Category: Dreamers Inc Restoration

It is necessary to take precautions in cold weather climates, such as Michigan, to prevent your pipes from freezing on cold Michigan winter nights. Frozen pipes lead to broken pipes which can quickly turn into costly water damage clean up.  If a water emergency does happen in your home do to broken pipes call the professionals at Dreamers Inc. Restoration for quick disaster restoration.

The best advice however is to prevent broken pipes to begin with.  Here are some simple and easy to follow tips to handle Michigan winters without frozen pipes.

• The first tip is to be aware of the areas in your home most susceptible for incidents with freezing pipes.  Areas such as an unheated basement, crawl spaces and rooms where pipes are located on outside walls.  Often times this is present within kitchens under the sink.
• Start by eliminating as much cold air as you can from getting into the home especially next to water lines.  This can be done by closing off crawl spaces, better insulating walls and sealing windows with plastic.
• It is wise to also know how to shut off the water in the home in case a pipe does burst or freeze.  This will help to minimize the amount of damage done to the home’s interior.
• A great tip is to insulate all pipes.  This can be done with heat tape or insulated wraps that easily are placed around pipes.  This is also fairly inexpensive.
• When the temp falls below freezing, especially in the low teens to sub zero temps, allow a small trickle of water to run through the faucets.  This is a cheaper alternative than having your pipes freeze, break and the clean up after.
• Also keep doors to cupboards open to allow the pipes to soak in some of the heat from the rest of the home.

These are just a few tips to keep your pipes unfroze throughout cold Michigan winters. If disaster does strike call a professional water extraction team in to prepare the water damage before it becomes a bigger issue such as with mold and mildew.

The one thing that worries more homeowners in the winter than anything else is the thought of their pipes freezing and then bursting under the pressure. The damage that is caused is disastrous.  Water pipes create a mess when they break and water gushes into your home environment.  The water is capable of destroying anything in its path.

When a frozen pipe bursts in your basement quick action is needed to clean up the basement flood.  Many homeowners believe just getting rid of the water will clean the area but this is however only one step in the process.  Any of the homes framing, drywall, paneling and flooring need to be removed and thoroughly dried or the area is at risk for mold and mildew issues to arise.

Now imagine if the pipe burst anywhere other than the basement area.  Flooded basements are one thing but consider if your homes upper level had a pipe burst.  Now you are looking at the risk of water seeping into the floors support and spilling relentlessly throughout the entire home finally reaching the lowest point, the basement.

The best way to make sure your lives are never turned upside down by water flooding your home from frozen pipes that have broken is to prevent the pipes from freezing in the first place. A home that is properly insulated with pipes that have also been wrapped with insulated materials is one that is taking complete measures to ensure the home against frozen pipes that break.

Flood cleanup is never something that would be considered a good time.  This is especially true because as you are cleaning up the flood damage you are tallying the water damage to you personal items you hold near and dear. Water damage restoration needs to occur immediately after a flood has happened.  A flood constitutes of any amount of water that has saturated your home.  A flood can happen when a pipe bursts, during torrential storms and other weather related incidents.

It sounds super extreme but a flood of even an inch can cause damage to your entire home, the foundation, flooring and structure.  It is important to take correct flood cleanup measures to ensure your families safety.  Water damage professionals will come in and evaluate the flood and cleanup effort with you and your insurance company immediately after the area is declared safe.

They will go through and evaluate the foundation, utilities, heating and cooling systems and personal property.  They will then begin to look at removal of the water and sludge that is present.  It is important to properly remove that water for multiple reasons but most importantly because if the water is removed too quickly there could be foundation damage due to the pressure change. However it is important to get the water removed as efficiently as possible to prevent further damage.  Professional water extraction teams have the equipment and knowledge to provide this service for their clients.  When it comes to flood cleanup it is best to leave it up to the professionals.

When fire damage wreaks havoc on a home something is lost that is not replaceable on any level and that is the homeowner’s peace of mind.  Even after the flames have been put out when the time comes to look around and be grateful that loves ones are safe homeowners still have a huge sense of loss within them.  Losing security when it comes to the place called home is something hard to get over.  It is hard to believe that someday normal will happen again as far as the daily routine.  The question on most homeowner’s mind after a house fire is where to begin starting over.

The first issue at hand is to call your insurance agent and ask for assistance in finding the basic necessities regarding shelter, clothes for the family and food.  In some instances the fire damage to the home is minimal or at least sustained in a few rooms in which case homeowner’s and their families are able to enter, once declared safe, to retrieve necessities.  It is important to leave anything that is vulnerable to contamination such as food, even if it has remained sealed.

Your insurance agent will be able to go over the very specific details of the policy that the home is insured under.  This will determine compensation for damage done from the fire.  This usually includes relocation if it is determined that the home will be uninhabitable for any length of time.  This housing may be a hotel for more short term needs or a rental home if it is thought that you will be without shelter for a while.

The next step in the process is assessing the actual damage done by the fire and the water damage from putting out the fire.  An adjuster will come out, once the insurance agent contacts them, and will note all of the damage to the home and possessions inside of the home. As a homeowner you also have the right to hire a public adjuster who will come through and asses the home as well.  This may end up netting the homeowner a bigger claim than what would be given when only dealing with the insurance company and adjuster they have hired.

Once this is squared away you are able to start rebuilding your home as well as your life.  This process clearly will take some time.  It is necessary to hire an emergency restoration company that can come in and help to salvage pieces of value to you and your family.  Restoration specialists can provide assistance in every direction you may need after a fire damages your family’s home.  Fire restoration services will provide fast clean up for the parts of your home left standing better preparing to restore the function of your home back to normal sooner.

Fire and smoke restoration professionals can find a way to salvage a good deal of items within the space.  Smoke may have seeped into cabinets and furniture even if they were not directly damaged by the fire or water they are still damaged to you.  Restoration professionals will be able to restore these items.  They will also work with homeowners to restore their peace of mind with such suggestions as fire ladders in second story rooms and fire detectors in every room within the home as well as hallways.  Some larger rooms they may even recommend more than one alarm be installed.  Life after a house fire is completely possible and your insurance agent and restoration specialist will assist you in making that happen sooner rather than later.

When there is a substantial amount of rain or snow melt your basement is likely to be at risk for flooding. When your basement is fully finished and experiences a flood it is as difficult to clean it up and return the space back to normal as it would be any other livable space within your home.  Cleaning up an unfinished basement space after a flood is slightly easier.

In the article below are tips on how to clean up after a flood in an unfinished basement space.  When furniture and flooring becomes an element within the space it is best to call in an emergency restoration team to provide optimal clean up to the space.

The first step in clearing out the water out of the space is to ensure the water has a proper spot to drain.  This includes making sure that your sump pump is working and that if you don’t already have a sump pump in place now is the time to have one installed. This will be helpful in draining left over water out of your basement.  If there is a drain in the space use a mop to more the water into the drain if you do not have a drain you will want to mop up the water and squeeze it into buckets to remove it from the space.  The goal in the first step is the remove as much of the actual water in the area.

You will want to then start removing the humidification in the area.  This is done using a dehumidifier and many fans to circulate the air and dry out the basement.  This will take time and is not a process that can be rushed to complete.  Give this process time.  It is important that no area within the space is left moist.  Given the chance mold and mildew will move in and thrive in your damp wet space if it is allowed to stay that way.

The goal in this step is to quickly dry out the space thoroughly without forgetting that even when the space appears dry to the human eye fans and dehumidifiers should still be run for some time to prevent the possibilities of mold and mildew growth.

Mold removal is a job only professional emergency remediation professionals will be able to take care of without spreading the mold. Mold can spread quickly to areas that are conducive to holding moisture.  This means that the mold could spread throughout the home via duct work so it is ever more important that this step is done with care and complete attention to all areas within the space.

Make sure that you take special care in the removal of belongings destroyed within the space.  This is a difficult process and takes a lot of care.   In a basement that is used for storage it is best to use platforms to store items of value so that is a flood does occur your possessions are not ruined.  This of course does not help you if the situation happens and your items are ruined.  It is clear that the best option is to remove the items from this space.  Throw items out that cannot be salvaged and items that need more proper cleaning to be restored should be done in a dry environment.

Any item no matter how near or dear to your heart should be discarded if it cannot be properly sanitized.  Items such as books, cards and paper products are examples of items that should be thrown away.  If you can bleach items and properly sanitize them then dry them out will be safe to use later.

You will want to bleach the floors and walls.  One cup of bleach to five gallons of water is a fair mixture to destroy clingy bacteria.  After this process is done, while wearing protective  gear and proper ventilation you will want to dry out the area once again using the fans and dehumidifier.

You are completely finished with your basement clean up, after a flood, once you are able to stand in the space and feel dry. The environment should be free of moisture and dampness.  If you are unable to achieve this on your own it is in your best interest to call in flood damage restoration specialist to evaluate the scene.

Who doesn’t enjoy a good storm?  One of the best feelings is a raging rain, thunder booming, lightning illuminating the sky all while the family is snuggled together enjoying some candlelight and a game of Scrabble.  The calm that is supposed to come after the storm does not always come.  Sometimes after the storm real work comes along in the form of storm restorations and storm repair.  Emergency restoration service companies spend the time during the storm preparing for the cleanup that will need to occur after the storm.

So much damage can occur to a home during a home.  Water damage, fire damage, wind damage, hail damage all this and more can occur when a ferocious storm boroughs through your area.  Nature is one powerful beast.  Storm damage is fierce.  Storms come in and with them they bring all of their ferociousness with them damaging your home.   Where does a homeowner turn once a storm has wreaked havoc on one of their biggest investments?

The first call to make when a storm has caused damage to your home is your homeowner’s insurance carrier.  From there it is inevitable they will come out for an onsite inspection of the damage and instruct you to call a flood/fire/storm restoration company.  The emergency restoration company will develop an action plan to restore the property to its original state.

Water damage in particular needs to be handles by the professional.  If an area affected by water damage and extend moisture is not treated correctly and dried thoroughly mold and mildew can quickly set in.  Water damage is simple to clean and react to in comparison then what is involved with mold removal.  Mold restoration is necessary as any mold left to grow will spread quickly and can lead to health problems such as headaches, runny eyes and noses, and coughing; or trigger attacks in kids and adults with asthma.  These are all very serious issues.

Most of the time storms wreak havoc on the outside of the home.  Some common damage from storms is siding damage or ripped off, broken window, down wires and fallen trees.  All of which can be handled with the help of storm remediation.  It s important that homeowners resist the urge to start cleaning up after the storm, downed power lines and fallen trees can still conduct large amount of electricity.

Another reason to resist immediately going out and beginning to clean up after the storm passes and the damage is done is because professionals will come in and board up, tarp the roof and pack up for homeowners.  This will keep homeowners safe while the insurance company and restoration specialist put the home back to its original state.

It is important to remember that no matter the size of the storm, damage can be done to your home that is sufficient enough to call in the specialists.  After a storm has passed through your area check your home inside and out to ensure damage has not been done.  Don’t always assume that when a small storm passes nothing could be wrong with your home.  The last time we assumed our home was fine and we did not check on it we woke up in the morning with a tree on our shed.  Don’t assume ever after a storm check out to see if damage has been done.