humidity, use thermal imaging instruments, and moisture detection tools which can sense whether or not structural materials are wet beneath the surface. These tools also allow us to watch the entire job to make sure that moisture levels are left at just the right point when properly completing our restoration work at a water damaged environment.

Servpro of Manchester Derry Londonderry Five Basic Water Damage Restoration Procedures

1. Inspect and Perform Safety Procedures Crucial to initial inspections are safety considerations with regard to slip and fall hazards, falling debris, electrical shortages, and anything else which creates a dangerous environment. 2. Remove Any Debris and Standing Water After the safety inspection and moisture detection on a water damage restoration assignment, we will remove any debris like structural materials that have collapsed to prevent slips and falls. We will then remove any standing water or excess moisture that can be extracted from building materials like flooring and carpeting. Typically this step involves the use of powerful truck-mounted water extraction equipment, mopping, and any other procedure needed to stop the water from getting to dry areas. 3. Destroy Pathogens with EPA-Registered Disinfectants To secure all affected surfaces and surrounding ones from being contaminated by mold and fungi, we apply EPA-registered disinfectants to assure the environment is safe and healthy. 4. Drying the Structure and Contents We install and operate professional drying equipment over the course of the job to bring the relative humidity and surface moisture back to a safe level before the damage occurred. 5. Cleaning the Structure and Contents Any and all affected surfaces that have become contaminated by water damage will be professionally cleaned with EPA-registered disinfectant cleaning agents. In the case of sewer damage restoration (black water), many of these items will need to be replaced as a necessity.

Servpro of Manchester Derry Londonderry Water Damage Restoration and Sewer Backup Tools In addition to our professional cleaning and restoration equipment and supplies we always have, we are also well equipped with HEPA Air Scrubbers, Mobile Heat Generators, and more. Below are some of the specialized tools we have on almost every water damage restoration or sewer cleanup assignment.

1. Expert Moisture Detection Instruments These electronic sensing tools allow us to know how much moisture is present in the airspace, how much is in structural materials, and the ambient air temperature. It will enable us to calculate proper measures to successfully dry all wet materials on a water damage job. 2. Infrared Thermal Imaging Equipment This essential piece of equipment will let us quickly identify sources of moisture and the extent of water damaged areas by detecting differences in temperature which indicate wet structural materials. This lets us immediately focus in on the problematic areas and initiate proper drying procedures with maximum efficacy. 3. Ultra Low Volume (ULV) Wet Fogger Applying EPA-registered disinfectants in crawl spaces or behind building materials or in small spaces is difficult without this important tool. It effectively creates an aerosol spray from our professional products and lets us adjust the volume as need be all the way down to 20 microns. Ultra Low Volume (ULV) Wet Fogging will effectively "clean and sanitize the air." 4. Industrial Dehumidifiers We have many models of these depending on the job requirement. While we create a vortex of air over wet materials with our air moving equipment below, these very powerful dehumidifiers will pull the moisture from the air and automatically pump it to a toilet or other location we choose. 5. High Volume Whole Room Dryers These air moving machines will focus high velocities of air over large areas like a whole room and create a circular air movement to help materials release their moisture. These can also be used with ductwork to create positive or negative air pressure or simply to exhaust air from one location to another. 6. High Volume Directed Airmovers Similar to the above, but direct air on a more focused target. We also have handy wall cavity attachments that will direct this airflow right where we need it.

Our Water Damage Photo Gallery

 

Water Damage and Sewer Cleanup: Like it never even happened

Servpro cleaning systems truly is revolutionary in returning all types of water damage and black water/sewer backup situations back into habitable safe and healthy ones again. Although we can never remove the emotional pain and difficulty that people may go through, we can bring lots of joy when they see what we actually can save and restore. Often much is left in a better condition than before, believe it or not. Homes or businesses that suffer water damage are in a position to a have a complete cleaning and deodorization of all affected materials and contents. Our products we use and the many other tools and professional equipment we employ are designed to restore water damaged walls, ceilings, floors, carpeting, furniture, and so much more. Aside from all our professional tools and many cleaning products, you will find that our greatest asset here at Servpro of Manchester Derry and Londonderry is most definitely our people.