Commercial Water Damage and Your Business
The effects of major flooding and commercial water damage on businesses and commercial buildings can be devastating to the property, the business, and the employees working. Therefore, it’s important to act quickly when a water loss occurs to mitigate the property as soon as possible. With proper mitigation by a restoration professional there is minimal loss to the structure and content property while allowing businesses to remain open or reopen as quickly as possible.
There are many contributing factors to the level of mitigation needed, such as how long the water has been standing, the type of water damage that occurred, and the drying process needed.
Different Types of Commercial Water Damage
Commercial water damages occur within three different types of Categories.
Category 1 (Clean Water)- Category 1 water is considered less severe as it does not contain harmful toxins or sewage and originates from a sanitary source. Water damages that can occur as a category 1 are broken pipes, overflowing sinks or bathtubs, sprinkler system malfunction, or water supply lines.
Category 1 water damages can typically be dried effectively with minimal health hazards, as long as it’s handled by a water damage restoration professional within the first 48 hours. However, after 48 hours, the damage can be exposed to different contaminants, progressing water damage to a category 2.
Category 2 (Greywater)- Category 2 water contains mild to severe contamination risks. Common sources include washing machines, toilet overflows, dishwasher leaks, fire suppression systems, or sump pump backups.
With category 2 water damage, it is important to remove affected items and disinfect your place of business as soon as possible to avoid secondary damages.
Category 3 (Blackwater)- Category 3 water damage has the most health risk. It is considered the most contaminated, with toxins, pathogens, and bacteria present. Blackwater sources include sewage, septic tank over flow, drain back-ups, rising water floods, hurricanes, or tropical storms.
Caution should be used when dealing with blackwater. Hire a restoration professional, like Trident Restoration, to safely clean and remove all affected areas and items, dry out the structure, and disinfect the building.
Common Commercial Building Water Damages
Building management and maintenance is a top priority for any business. The critical part of this job is identifying, detecting, and addressing water damage signs or leaks.
Roofing System: Keep regularly scheduled roof inspections to prevent water damage due to a damaged roof. After storms and heavy rain, schedule a roof inspection to maintain an integral roof. Any damage can lead to major or minor water leaks that can be seen and unseen. Trident Restoration offers roofing inspection on all commercial roofing systems.
HVAC System: Using an old HVAC system can become a source of water damage. Ensure proper maintenance and upkeep to prevent malfunctions of the heating and cooling system. Spring and winter inspections are a good practice to prevent malfunction and ultimately loss of heat or worse a fire.
Plumbing System: Old and rusty pipes are a leading cause of water damage in commercial buildings. Worn-out seams, plumbing connections, leaking fixtues and other damage can cause pipes to break and leak over time. From plumbing to fire suppression systems, any sight of damage should be addressed as soon as possible by a professional.
The Drying Process
When you hire a professional restoration company to mitigate water damage at your building, they will use commercial grade drying equipment to quickly and effectively dry out the affected areas.
Trident Restorations IICRC Certified Water Technicians will use a high powered extraction truck to remove any standing water left in the building. Ensure electrical service is safe and usable. Devices such as air movers and dehumidifiers will be placed afterward, and they will be used to reduce the amount of moisture in the air through convection and low grain refrigerant dehumidification.
The air movers work, by convection, to remove trapped moisture in building materials and force the moisture into the air. At the same time, the dehumidifiers are strategically placed to take that moisture out of the air. The dehumidifiers will release the accumulated water into a nearby drain or sink. High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) air scrubbers will also be placed to filter the air to prevent contaminants, dust, dirt, and debris from moving throughout the building and HVAC system.
It can take up to three to five days to dry out a large loss. Therefore, the restoration company will need daily access to the building, ensuring the equipment is running properly and taking moisture measurements to ensure the space is being dried properly and effectively.
Throughout the process, you will be advised what contents and materials will be considered salvageable vs. non-salvageable. The restoration company will inventory all necessary items, business personal property, and complete any emergency demolition and remove any non-salvageable items.
What Trident Restoration Water Damage Experts Will Do
If you experience water damage at your property, it’s important to call a restoration company as soon as possible to avoid extensive structural damage to the property. Trident Restoration is a trusted company assisting Summit, Stark, Portage, Mahoning, Medina, and Cuyahoga county, Ohio. Trident Restoration has dedicated IICRC trained water mitigation specialists available 24/7 for an emergency. We will send out an IICRC trained water expert team to mitigate the damages and restore your property to pre-loss conditions quickly and effeciently.
The most important factor when experiencing a large loss, is time. Which is why Trident Restoration keeps trucks and trailers stocked with the best and most effective equipment for extraction and drying. Trident Restoration will meet you on-site to evaluate the damage and immediately begin to work. As stated above, under The Drying Process, Trident Restoration will quickly develop and implement the proper mitigation plan for any business.
Additionally, restoration services often operate separately from contractor services. However, this is not the case with Trident Restoration. Trident is a full-service contractor from our team of IICRC Water Technicians to our expert General Contractors providing you the services you need from one source. Providing all services in-house makes it much less difficult for those encountering a disaster that water damage can cause. From mitigation to design and construction. We are sure that we will fit every need you may encounter.
Call Trident Restoration, available 24/7 at 330-409-8000.