SERVPRO Tips: What to do After a Flood

9/20/2022 (Permalink)

After a flood happens, homeowners may be faced with property losses and damage. Unlike a pipe leak, which is relatively clean water, the cleaning requirements for floodwaters are different. Along with potential black water in the mix, there can also be debris and loosened materials to watch for.

Assessing the Damage

Anything the flood waters touch will need to be addressed. If the flooding is overwhelming, a flood clean professional help you address the problem and provide services to get your home looking “Like it never even happened.” During initial inspection, in addition to checking flooring and walls, check the following for any contact with the waters:

• Clothing
• Furniture
• Carpet
• Kitchen utensils, plates, cups, etc.
• Appliances
• Mattresses
• Toys

While some of these may be able to be cleaned, such as appliances and furniture, some of them should be thrown away. Things like mattresses and stuffed animals can be difficult to completely clean. If a rug has been saturated more than 24 hours, it may need to be tossed. Any clothes, rugs and furniture should immediately be removed and set out to dry before cleaning.

A Thorough Clean

One of the main cleaning requirements for floodwaters is a good flood disinfectant. It will not only eliminate bacteria, stains, and odors but also help reduce the potential for mold to grow. Once any wet items have been dried, usually for at least 48 hours, the cleaning process can start. Be sure to clean anything that has been in contact with water and remember to take safety precautions during the process, such as:

• Wear disposable gloves and clothing.
• Avoid touching the face or eyes.
• Refresh cleaning solution when it becomes cloudy.
• Thoroughly wash hands after cleaning.

While cleaning requirements may feel overwhelming on top of all the other stresses from the flooding itself, it’s important to ensure everything is clean. That will ensure any mold or bacteria is stopped in its tracks before becoming an issue down the road.

So give us a call! We are faster to any disaster and are here to help get you back to "Like it never even happened."

Dealing with a Business Fire? Read these Tips to Help Lessen the Damage

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

Proactive Tips to Help Mitigate Effects of Commercial Fire Damage

Fires in business places present several challenges including closing down to clean up and restore damages, which leads to interruptions of normal operations. If appropriate measures are taken in time, it is possible to reduce the impact such incidents have. We offer professional fire restoration services helping businesses in Chesterton resume their normal operations faster.

Prevention is better than cure even when dealing with commercial fire damage in Chesterton, which is why our SERVPRO technicians help businesses develop ERP, Emergency Response Profiles. Understanding the factors likely to cause or spread the fire quickly at your premises is part of the response plan. If it is an office, electrical equipment such as photocopiers, monitors, printers, lamps, and kettles can start fires due to malfunctions or frayed cables. Periodic inspection can help identify these issues before they lead to fires.

The abundance of combustible materials in many work environments can fuel uncontrollable fires. In offices, discarded packaging materials, loose paper, and other regular wastes can fuel small fires to uncontrollable levels. Also, the materials used to make soft furnishings, as well as the adhesives used in furniture and aerosols, create perfect fuels for fires. As part of the emergency response profile, we help businesses identify these additional dangers and adopt solutions like clean desk policy in which papers are stored in cabinets until needed.

During fires, there is a need to turn off utilities and call emergency services immediately. Most emergencies lead to confusion so delays can happen. The SERVPRO ERP can help you in many ways. We help you appoint key personnel to handle fire emergencies. We also ensure you know where utility turn-off switches are located and provide you with contacts of emergency services. The emergency response profile also equips our staff with valuable information that helps us respond properly when you call us.

Locally Owned Company with National Resources

Being proactive can help reduce the impact of fire damage. Call SERVPRO of SERVPRO of Porter County to help evaluate and advise on steps that can help your business premises. You can reach us at (219) 476-1883 any time.

For more on Chesterton, click here.

SERVPRO Tips: 5 Reasons to Choose SERVPRO For All of your Fire Restoration Needs

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

Fire damage can occur in a home at any time in many ways, and the end result, even from a small scale fire loss is charred belongings, damaged structure, and smoke odors.

When choosing a restoration services company to mitigate fire damage in your Valparaiso property, there are a few points to consider.

Qualifications for Cleaning and Restoring Fire Loss

SERVPRO technicians undergo extensive education for cleaning up fire damage. They know cleanup is not a one-size-fits-all undertaking and fibers and surfaces require testing before cleaning, so they use the proper methods. Their training is through the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification) standards in fire and water cleanup and restoration.

Locally Based SERVPRO is available 24/7 and arrives within an hour of your call for fire loss cleanup. Being members of the local community, they know the rules and regulations for the disposal of charred items. As residents, they know the unique things about this part of the state of Indiana.

Advanced Technology

The technicians have access to a diverse array of equipment for cleaning up fire damage. Air quality is a considerable concern, and the removal of odor-causing soot is a priority. They use techniques such as negative air chambers to inhibit the possibility of cross-contamination as well as machinery such as air scrubbers with HEPA filtration for the capture and removal of airborne particles.

Assistance Expediting Insurance Claims

SERVPRO technicians provide an itemized loss inventory to maximize the accuracy and expedite insurance claims for faster reimbursement. The report includes detailed descriptions and photographs of items, including before and after photos.

Odor Control in the Home

There are numerous types of scents left behind after a fire. Soot winds up driven into porous materials, carpet, furniture and even paint on the walls. The technicians know how to prep the property for rebuilding with controlled demolition for the removal of charred items, sealing walls when necessary for the application of fresh paint and neutralization of smoke odors in the home.

SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 is ready to assist the local community with the cleanup and restoration from fire damage and make it, "Like it never even happened".

See more about Valparaiso.

When Fire Hits your Business in Porter County, SERVPRO is Here to Help

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

Supplying your B2B customers with their packaging needs requires different types of raw supplies. Storing these so your employees always have them ready means having them shipped in from other companies to your Portage location. Between their arrival and the time your workers use them to make new products, their loss can cause long-lasting problems for your company and your customers.

Factories that sustain any size of fire in the Portage area can lose a significant percentage of their inventory to commercial fire damage. When plastics and other synthetics burn, the smoke produced can ruin other materials. Hot ash can scorch other plastics as it lands. Water or foam from extinguishing the fire can also create damage of its own.

When a local company calls SERVPRO to mitigate the effects of a disaster, we collect information about the situation and any extenuating circumstances. We need to know how to ensure that our employees understand any risks on-site. We want to arrive well prepared for all aspects of the mitigation work necessary to make your facility, “Like it never even happened”. Restoring your facility to preloss and fully operational condition includes looking at the hazards that might hinder your employees' performance or cause unwanted health effects. These risks go beyond the slip, trip, and fall problems caused by a fire. When plastics and other man-made materials burn, the air becomes polluted with chemicals that can make breathing without a respirator ill-advised.

During the fire damage mitigation work, SERVPRO specialists wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including respirators. Using air scrubbers and other means to clean the air, we eliminate particles that can cause problems for your workforce. This takes care of the smallest particles, but our crews must remove all of the damaged inventory to ensure that off-gassing from the chemical exchanges caused by fire and high heat no longer pose a risk to health.

Both this soot and the partially combusted materials continue to release gas and other substances into the air. Removing them becomes a crucial part of restoring safe conditions. We dispose of damaged materials according to local regulations, helping ensure compliance with your industry's protocols. We can inspect the air circulation system and deployed HEPA and charcoal based air scrubbers that can capture particulates as small as 0.3 microns. Improving indoor air quality is a critical segment of the fire damage restoration service.

SERVPRO of Porter County can help mitigate and restore your factory. When a fire hits your Beverly Shores or Chesterton facility, call us at (219) 476-1883. We are here to help make things safe and get your production back on track.

Map information here.

Got A Plumbing Leak in your Chesterton Home? You Need the Team at SERVPRO Right Away!

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

Water Removal Services And Preventative Plumbing Maintenance For Your Chesterton Home

Having any plumbing leak in your Chesterton home can cause a massive problem for you. Preventative maintenance to the plumbing in your home can help to avoid many of these water damage emergencies. No one wants to come home to water flooding their bathroom floor.

If you do experience a plumbing leak of any kind, you need professional water cleanup services in your Chesterton home. You want to get the water cleaned up as soon as possible to prevent additional damage, so contact our staff at SERVPRO. We work fast but efficiently to get the plumbing problem fixed, clean up the water, and dry your home back out.

To prevent plumbing leaks, start by fixing any leaky shower heads or faucets. They not only waste much water and raise your water bill, but if you do not fix them, the drip can worsen over time, which can create water damage. To stop this, regularly check your faucets for leaks and make any needed repairs. Check underneath sinks as well for any drips or water stains.

Check any exposed pipes and appliances for leaks. Your refrigerator, disposal, or water heater can be a source of leaks. Visible signs such as puddles of water or stains on the ceilings or walls are a clear indicator there is an issue. Be on the lookout for mold as well, which can begin growing when there is a moisture problem. SERVPRO technicians can help you clean up any water damage, including mold. We can even find any hidden moisture with special moisture sensors.

If you have a leaky toilet, get it fixed right away. A faulty seal around the valve seat can make your toilet run even when not being flushed. Gunk, over time, forms around the flapper and valve seat. The gunk stops the flatter from sealing correctly, causing the water to run continuously.

Check any hoses, such as on your washing machine, for brittleness, cracks, or leaking. Replace the hoses as needed. Failure to do so can have gallons of water pouring out into your home if the hoses fail.

SERVPRO of Porter County understands that a water damage emergency in your home in Hebron, Kouts, or Portage is not always avoidable. That is why we are available any day of the week, at any time, so give us a call at (219) 476-1883 whenever you need.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

Icy Conditions can Cause Major Issues for Streams and Creeks in Chesterton

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

Icy Conditions Can Overflow Chesterton Creeks And Streams

For all of the potential problems that could occur to your Chesterton home on account of harsh winter weather, other threats are entirely out of your control. With the steep temperature drops expected throughout the winter, streams and creek beds can begin to freeze. Under the right conditions between temperatures above freezing dropping quickly, flash freezing can occur. These bodies of water can dam up with a solid band of ice. Even when the weather begins to turn favorably again, solid ice takes much longer to melt off, and snow runoff begins to cause the water levels to rise rapidly with no outlet.

Those along the lower lying levels around these creeks and streams then become susceptible to flood damage in Chesterton. These hazardous conditions could happen very quickly depending on the amount of snowfall or rainfall that occurs, leaving your home vulnerable to widespread damages. Our SERVPRO professionals are available 24/7 to respond amid emergencies with effective mitigation solutions that can protect what matters most from getting ruined.

With the unknowns of what could be in the flood water that penetrates the lower levels of your property, it gets considered as contaminated. Often rising creeks and streams can carry mud, debris, chemicals, bacteria, and even sewage into your home that must get cared for by certified professionals with safety training and effective tools that can remove this potential health hazard from the property as promptly as possible.

Our SERVPRO team can arrive shortly after you call with effective extraction tools to remove all of the excess water. We can assess the full scope of the damage at this point and identify materials that must get removed to restore the home completely, and where services like premier cleaning and disinfection are necessary.

While this is only a small portion of the work that your home requires when you get faced with flooding, it can show you the level of dedication and knowledge available with just a phone call to our SERVPRO of Porter County rapid response team. You can reach us 24/7 by calling (219) 476-1883.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

Why sewer cleanup process is so important so trust SERVPRO

6/26/2022 (Permalink)

So give us a call! We are faster to any disaster and are ready to get things back to "Like it never even happened."

SERVPRO Can Assist You When Water Damages Your Business

6/25/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO responded to a commercial business that was dealing with water damage from a sprinkler system that had malfunctioned. As a result, this high-end retail chain had lost money due to damaged merchandise sustained from the overhead sprinkler system. When the sprinkler system issue had been resolved, SERVPRO technicians arrived to begin the cleanup process. What was done immediately upon walking into the business was gathering up all the merchandise that had been damaged. Our technicians then brought in mops and high-powered vacuums to suck up all the excess water that had collected on the floors throughout the store. Air movers and dehumidifiers were brought in to dry up the moisture to prevent future mold growth from occurring. SERVPRO technicians worked hard to make sure that the water damaged areas were completely dry so that the necessary reconstruction could take place and the business could resume its daily operations. SERVPRO is available 24/7 to handle your water damage emergencies to make it “Like it never even happened.”

Give us a call! We are faster to any disaster and are here to put our equipment, experience and expertise to work for you!

After flood damage strikes your home or business, SERVPRO of Porter County is your best solution

6/20/2022 (Permalink)

Valparaiso’s proximity to Lake Michigan makes it an excellent place to call home year-round when it comes to water and ice sports. It also makes our community vulnerable to the storm systems that sweep in off the water, flooding everything in their path.

A quick and professional response to any flood damage in Valparaiso is why SERVPRO should be your first, and only, call for home restoration after a storm. Our Water Restoration Technicians (WRTs) train extensively to meet any restoration requirement, regardless of the level of damage to personal property.

With outside floodwater entering a home, there is an additional threat from what that water picks up. That can include soil, lawn fertilizers, and if the sewers were overwhelmed, human waste. To eliminate this threat, WRTs first spray the surface of the water and any nearby, affected property with an anti-bacterial agent.

Then, they remove any water in the home using pumps for large amounts of standing water. After finishing that, they use extraction wands and other devices to draw it out of carpets and from between floorboards. All floodwater is pumped directly into the nearest sewer access or a tank truck if one is not available.

Now, SERVPRO WRTs remove all property inside the home for inspection. They dispose of heavily damaged items immediately and place salvageable items on blocks or pallets to allow water to drain, and install a series of fans around them to increase evaporation and speed drying. They also clean the property using methods from simply wiping down hard surfaces like plastic and metal with a strong cleaner to using immersion tanks for items like dining room chairs.

These are only the first steps we take at SERVPRO of Porter County after a flood. Our restoration teams continue their efforts until they can return a clean, safe home to every homeowner. If you have had any amount of flooding into your home, contact us today at (219) 476-1883 to schedule an inspection and find out what we can do for you.

Did You Know? The Longer You Wait After A Fire To Get "Like it never even happened," The More Costly It Might Be!

6/20/2022 (Permalink)

Fire damage is costly to fix the longer it goes unattended. Smoke odors can invade belongings and porous building materials, and soot can ruin walls that flames have not burned. We understand that going through a fire can be devastating and that your cherished memories and possessions are at stake.  

After a fire has damaged your Valparaiso home, the fire restoration specialists at SERVPRO can assist you to prevent further destruction that can occur because of the buildup of soot. Our crews understand the science behind soot cleaning to restore your home to its preloss condition.  

Soot can build up on the walls, furniture, carpet, and other areas of your home. Inappropriate soot removal methods can increase the damage already done to your home. Soot becomes acidic after combining with moisture, and it can etch, discolor, pit or corrode non-porous surfaces if not removed promptly and thoroughly.  

Fire residues differ, and they include dry smoke, protein smoke, fuel oil smoke, and wet smoke residues. Fires progress through different stages, generating both wet and dry smoke. Some fires produce a large proportion of one kind of smoke to specify the total exposure as mostly dry or mostly wet smoke.  

Wet smoke residues are challenging to clean compared to dry smoke residues. Wet smoke usually contains high amounts of aerosols like solvents, varnishes, and other liquid solvents. If a fire is slow burning, air currents don’t drive the smoke from the fire’s heat. The smoke drifts and works its way into enclosed areas and crevices that a faster burning fire would not contaminate. It may be necessary to replace items damaged by wet smoke. Our technicians can restore many materials damaged by dry smoke. Dry smoke residues carry few deposits and aerosols, and they stain surfaces less intensely.  

Our SERVPRO technicians use the appropriate cleaning equipment, solvents, and techniques that come from training and years of experience. We follow a soot removal process that starts with dry soot cleaning using specialized HEPA vacuums and dry surface cleaning techniques. Afterward, we progress with wet cleaning as necessary.  

When your home has fire damage, SERVPRO of Porter County can assist you. Our experienced team works quickly and thoroughly to get a home back to normal. Contact us today at (219) 476-1883 for fire damage cleanup services.

Acting Faster After A Fire Is Of Key Importance!

4/20/2022 (Permalink)

With one of the Great Lakes and a couple of major cities close by, Valparaiso is a centrally located community great for raising families, enjoying water recreation, and more. Like any town its size, there are still issues to deal with like the house fires that plague residences everywhere.

Most Valparaiso fire damage is considered minor to medium thanks to good fire department response times, residential sprinklers, and having a fire extinguisher nearby. Because of this, much of what SERVPRO technicians do after a fire is cleaning off residues left by the smoke as it moved through the home. Unless the property is physically damaged, our teams can restore affected items using one of these methods.

Dry wiping takes care of most surfaces. Technicians use sponges, cloths, and even feather dusters to remove powdery residues left by a hot, quick-burning fire. It is very effective on light-to-moderate, non-greasy residues like from burned paper or wood.

Wet wiping then usually removes the thicker layers dry wiping cannot. SERVPRO technicians apply water or a mild cleaner to sponges and cloths to remove these moderate-to-heavy residues.

Spray and Wipe is needed to prevent color bleeding or fading fade in drapes and covered furniture after fire damage. Team members utilize spray bottles to use as little cleaning agent as possible.

Foam Cleaning uses even less detergent and water. Technicians use a pump-up or powered sprayer to create a foam and then work it into the affected item with a sponge or brush. The method is very effective on sofas and other upholstered items to prevent shrinking the fabric.

Abrasive Cleaning is our method for rough surfaces. Since surfaces such as rock and marble are not affected by most cleaners, technicians can use stronger chemicals with a thick-bristle or wire brush to remove every bit of the residues left by the fire.

Immersion Cleaning is the last effort possible for many items and is only appropriate for those not affected by soaking them completely. Technicians remove the item to our offices and place it in a holding tank filled with a cleaning agent. They next generate sound waves that force bubbles through or across the surface. The method is effective but costly and time-consuming.

Remediating fire damage and returning every home to its owners in its original or better condition is our goal here at SERVPRO of Porter County. To learn more about what our response teams can do for your home here or in Portage, Chesterton, and Kouts, call us today at (219) 476-1883. We are here for you.

Chesterton Property Owners Save Money By Calling SERVPRO for Water Damage Mitigation

4/10/2022 (Permalink)

Common Water Damage Misconceptions in Chesterton Homes

Your home can suffer the effects of a water loss incident at any time. With so many potential causes for a disaster like this from equipment malfunctions to leaking fixtures, it is likely that many homeowners inevitably experience the effects from a water loss incident during the life of their homes. Knowing what to do to recover the damage can be vital to protecting the investment that you have made in your property, but also to saving you money by allowing the work to happen more quickly.

There are many misconceptions that Chesterton homeowners believe when faced with water damages. While it is common for homeowners and property owners to educate themselves on what their home needs after an emergency, it is also misleading many in the area with bad information. Our SERVPRO professionals have advanced tools to help put your mind at ease after a water loss incident and work quickly to restore the property from the effects of water damage to structural elements and contents.

A common misconception that homeowners believe about water loss incidents is that once surface water gets cleaned up that the crisis is behind them. Unfortunately, water penetrates materials quickly and begins to saturate into structural elements, carpeting, drywall, and other exposed surfaces on contact. It is possible not even to know water damage persists in your home in affected materials until degradation continues or signs of rust or mold growth appear.

Another misconception about water loss events is that professional restoration is not necessary to overcome the effects. Our SERVPRO team can address the full scope of the damages, even offering thermal imagery to determine lingering moisture pockets, all to ensure that the cleanup and drying is thorough and efficient for our customers. DIY restoration cannot guarantee the elimination of saturation and moisture pockets.

While you might find yourself tempted by the possibility of saving money by avoiding professional restoration, keep in mind that allowing moisture to continue often leads to the production of mold colonies, which are a risk to your home and its occupants. Give our SERVPRO of Porter County rapid response team a call today at (219) 476-1883.

SERVPRO Fire Damage Cleanup Is Here To Help!

4/10/2022 (Permalink)

Cleaning Soot and Smoke Damage from Your Portage Art Gallery

As a hub of culture and artistic expression for the Portage area, your gallery showcases national creations as well as local talent throughout the year for ongoing viewing and special events. When disaster strikes your business, it is not just the building that stands at risk of devastating damages. Fires, even indirect ones, can substantially damage artwork in your gallery. That is where you need professional cleaning and fire restoration technicians like ours to help.

While your Portage art gallery might show the effects of fire damage in multiple ways throughout the building, any savvy business owner knows that protecting the pieces in the gallery has to come before any other restorative act. Our SERVPRO professionals can help with immediate mitigation techniques beginning the moment we arrive to ensure that any painting or other artwork can get removed to a safe location and protected from the lingering effects of soot and smoke damages. Here is an important caveat. For expensive, one of a kind, or significant pieces of art, we do recommend an art curator be employed by you for cleaning and restoring the items. We can still work on the interior of the structure to prevent secondary damages from occurring.

Our contents department can remove these one-of-a-kind creations to a nearby SERVPRO facility for close evaluation and assessment. We can carefully and gently clean soot and smoke residue from paintings and sculptures using non-acidic cleansers. We can also work to deodorize these pieces in a safe manner, such as our thermal foggers or even placing them into the ozone chamber for several hours. Once they have gotten cleaned and deodorized, these works of art get stored safely in a temperature-controlled climate until it is safe to return them to your restored building.

With the sensitive nature and inability to replicate artwork you display and sell from your gallery, reaching out to our rapid response team is vital to protect these items from irreparable damage from smoke and soot effects. Our technicians are available 24/7 to offer every potential customer skilled expertise and industry-leading equipment any time that they need it.

While a fire in your art gallery could prove disastrous, you can count on the professionals of our SERVPRO of Porter County team to work to protect and preserve unique artwork you display. Give us a call anytime you need us at (219) 476-1883.

Here is the service index for our local residents.

SERVPRO Can & Will Remove Unpleasant Aromas In Your Portage Home

4/5/2022 (Permalink)

Fire Smoke Cleanup Technicians In Portage Talk About Deodorizing Agents

Any time something burns inside your building in Portage, smoke damage can become a significant issue. Soot removal is often a large part of any fire smoke cleanup project. Soots and soils can get left behind on the surfaces of your building materials and contents when smoke comes into contact with these cooler substances. Some soot damage can be easily wiped off with a wet rag or a dry sponge, while other types of soils must be removed with specialized techniques and chemicals. Even the smallest burns can cause damage that will make it vital that you call in a professional fire smoke cleanup company such as SERVPRO.

Whenever partially combusted particles circulate throughout your home, burnt smells can develop. During any fire damage cleanup project in Portage, our SERVPRO team knows that removing all of the soot can eliminate many of these unpleasant aromas. However, in some cases, the smoke deeply penetrates porous materials and causes foul odors to linger. If the bad smells still exist after all soot and soils are removed, then we often conduct other deodorization techniques. Any deodorization methods though will only work for a limited time if the source of the aromas is not found and removed.

For general deodorization purposes after fire damage, we can use masking or time release gels, solid blocks with perfumes, and oil saturated with chemicals. Using these items we can generate strong pleasant odors that can cover up malodor particles. We often use masking agents in the re-odorization of the airspace and HVAC systems.

Pairing agents are chemicals that are designed to combine with a malodor to form a new odorless compound. This method is an example of odor modification where the deodorant changes the chemical structure of the malodor substance. Pairing agents can be added to general cleaning products, put into a thermal fogger, or sprayed onto primary sources of foul odors. If you ever need help eliminating burnt aromas that linger in your home after something burns, call SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Storms Often Damage Roofs Resulting In Water Entering The Homes

4/5/2022 (Permalink)

Storm damage from high winds affected the roof of a Valparaiso home and let rainwater enter an attic. The homeowner called SERVPRO late at night, and our emergency response team arrived a short time later. 

The technicians scoped the attic and determined the water entered the attic through damaged roofing. They immediately tarped over the compromised area of the roof to prohibit any further water from entering.  

The sheetrock wicked much of the incoming water and required removal as it was too saturated to save through drying. The mitigation of fiberglass insulation happens on a case-by-case basis. If it has absorbed too much water, it is removed and discarded. In this case, the fiberglass insulation was slightly wet. Fortunately, it could be removed using our large insulation vacuum and bagged for drying in another area for reinstallation after completion on the attic mitigation.  

The removal of sheetrock and insulation often causes dust to travel, to limit the chances of this occurring; the SERVPRO technicians contained the entryway to the attic with heavy plastic. Because of the limited space in the attic, portable pumps were the choice to extract the remaining rainwater after removal of the damaged sheetrock and wet insulation.  

Moisture detection confirmed because of fast action by the homeowner calling SERVPRO, the water affected only the attic, and the ceiling below received no damage. Once we located the remaining areas of moisture, the drying phase of restoration began.  

Many people make the mistake of setting up fans to dry a wet attic. This method is a setup for more significant issues as it dries the surface, not anything below. SERVPRO uses air movers which are small, powerful machines that blow high-velocity air over surfaces and cause the moisture deeply embedded in building materials and objects to rise. It is then captured using dehumidifiers and ported out of the area.  

Once the technicians confirmed the moisture readings met drying goals in the attic, they cleaned and disinfected the area. Our location offers building services and to make the restoration process seamless without delay. Technicians offered suggestions on roof repairs we could perform with approval of the adjuster and homeowner to return the home to its pre-water loss condition. 

SERVPRO of Porter County is available 24-hours at (219) 476-1883 to assist with storm damage in your home. We arrive quickly and perform cleanup and restoration services to make your water loss "Like it never even happened."

Did You Know? SERVPRO Is The Leader In Water Damage Restoration In Portage

3/31/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Explains Why Fast Water Cleanup Can Save Losses to Portage Properties

Water can wind up in places it was never meant to be in your home in a lot of different ways. Plumbings failures, appliance leaks and storms can deliver flash floods that have the potential to bring both water and contaminants into the home. The faster water cleanup begins, the more chance to mitigate losses to your home.

When we get the emergency call to come to your Portage home for water damage, our technicians are highly trained to access the type of water damage in the house and the most proactive restoration methods to save as many affected building structures and possessions as possible. Why SERVPRO? You can be assured of 24-hour response to your water loss emergency from our technicians who will be on the job within hours after your call.

We have numerous resources to remove the water during the extraction phase. Techs use pumps, wet vacuums, and for large jobs, we have truck mounted extractors that can handle thousands of gallons of water. Weighted extraction wands push water trapped in carpet padding so a drenched carpet does not automatically mean the carpeting cannot dry in place.

After water extraction, the premises can be dried. SERVPRO techs choose the best set-up for each unique situation. Our resources include air movers, high-velocity axial fans and dehumidifiers. Industrial heaters are used when necessary as another tool in our arsenal to rapidly decrease moisture levels and dry items inside the structure quickly and thoroughly.

Mold and bacteria are always a concern after any water event, and SERVPRO technicians use powerful antifungal and antibacterial cleaning solutions to inhibit mold growth on the surfaces and objects affected by moisture. Our goal is always to restore rather than replace, and we employ numerous restoration techniques to achieve this result whenever possible.

Our SERVPRO of Porter County water cleanup team serves the local area with our emergency services. Call (219) 476-1883 any time day or night and we can go to work for you to get your home back to preloss conditions.

Sunset Hill Farm Park is one of the many parks you can enjoy on a pretty day, click here for a list of all the parks so you can plan your next visit.

Signs of Possible Imminent Water Damage in Your Westville Home

3/31/2022 (Permalink)

Scaling in Plumbing Can Cause Water Damage to Westville Homes 

While many homeowners do not consider the condition of the indoor plumbing in their Westville home until there is a problem, understanding its status and integrity can help you to determine when servicing is a wise decision. Often homeowners learn too late that their plumbing has degraded to the point of failure. Worse still, some problems can occur to your pipes that you cannot see with the naked eye like scaling and buildup.
 
Knowing what can happen within the pipes of your home can help you to prevent unnecessary water damage in Westville, or at least prepare to act quickly if it does occur. The supply of water into your property comes with minerals that either could not get removed during treatment and cleaning or were determined beneficial to leave in the supply. Iron, manganese, and calcium are examples of minerals that can deposit themselves on the lining of the plumbing and begin to build up to the point of obstruction.
 
You can often tell that certain substances are in the water coming into your home by buildup on fixtures or staining in sinks and bathtubs. While this does not necessarily indicate that buildup is throttling the water through the pipes, it can let you know that the possibility exists. Inspections of the pipes by our SERVPRO contractors can help to note specific problem areas.
 
The risk with scaling and buildup is an increase in the pressure within the line as water struggles to move through a shrinking space. This pressure difference can cause damage to the lines, permitting leaks, separations, and other concerns. Our SERVPRO rapid response team can identify the source of the break quickly, even within wall cavities, with the use of our leak detection equipment. Our professionals can dry out the damaged elements quickly to preserve construction materials and prevent unnecessary reconstruction when possible.
 
Buildup on the inside of your indoor plumbing might be challenging to diagnose, but knowing how to restore the damage to the property can help to protect your investment in your home. Give our SERVPRO of Porter County rapid response team a call anytime at (219) 476-1883.
 
Click here for more about Westville.

SERVPRO Is The Industry Experts!

3/30/2022 (Permalink)

In many of these fires, however, the fire starts and is contained in a certain area of a home or business.  Even though containment eliminates the necessity for complete demolition and reconstruction, it is still necessary for proper cleaning of soot and smoke.  Smoke and soot have a way of getting into places that do not seem possible.  Proper cleaning and deodorization are vital in order to restore your business or home to preloss conditions.  

Fires are extremely dangerous, leaving you with nothing.  Always remember to check your smoke alarms to make sure they are working properly.  In business, you need to make sure you check all the outlets and make sure you do not have too much into one outlet. 

There are so many different ways to avoid a fire, but so many ways that can go unnoticed by the average eye.  Make sure you have a Fire Marshall check your commercial building often.  

In the instance of any type of emergency in your business or home please call SERVPRO of Porter County! We are faster to any disaster and are here to make things "Like it never even happened."

It's Important To Know What To Do & To Know How To Put It Into Action

3/30/2022 (Permalink)

Knowing what to do in a crisis is very different from putting this information into action for a damaged Portage property. Flooding is something that many homes throughout Porter County have contended with as long as our team has been serving the area, and it is the homeowners that know how to reduce the pressing severity of the situation that can modify both the time spent restoring the property and its ultimate cost when this project completes.

With multiple facets to flood damage in Portage residences, any step you can take to lessen these effects can improve efficiency for cleanup and restoration efforts. Homeowners can take preliminary steps, but only in waiting for professionals like our SERVPRO team to arrive. Our technicians have the experience to contend with widespread loss incidents, and arrive with specialized equipment for rapid extraction, drying, cleaning, and disinfection. There are ways you can help before and during the earliest stages of disaster to protect your property and its contents:

Pay Attention to Changing Weather Conditions
Homeowners often have brief warnings before flooding, and other natural disasters occur. In this time, you can work to gather sentimental items and the occupants of your home together to get to safety.

Ensure Spouts for Sump Pumps Stay Clear
Over time, drainage for sump pumps inside the property can get covered. This blockage can go unnoticed until the next potential flooding scenario. To reduce the presence of floodwater in the lower levels, you can ensure that this sump pump runs optimally before our SERVPRO team arrives.

Shut Off Utilities Before Leaving
You might know the safest place for you is not at home during a flood, but many forget to stop their utilities that remain at risk for damages or compromising failures when exposed to floodwater and debris.

There are ways that you can improve the efficiency of restoration and recovery when it begins on your home. Whenever flood loss incidents arise, regardless of their severity, you can count on our SERVPRO of Porter County team to make it “Like it never even happened.” Give us a call anytime that you need us at (219) 476-1883.

For more about Portage click here.

How to Remediate a Flood Damaged

3/29/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Can Assist With Flood Damage Mitigation In Your Bar!

Your bar needs to be sanitary and inviting to your customers. Storms can bring flash flooding that can catch businesses in Portage by surprise. Flood water consists of Cat 3 Black Water, which can severely contaminate buildings and potentially cause health risks for customers, forcing companies to shut down. We know that it's crucial for you to get back on your feet as soon as possible, which is why we can rapidly address damage you may have suffered from flooding.

Our professionals are Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) certified and can provide commercial flood damage restoration services to your Portage bar. We can arrive at times most convenient for your company to begin the water removal process. After assessing the damage, our technicians can begin removing standing water with the assistance of industrial grade wet vacs and pumps. Additionally, they can remove debris and irreparably damaged materials such as stools, tables, and contaminated carpeting.

Unfortunately, flood water can contaminate and damage walls in your business. Our techs can drill ventilation holes to draw out and capture moisture trapped in walls with the use of air movers and dehumidifiers. Because your walls can wick flood water upwards, partial demolition of the lower section of affected walls can be done to prevent further damage. If necessary, we perform this service during lulls in your business or during off hours when your customers will be least disturbed.

To ensure that your bar remains sanitary and safe for customers, we can spray down your bar with disinfectant sprays designed to kill off any contaminants or bacteria potentially contained in Cat 3 flood water. 

Flood water can severely disrupt or even completely shut down your bar, which is why it is vital to select professionals who can quickly address all your flood-related problems. So if you have experienced flood damage, call SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 because we can make you feel "Like it never even happened."

Read more about Portage here.

Ask SERVPRO - My Commercial Building Is Soaked; Now What?

3/24/2022 (Permalink)

Finding your grocery store flooded disrupts any plans you have for the day since you have to remove the water to restore normal operations. The incident might also disrupt your business for days or weeks that follow as you clean up the structure and contents. Sometimes water removal may also involve tearing down and rebuilding sections such as internal walls to eliminate water trapped in concealed sections.

Following proper steps during commercial water removal in Valparaiso is necessary especially in a business that handles foodstuff. Failure to do so could lead to citations for health code violations. If there are clogged drains that lead to flooding or debris pushed into concealed areas by the water, there is a need to clean it up while extracting the water. Our SERVPRO technicians help check drains and carry out thorough cleaning as part of the water removal exercise.

There is a need to remove standing water fast from your premises. Although resuming business might be the main incentive, there are other reasons why expedited water removal is necessary. The standing water raises relative humidity in the entire property which can lead to deterioration of the foodstuff in your stock. Our SERVPRO technicians use different equipment to expedite water remove. We have truck-mounted water extractors that can remove thousands of gallons within a few hours. We also have portable extractors with internal storage tanks which help remove water from less accessible areas.

After extraction standing water, a considerable amount remains in the form of moisture in wet materials and the air. Drying such excess moisture helps overcome the problem entirely. This process involves evaporation then extraction of the moisture from the air. Our SERVPRO technicians use air movers to increase the rate of evaporation. We then use giant desiccant dehumidifiers or portable refrigerant dehumidifiers depending on the size of the area that requires drying.

In case of water loss at your Portege, Chesterton and Kouts business, call SERVPRO of Porter County to help remove the water. You can reach our crew at (219) 476-1883 any time. We’re Faster to Any Size Disaster.

Click here for more about Valparaiso.

Melting Snow Can Cause Flooding in Your Valparaiso Home

3/24/2022 (Permalink)

Melting Snow Can Penetrate Valparaiso Basements

Winter brings snow to Valparaiso, and that melting snow can leak into your basement. The ground, frozen during the winter, prevents surface water from being absorbed into the soil. However, when spring arrives, the ground temperature rises, and all of the surface water begins to be absorbed downward which can cause the water to seep into cracks in your basement walls and foundation. Ten inches of snow is equivalent to 1 inch of rainfall which doesn’t sound like much, but one inch of snow produces about 2,700 gallons of water per acre, and this water now has access to the inside of your property.

Flood damage in Valparaiso can result when the masonry used to construct the basement walls of your home eventually allows water to flow in unabated. While french drains can work to provide some diversion, construction in older homes occurred before this became a necessity in home construction. Our SERVPRO professionals can arrive quickly to help you find lasting solutions to the situation and to extract floodwaters from the lower level of the house.

We arrive quickly with all of the extraction equipment we might need from portable electric sump pumps to truck-mounted pumps that remove water very quickly. In these early stages, we also assess the access point for this flood damage to work to seal over these vulnerabilities with hydraulic cement to prevent further exposure and penetration. Once the water has gotten removed, we can focus on drying out the area and determining possible alternative solutions for lasting dryness in the basement.

Lingering moisture causes concern for the formation of mold colonies and other potential risks for your home. It is essential to resolve persistent dampness to protect your investment in the property. We have many solutions from the installation of sump pumps to a permanent dehumidifier in the area, both of which can help to maintain acceptable moisture levels in the problem area of your house.

Melting snow can create excessive pressure on masonry that becomes more and more vulnerable to age. Give our SERVPRO of Porter County response team a call anytime that you experience flood damages at (219) 476-1883.

Click here to see what was included in the city’s 1917 time capsule.

SERVPRO Tip - In Case Of A Disaster

3/24/2022 (Permalink)

1. Pack a "Go Bag"

If you have to leave your home in a hurry, you'll want to have some essentials packed and ready to go. Keep the following supplies, recommended by FEMA, in a portable container in the area of your house where you'll take shelter:

• Three days' worth of food and water (at least a gallon per family member)
• Battery powered (or hand crank) flashlights and radio
• Extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Trash bags and duct tape, along with a dust mask
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener for food
• Regional maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter, or solar charger
• Moist towelettes and any personal sanitation or specific family needs, like pet supplies

(For additional recommendations, be sure to check out ready.gov)

We also suggest having smaller versions of your kit stocked with a few necessities like walking shoes, snacks, and a flashlight at work. In general, you'll also need enough cash on hand for five days of basic needs (gas and food), but any amount of ready money will help if ATMs are down.

Once you have your supplies together, it pays to go through them at least once a year too, to weed out expired food and batteries.

2. Make an Action Plan

When things get chaotic, you want to make sure that every family member knows what to do. We suggest designating two meeting places (one close by and one a little further away in your neighborhood) and hang a map with the spots marked near your emergency kit.

It also pays to have important contacts written down if the power goes out and there's nowhere to charge your cell phone. Make a mini contact list — ready.gov has templates you can print out — with important numbers that everyone can stow in their wallets. Leave a copy in your emergency kit, too. Establish a plan for checking in with relatives in case local lines get jammed. Text messages will often go through, even when phone lines are clogged.

3. Prep Your Home

If the power goes out and you have time, unplug appliances and electronics and turn off air conditioners, whether you stay or go. This will prevent damage when the electricity surges back on. Leave one lamp on so you'll know when the power's back.

How you store food can also make a difference when it comes to salvaging items afterwards, according to the FSIS. If there's a chance of flooding, be sure to store dry goods in waterproof containers high enough that they will be safely out of the way of contaminated water.

Grouping food together in the freezer can help it stay colder longer in the case of a power outage. If you have advanced warning, freeze any items you don't need right away, like leftovers, milk, and fresh meat and poultry to keep them at a safe temperature longer and stock your freezer with as much ice as you can fit. Coolers stocked with ice can also be helpful if the power is out for more than four hours.

Though you'll want to minimize the amount you open and close your refrigerator door once the power goes out, FSIS recommends keeping an appliance thermometer in your fridge and freezer to help you determine if food is safe to eat. The refrigerator temperature should be lower than 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer temperature should be below zero degrees Fahrenheit.

After the Emergency

Coming home after a major disaster can be daunting. Call SERVPRO of Porter County to help you in the event your home is affected. We are faster to any disaster and are ready to help make things "Like it never even happened."

Why a Fast Remediation is Necessary to Prevent Further Water Damage on Your Home

11/7/2021 (Permalink)

Our 24/7 rapid response team is ready to handle your water damage.

How a Fast Response Protects Your Water-Damaged Chesterton Home

Many people can hear about the 24/7 response that our team has for water loss incidents and other emergencies that threaten your Chesterton home, but do not fully understand what this commitment entails. Not only does this dedication to our customers require our team to remain ready to roll out to an emergency at a moment’s notice, but it requires our whole crew to become equally educated and experienced in the restoration industry to provide every customer the high level of service and confident property recovery they have come to expect.

When it comes to water damage incidents that can occur in your Chesterton home, even ones that are not substantial loss situations, the need for a prompt response is still critical for exposed materials and structural elements throughout your property. The rapid response of our SERVPRO team hinges on our commitment to customer satisfaction and service, which ensures that your property gets the full mitigation and recovery solutions that it needs no matter what time of the day or night disasters strike.

Quick response for water damage ensures that the effects do not spread as far as they might for those that had to wait an extended period before help arrived. Our SERVPRO team can arrive fast with the full measure of our moisture detection and drying equipment to help address moisture pockets far out of sight as well as the immediate pressing concerns that can get easily seen throughout the house.

We have production trailers and service vehicles ready to roll out from our facility at a moment’s notice with the full measure of our equipment, including extractor trucks to handle substantial loss and standing water situations where the damage is severe. 

We know that water loss incidents can be costly and damaging to your property if they do not get addressed immediately. That is why you can always depend on the effective response, knowledge, and experience of our SERVPRO of Porter County professionals. Give us a call 24/7 at (219) 476-1883.

Chesterton was originally name Calumet. Read more here.

Got Water Damage in Your Home? Time to Call In SERVPRO for Restoration

11/7/2021 (Permalink)

Why Hire SERVPRO for Water Loss Service to Your Portage Home? Our Equipment, Skills and We're Faster To Any Size Disaster.

Is Your Portage Home Still Water Damaged?

If you sought to clean up and restore your Portage home on your own after a smaller-scale water damage incident, you would not be alone in this. Many times homeowners seek to save money on professional restoration through extraction and drying on their own. The unfortunate aspect of this approach is the likelihood that a problem persists beneath the surfaces you can see that could continue to degrade and erode structural elements or allow for secondary damaging effects like mold growth to begin.

Many homeowners do not even know that the problem has continued after their water cleanup until their Portage home continues to show signs of damages after the fact. Our professionals have tools and equipment designed to check our efforts through every step of the restoration process to ensure that your home gets sufficiently dried and the right steps get taken to preserve your property and its structural elements. Homeowners, on the other hand, do not typically have this equipment to check the success of their drying and moisture removal efforts.

One way that you can determine if water damage still exists in your home is to contact our SERVPRO professionals for a fast and effective assessment of the property. We can utilize technology like or thermal imagery cameras to identify moisture pockets in the formerly affected areas to determine if more actions must occur to remove any present dampness.

You can also trust in our SERVPRO team to arrive quickly when these situations initially occur. We offer a 24-hour response team designed to provide every customer with the full measure of our restoration services and trained technicians whenever disaster might strike. We have the resources that can help to preserve your construction materials and belongings, instead of often needing to result to tear out and reconstruction when water damage persists for longer periods.

While you might not be alone in wanting to save money and do your part to protect and clean up your home amid a water loss incident, often these situations are better for our trained professionals to handle. You can count on our SERVPRO of Porter County rapid response team, 24/7, by calling (219) 476-1883.

Here is city-data.

Don't Let Broken Gutters Allow Rain Waters Into Your Home!

10/5/2021 (Permalink)

You can count on our SERVPRO of Porter County 24-hour response team to help you restore your home to the way it used to be as promptly as possible.

Severe weather systems are a familiar occurrence to Chesterton homeowners, and construction projects throughout the area focus on waterproofing and safeguarding homes against potential storm damages. Among the most rudimentary, yet entirely essential, components of the water diversion efforts of your home are the gutter systems surrounding the perimeter of the roof. When this system fails, the results could prove catastrophic for the unprepared residence.

 Among the worst of possibilities for a failing gutter system surrounding your Chesterton residence is flood damage. When the gutters clog or split apart at the rivets, high volumes of water can now flow down the sides of your home or pour directly onto the ground beside your foundation. This pooling water against the foundation of your home creates a pressurized pocket which works to force its way through vulnerabilities in the blockwork into the basement or crawlspace of your house.

Our SERVPRO professionals can respond quickly amid a flooding crisis to help mitigate the situation as efficiently as possible. Locating the vulnerable points in the blockwork can aid our technicians in stopping this penetration and drying up the flow of floodwaters into your residence. Once this point has gotten located, our specialists can apply compounds like hydraulic cement to these vulnerable areas to prevent further water flow.

It is important for our SERVPRO team to get a full scope of the affected areas and damage as we begin the process of extracting water. With flooding happening in the lower levels of your home, it is critical to dry up the damage as efficiently as we can to reduce the possibility of secondary effects like mold growth. Within days, mold spores can seat and spread throughout the damaged area to colonize.

 Regular inspections of your gutter system can help prevent this flooding condition, but there are still many ways that your property can get affected by severe weather systems and natural disasters. You can count on our SERVPRO of Porter County 24-hour response team to help you restore your home to the way it used to be as promptly as possible. Give us a call anytime at (219) 476-1883.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

Do You Know What Makes Soot Damage Challenging For Your Home?

9/30/2021 (Permalink)

Fire damage is not for a homeowner to contend with on their own.

No disaster that impacts your Portage home only leaves one effect to contend with, no matter how straightforward the damage might seem. With situations like fires, multiple effects spread all throughout your home, even stretching well beyond the source of the blaze and its affected areas. Overcoming these effects can be challenging for even trained technicians, and understanding why can help illustrate the importance of choosing the right restoration company for the job.

Of all of the fire damages that could affect your Portage home following a blaze, one of the most wide-spreading and challenging of these is soot damage. This effect is a result of incomplete combustion that takes place as organic materials throughout your home burn in a fire. These particles spread throughout the environment and cling to surfaces that they come into contact with throughout their travel.

 One of the most troublesome things about soot damage in your home is how far spread from the source of the fire that these effects can get. The particles themselves are light and can travel far just by floating and through the movement of those working on restoring your home. Since many people still have their air circulation appliances on when they escape from their damaged home, these particles can find their way into the ventilation systems and ductwork of your home, providing an even greater challenge for our SERVPRO technicians to overcome.

The removal of soot can often be as simple as our SERVPRO professionals wiping the residue away with dry sponges, or sponges with a wet cleaning solution. Stubborn particles clinging to the walls and ceilings require high-powered vacuums, and this is a similar approach taken when addressing soot present throughout the ductwork in a residence.

 Fire damage is not for a homeowner to contend with on their own. With the widespread nature of many of the effects that a fire can leave behind, seeking professional assistance like our certified team can help you return your home to pre-fire conditions quickly. Give our SERVPRO of Porter County emergency response team a call whenever you need us at (219) 476-1883.

Click here for more about Portage.

SERVPRO Is Prepared To Restore Your Home After A Fire

9/30/2021 (Permalink)

Our certified crews are prepared with the right equipment to remove soot and smoke from your home so you can safely return.

Restoration Options When Your Burns Harbor Home Suffers Fire Damage

The aftermath of a fire in your Burns Harbor house can present a broad range of cleaning, sorting, and remediation challenges. Ordinary cleaning methods and conventional assumptions about safety can fail you as you pick up the pieces. Finding a fire mitigation company you can trust with the training, equipment, and experience to guide you through the process is crucial. We would be honored to help. 

The vision of the fire damage in your Burns Harbor home immediately after the firefighters take their leave is almost always overwhelming. Unlike regular dirt, the soiling left by fire residues is highly toxic and must be removed by our trained technicians following proper protocols. Frequently we can devise containment strategies that allow your family to live in the house while we work. Sealing off the damaged space with heavy-duty plastic sheeting and employing advanced technologies like negative pressure air scrubbers to filter and vent contaminants are services we offer.

Our crew lead might advise a pack out alternative to bring tarnished and soot-encrusted household goods and personal possessions to our climate-controlled, secure production facility for specialized cleaning methods. SERVPRO uses a comprehensive  Contents Claim Inventory Service (CCIS)to inventory and track items. Digital pictures and bar-coding assures we return or account for items, providing clear documentation for your insurer and peace of mind for you and your loved ones.  

Rarely considered until the fire damage is done are concerns about food and product safety after the heat and smoke of a fire. SERVPRO technicians help homeowners make decisions about food, cleaning, and personal care items exposed to potential contamination during the blaze and the fire extinguishing. High temperatures and the infiltration of soot even past the seals of jars, refrigerators, and freezers can expose your family and pets to spoiled and tainted food. Lotions, soaps, and medications used after fire damage similarly risk injuring people and animals.

SERVPRO crews are familiar with these and many other complications of fire damage. We help assess the risk and come up with solutions that make it “Like it never even happened,” as quickly as possible. 

SERVPRO of Porter County comes to your fire scene with the people and resources necessary to put the disaster in the past fast. Contact us at (219) 476-1883 for assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Check out the trails in Burns Harbor click here for more information.

Call SERVPRO If Wind Damages Your Valparaiso Home Today!

9/20/2021 (Permalink)

High winds from storms are common in Indiana. Call SERVPRO to mitigate the storm damage from your home.

Wind Damages to Your Valparaiso Home Can Cause Flooding

High-powered storms can cause all manner of concerns for Valparaiso homes. From removing siding to damaging roofs, heavy storms can leave homes exposed to water and flooding damages. Preventing these situations can be challenging, but it begins with accurate assessments of the condition of your structural elements outside of your home, and fast response to concerns as they happen to prevent water penetration and flooding as much as possible.

Storms and winds to your Valparaisohome can be exceptionally damaging. With the ability to knock down trees and limbs, remove siding from your home, damage your roof, or break windows and other vulnerable points of your house, high winds can cause plenty of structural concerns for the property. Our SERVPRO team can respond quickly to these situations to install emergency boarding or tarps to prevent elemental penetration from precipitation or runoff while we assess the full scope of the damage and mitigate your losses within the house.

As flooding can occur quickly following damage to your home, quickly extracting the excess water is critical to mitigating your loss and protecting the contents of your home from becoming unsalvageable. Our SERVPRO professionals can work quickly with extraction tools and equipment to remove the excess from the affected areas to allow for drying efforts to begin.

Our contracting division can assess the scope of the damage to both the exterior and interior of your home to begin removing damaged elements for reconstruction efforts to begin. With our contractors, we can seamlessly transition between this needed build back service and the restoration work to follow. These combined services can save our customers money and valuable time in recovering their home after storm and flood damages.

While you cannot predict the points in whichstormsbecome violent or powerful enough to damage your property, you can have the right team in mind to set things right again once it does. OurSERVPROof Porter County rapid response team can arrive quickly with the experience and equipment to make a difference. Give us a call anytime you need us at (219) 476-1883.

Clickherefor information about Rogers-Lakewood Park.

SERVPRO Is Porter County's 24 Hour Emergency Water Damage Service

9/20/2021 (Permalink)

We Answer the Phone Ready to Help Call Today - 219-476-1883

SERVPRO of Porter County is available 24 hours a day for water emergencies, large or small. When you are dealing with water damage, immediate action is crucial. A delay of just a few hours can greatly increase the severity of the water damage.

We Answer the Phone Ready to Help
Call Today - 219-476-1883

We understand that when you call us, you may be feeling confused, stressed, and vulnerable. You need an expert to guide you through this crisis. SERVPRO of Porter County has the specific water damage training and experience to help you through this tough time. We specialize in water damage restoration—in fact, it's the cornerstone of our business.

What to Expect

When you call, we will ask several questions regarding your water damage emergency. These questions will help us determine what equipment and resources to bring, including how many trained SERVPRO Professionals may be needed.

Our SERVPRO Representative will ask several questions:

• Your name and contact information
• Your insurance information (if applicable)
• The street address of the water-damaged home or business
• When did the flooding or water damage occur?
• What caused the water damage (if known)?
• Is there electricity available (on-site)?

About SERVPRO of Porter County

SERVPRO of Porter County specializes in the cleanup and restoration of residential and commercial property after a fire, smoke or water damage event. Our staff is highly trained in property damage restoration. From initial and ongoing training at SERVPRO’s corporate training facility to regular IICRC-industry certification, rest assured our staff is equipped with the knowledge to restore your property.

Who Do You Call? Valparaiso Properties Need SERVPRO for Water Loss Mitigation

9/20/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Removes Water from Valparaiso Homes to Mitigate Water Damage, Sorry Rubber Duckies!!

A Kitchen Leak Could Mean Water Damage for Your Valparaiso Home

The kitchen in your Valparaiso home is often a high traffic area with much activity throughout the day. From the meals that get prepared in the room to the work like washing the dishes and loading the appliances, even a minor incident in this room could be disastrous for the dynamics of your house. Even a leak in one of the fixtures, or from the dishwasher, could present a situation that needs immediate attention from trained restoration specialists like ours.

You might not think of a leak as something that leads to water damages for your Valparaiso home, but over even a brief period, the water can saturate into materials and cabinetry to pose a significant threat to the structural integrity of these items as well as potentially lead to secondary effects like mold growth. The best solution to prevent a persistent threat like this is to get the source repaired and the damage restored by our SERVPRO professionals.

We can help you to determine the source of the issue, even if it is inside of wall cavities. Many indoor plumbing networks get hidden behind the walls of your home for aesthetic reasons, but this can often prove problematic when you have to narrow down the origins of a water leak or pipe rupture. Our SERVPRO technicians have thermal imagery FLIR cameras, moisture sensors, and leak detection equipment to pinpoint an almost exact location of your water damage source to limit unnecessary material removal.

With saturation, materials can get affected without you realizing how severe the damage has become. Our professionals can draw out this moisture with the use of several pieces of our advanced equipment to remove the moisture and prevent the appropriate conditions existing to promote mold growth in your house. We carry industry-leading, pumps, air movers, axial fans, and several types of dehumidifiers along with IICRC certified technicians in our Green Fleet.

While you might not think of a leak or dripping fixture as a source of widespread water damage, this happens much more frequently than you might believe. If you encounter water damages of any kind, trust our SERVPRO of Porter County specialists to help make things right. Give us a call anytime that you need us at (219) 476-1883.

Click here to learn more about our area of Indiana.

After A Fire, Why Should You Contact SERVPRO?

9/20/2021 (Permalink)

It might feel overwhelming to look at the damage but recovering from this loss only takes a single phone call.

Advanced Equipment For Fire Restoration In Your Chesterton Home

You might not be thinking initially about restoration and returning your Chesterton home to original condition when firefighters work to put out the flames. Once the fire has gotten extinguished, and you can get a look at the damage that even a smaller scale incident can cause, you can see the benefits of professional restoration and a fast response like our technicians can provide.

What you might not know about fire damages to your Chesterton home is how varied they can be regarding the equipment necessary to overcome the effects and the time spent to restore the damage. With a franchise that can respond 24-hours a day, like our SERVPRO emergency response team, you can begin the necessary steps to protect your property from further harm while the steps get taken to secure insurance claims to afford the full restoration package that our company provides.

You should contact our SERVPRO team before you even call your insurance company because our highly trained professionals dispatched to your address can compile the needed information that your provider requires to approve a claim made for a fire in your home. We can catalog damages, assess loss, and estimate the costs of restoration approaches needed to return your home to preloss condition.

A good reason that you should choose our restoration team is the advanced equipment that we use to ensure that our projects get thoroughly completed and as efficient as possible. This advanced technology gets designed to help us overcome soot and smoke damages throughout your property with high-powered vacuums and thermal fogging, clean up the damage that these effects have caused, restore water damage with air movers and dehumidification equipment and more.

It might feel overwhelming to look at the damage even a smaller fire incident in your home can cause but recovering from this loss only takes a single phone call. Our SERVPRO of Porter County rapid response team is available 24/7 to help you through any emergency that you face. Give us a call today at (219) 476-1883.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

With SERVPRO As the Instructor, Valparaiso Aces Water Removal!

8/30/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Removes Water and Preserves Valparaiso Buildings "Like it never even happened."

Answers To The Water Damage Tests in a College Town Like Valparaiso

Several institutes of higher education make their homes in Valparaiso. Students and the businesses that support them need fast and efficient solutions to water damage that interrupts any aspect of college life. Delays and distractions are the last things students need as they complete their studies. We can help minimize the pressure to return things to normal, “Like it never even happened.”

Students off on their own for the first time can make mistakes that result in water damage to apartments or dormitories surrounding Valparaiso’s universities and other post-secondary schools. Overflowing tubs and showers or failure to notice when fixtures and appliances are malfunctioning can cause significant water incursions. Residential units stacked on several stories permit the water to migrate between floors, meaning a problem in one dorm room or student apartment becomes a crisis for many.

SERVPRO water mitigation crews are highly trained and certified by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification (IICRC). Every one of our employees is familiar with the best practices in the industry, skilled in using the specialized equipment we use to remove standing water and dry out saturated structural components. We follow the traces left by water moving throughout a building, ensuring that all spaces receive water extraction and targeted drying services.

Water damage restoration requires many steps, and SERVPRO plans for every part of a successful project. We use sensitive moisture meters and infrared scanning devices to locate all water damage and trapped moisture hiding in cavities or recesses. Water between floors or walls releases when we use a variety of strategies including flood cuts when several inches of water spreads across a level or holes in mortar joints in cinder block construction, common in multi-unit dwellings.

High power air movers, heaters, and desiccant or evaporative dehumidifiers create a balance leading to swift structural drying when positioned and adjusted by our certified psychrometry experts. SERVPRO ensures our crews are comfortable with the efforts needed to dry all building materials quickly and thoroughly, even large residences with many living spaces housing different tenants and also featuring common areas and even dining and laundry facilities.

If a water damage scenario in one room or unit of a college residence hall or student apartments spreads water damage among many living areas, SERVPRO of Porter County has the technicians and equipment to manage the problem.

Get students back to the books fast by calling (219) 476-1883.

• More about a Valpo education here

SERVPRO Of Porter County Is Ready When Storms Or Floods Hit!

8/30/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Porter County specializes in storm and flood damage restoration. Have Storm or Flood Damage? Call Us Today 219-476-1883

SERVPRO of Porter County specializes in storm and flood damage restoration.  Our crews are highly trained and we use specialized equipment to restore your property to its pre-storm condition.

Faster Response

Since we are locally owned and operated, we are able to respond quicker with the right resources, which is extremely important. A fast response lessens the damage, limits further damage, and reduces the restoration cost.

Resources to Handle Floods and Storms

When storms hit Porter County, we can scale our resources to handle a large storm or flooding disaster. We can access equipment and personnel from a network of 1,650 Franchises across the country and elite Disaster Recovery Teams that are strategically located throughout the United States.

Have Storm or Flood Damage? Call Us Today 219-476-1883

Residents of Porter County: SERVPRO Specializes In Flooded Basement Cleanup and Restoration!

8/30/2021 (Permalink)

Basement Flooded? Call Us Today – We’re Ready To Help 219-476-1883

A basement can flood at any time, although flooding most often occurs during heavy rainfall. Basements are inherently prone to flooding because they are the lowest level of a building and are normally built partly or entirely below ground level. There are a number of reasons why your Porter County basement could flood, including: 

• A blocked or failed sewer lateral pipe
• Heavy rain causes surface water to pool around your home
• Storm sewer backup
• Sanitary sewer backup
• Foundation drainage failure
• Water supply-line break or hot-water tank failure
• And many more

Have Questions about Basement Flooding?

Call Today - 219-476-1883

If flood water is not handled quickly and properly, it can jeopardize your health and safety, and cause severe damage to your home’s structure. Remember, the longer you wait, the worse the problem will get.

The bottom line: a flooded basement can jeopardize your health, safety, and your home’s integrity. It’s worth making a call to SERVPRO of Porter County and let our trained, professional crews handle the situation safely and correctly. We have earned the trust of hundreds of homeowners, business owners, and property professionals.

We are Flooded Basement Specialists:

• We are Available 24 hours/7 days per week
• We’re a Preferred Vendor to many National Insurance Companies
• We Bill The Insurance Directly – One Less Thing For You To Worry About
• Our Technicians are Highly-Trained  in Water Restoration Techniques
• We use s500 IICRC Restoration Standards
• Advanced Inspection and Extraction Equipment

After Water Damages Your Porter County Commercial Property - What Now?

8/9/2021 (Permalink)

By choosing Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, you, your employees, your customers, and your community can rest assured you are Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned!

Flooding and water damage events at Porter County commercial properties are often complex with numerous issues that require a knowledgeable and flexible response. Whether we’re dealing with a relatively small water cleanup scenario or a large scale event, we work quickly to assess each unique situation and isolate the damaged area. In many instances, normal operations can continue in a temporary space while we restore your facility.

Restoring Commercial Properties Presents Unique Challenges

Our professionals are trained to be mindful of legal and environmental concerns and strive to fully restore the damaged area while working within your budgetary constraints. We understand that every hour spent cleaning up is an hour of lost revenue and productivity. So when an emergency situation arises in your business, give us a call and we’ll be there fast with the help you need.

About SERVPRO of Porter County

SERVPRO of Porter County specializes in the cleanup and restoration of commercial and residential property after a water damage event. Our staff is highly trained in property damage restoration. From initial and ongoing training at SERVPRO’s corporate training facility to regular IICRC-industry certification, rest assured our staff is equipped with the knowledge to restore your property.

You Need Our Team At SERVPRO If A Fire Has Damaged Your Chesterton Home

8/9/2021 (Permalink)

When we arrive, our crew chief evaluates the fire damage to your Chesterton home and creates a restoration plan.

What To Expect From Our Fire Damage Restoration In Chesterton

Although every fire scenario is a bit different when a highly-qualified restoration company takes on the damage done to your Chesterton home a pattern emerges. Our company takes training and preparation for our work crews very seriously. The crew members qualify as fire restoration experts both through their mastery of Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) courses and hands-on job experience.

When we arrive, our crew chief evaluates the fire damage to your Chesterton home and creates a restoration plan. The first step is typically removal of water and chemicals left by the firefighting efforts, a safety and efficiency measure. If needed, tarping and boarding up of severely damaged areas also occurs to protect the interior from the elements.

SERVPRO then works with you and your insurance company to decide if furnishings and personal possessions need a pack out to an undamaged space on your property or to our production facility. Moving items out of the way have two clear benefits. It permits members of our production team to use specialized cleaning and recovery techniques on a wide range of items. It also clears out the fire damaged areas inside your home for more efficient cleanup and restoration.

Crews go to work cleaning soot damage, matching the types of residues to appropriate tools and products. Research-based methods include vacuuming, dry and wet sponging, foam cleaning, abrasive cleaners and tools, and solvents, among others, depending on the source and consistency of the soiling. SERVPRO crew members move systematically through your home, taking care not to recontaminate cleaned areas.

We might make use of air scrubbers during the cleaning phases, dividing the home into sections and filtering and venting the air outside to improve indoor air quality and to remove airborne residues. SERVPRO invests in state of the art equipment that speeds the restoration process and keeps you and your family safer during the project. During the final period of the job we often use advanced deodorization machines like thermal foggers and hydroxyl generators to eradicate or neutralize the chemical composition of the tiny particles of soot that carry malodors.

Rely on SERVPRO of Porter County to bring to your fire restoration needs the most highly-qualified technicians, advanced equipment, and effective products. Call us at (219) 476-1883 immediately after the firefights leave so we can get started.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

Don't Let Mold Become Problematic! SERVPRO Is Here To SERVE Your Portage Home!

6/11/2021 (Permalink)

Visible mold often indicates hidden mold damage. SERVPRO has the expertise to remove and eliminate the mold.

How Mold Growth Impacts Your Portage Residence

As much as you work to keep your Portage home maintained and free from potential hazards and issues, circumstances can occur that are out of your control. A particularly devastating situation like mold growth in your residence requires immediate attention to overcome and is typically not something that a homeowner can successfully remove on their own. Understanding the effects of mold growth could help you appreciate the need for professional remediation work like ours.

Many homeowners do not fully understand the effects of mold damage to their Portage home. Some have dealt with mold growing up in their childhood homes or have encountered a situation like this before, and so they do not put much thought into what makes the mold growth problematic. In truth, the organism can cause considerable risks for the home that you live in, and even cause potential problems for those living in the house. These concerns can get alleviated by our IICRC certified SERVPRO remediation technicians.

Homeowners do not often even realize they have a mold concern until it has spread to the point where it affects their regular living spaces directly. Many situations find mold growth occurring in a damp crawl space underneath the house. Since this is not a highly trafficked or inspected area of the property, mold can spread until it begins to move up through floor supports, first floor walls, and the flooring material before a homeowner can recognize it.

By this point, the colony has spread to the point where it is adversely affecting materials. As the organism grows and thrives, it feeds on organic materials the colony seats into, requiring sophisticated techniques from our SERVPRO professionals to remove. If it is allowed to persist for too long, the only solution to remove the damaging colony is to tear out the affected materials and reconstruct.

Mold remediation is not something that many homeowners expect to need throughout the years, but with a fast response to potential problems, it can save you money and time. Our SERVPRO of Porter County remediation technicians are available 24/7 by calling (219) 476-1883.

Imagination Glen is the largest park in Portage.  The park includes a BMX race track and the Outback Mountain Bike trail.  Click here for more information.

When Water Damage Infringes Your Business, SERVPRO of Porter County Is Here To Help

6/11/2021 (Permalink)

There is never a good time for water damage invading your firm from a plumbing failure, but there are times it can be more disruptive to your business than others. Case in point, no time is busier in a tax preparation office than the first few months of the year until April 15th.
 
When SERVPRO is called to turn around commercial water damage in a Valparaiso business, our goal is to return daily operations to normal with as little disruption to daily activities as possible. During the initial phone call, the technician determines the type of water cleanup needed and the resources required to clean up the business, so it is ready for customers.
 
Customers physically visit tax preparation offices with their documents and the establishment needs to not only be hygienic for their health and safety, but it also needs to look and smell clean. After extracting water from the premises using truck-mounted pumps for speed, SERVPRO technicians move on to the drying step of the restoration process. High-powered fans are deployed with humidifiers at specific angles to move moist air up and out. Saturated floor mats are removed for drying and desks and chairs are elevated on blocks to allow for complete drying of the legs.
 
Once dry, surfaces are wiped down with powerful antifungal and antibacterial cleaning solutions to ensure there are contaminants or microbes left on anything wet and inhibits the potential for mold growth. Our Odor Control Technicians follow up with any necessary applications needed to neutralize any residual water odor remaining completely.
 
After the technicians are done with the restoration, a thorough inspection is conducted to ensure all remediation points have been completed and the business facility is safe for both employees and customers coming to get their taxes filed.
 
Commercial water damage does not have to interrupt productivity. Call SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 and our team of certified technicians can be on-site at your location within hours to remove all signs there was a problem.

SERVPRO Tips - Know When To Call The Professionals When Water Damage Hits

6/11/2021 (Permalink)

While some water-leakage problems in your home may leave you in need of professional water removal services, not all of them do. Sometimes, with a little guidance, you can clean up the water by yourself and avoid the extra cost of calling professionals to your home.  It all depends on the size of the leak, and if it has been allowed enough time to cause water damage. 

If you had not found the overflowing sink in your bathroom right away, you would have found yourself in need local Valparaiso water removal services. However, because you found the overflowing sink as soon as the problem started, you were able to stop the flow of water immediately. When it comes to water leaks, fast action is what minimizes damages. 

Most people would assume using some towels to clean up the puddle on your bathroom floor, along with a mop, would be sufficient enough job. However, here at SERVPRO, we recommend you take a few extra steps, to ensure that water damage doesn't become a possibility. The most important aspect of cleaning up a water spill is to ensure that no excess moisture remains behind and that you check underneath the sink-vanity as well. 

To clean up the water, using a mixture of towels and a mop is adequate. However, if you happen to own a wet/dry vacuum, it can help you clean up the spill faster. Once the water is gone, SERVPRO recommends for you to consider putting a space heater inside of your bathroom. The heater can help encourage any excess moisture left behind to evaporate, helping you avoid any water damage. It is especially wise to place it near the vanity, to ensure that hot and dry air is hitting the underside. Otherwise, it may be hard to remove all of the moisture adequately. 

When it comes to small water spills, it is always a possibility to remove the water yourself, so long as you do not wait too long. However, should you feel unsure about handling the water, or worried that you may not do the job well, you can always reach out for help and call SERVPRO. Remember, We're Faster To Any Size Disaster. 

When you need professional water removal services, never wait. Get in touch with SERVPRO of Porter County by dialing (219) 476-1883. Whenever you need us, we are ready to help. 

Valparaiso, IN

Fire Smell Go Away, Do Not Come Back Another Day!

4/20/2021 (Permalink)

Fire incidents can cause several uncertainties including whether the property can regain its preloss state. Perhaps the most daunting task is removing the noxious odor left after the fire. In many cases, it requires a combination of approaches to achieve the desired results. We have IICRC certified Odor Control Technicians that can inspect your property and apply the right strategies to restore your home to its preloss state.
 
Partially burnt contents and other residues contribute most of the odor after an incident of fire damage in Valparaiso. Removing burnt remains and cleaning up surfaces, helps reduce the smell. Since it is possible to restore some items ruined by the fire, our SERVPRO technicians move salvageable and questionable items to offsite facilities for thorough restorative cleaning. Such removal allows us to establish whether there are other odor sources, necessitating further deodorization.
 
Odor-causing substances penetrate materials in different forms. In cases of fires, they are in aerosol or gaseous form. Deodorization is more effective when the removal process replicates the method of deposit so that the deodorizing agent can penetrate as far as the malodor. Our SERVPRO technicians use fogging equipment such as the ULV, Ultra Low Volume fogger that produces a fine mist with particles 8-15 microns in size. The deodorizing agent combines with the odor particles neutralizing them. IICRC training ensures that we take all the necessary precautions including removing pets, plants, and people from the areas we plan to fog.
 
After fires, some particles remain airborne for a time, so it is essential to remove them to rid the property of all bad smells. Blowing the air from the property can help remove the particles by increasing the fresh air flowing in. Our SERVPRO technicians use box fans, which generate airflow of up to 5000 cubic feet of air per minute. We also use air scrubbers with HEPA filters that can remove particles as small as .3 micron.
 
To deal efficiently with fire-related odors, call SERVPRO of Porter County to help. You can reach us at (219) 476-1883 any time. We’re Faster to Any Size Disaster.

Click here for more about Valparaiso.

When water damage strikes, do not go it alone! Call SERVPRO!

4/9/2021 (Permalink)

Homeowners in cities like Valparaiso need to be nimble in protecting their homes. The elements can wreak havoc on our driveways, roofs, and gutters and failing to maintain the home can be a very risky proposition. It does not take a dramatic event to disrupt our ordinary lives; a small leak on the roof can go undetected for a while only to show itself when the next strong storm comes about, leaving an indoor waterfall in your living room. Your best approach is to be proactive in protecting your home, and that includes finding professional help.

SERVPRO is available to help if there ever is water damage to your Valparaiso home. Our expert crew is available 24/7 to respond to your emergency; all you need to do is call. Upon arrival at your home, we assess the damage and make a plan of action to remove any standing water. Prompt removal is essential to prevent the spread of mold and bacteria, which often happens when water is left unattended. To speed up the extraction process, we can use submersible pumps or truck mounted equipment depending on the volume of water we need to extract. For smaller water deposits our technicians rely on handheld tools to access crevices and hard to reach corners.

As we test the air quality of your home, we begin to incorporate drying equipment such as dehumidifiers and air movers. Occasionally, we may drill small holes in your baseboards to encourage the movement of air within your wall cavities, all with the goal of thoroughly drying the structure and contents of your home. Our SERVPRO crew constantly monitors humidity levels by using state-of-the-art moisture sensors and adjust the equipment according to the readings. A successful job leaves the environment of your home balanced and at humidity levels appropriate to your building materials and furniture.

Do not rely on do-it-yourself solutions if you ever encounter water damage to your home. SERVPRO of Porter County has the training and experience you need to overcome the situation. Just reach out by calling (219) 476-1883, and we will help you leave your home "Like it never even happened."

For more on Valparaiso, click here. 

Ask The Experts: Where is the water shutoff in my business?

4/9/2021 (Permalink)

Many workplaces always call on the boss or the maintenance man when something goes wrong. What if they were homesick, or in a meeting and you need to locate the water shutoff, where do you start?

SERVPRO can help commercial property managers in planning for water, fire, storm damage. How? With a free Emergency Response Profile created by the SERVPRO Marketing Department.

By having a plan of action, and including it in your regular training at your office, you can minimize the cost of an unplanned event happens like a busted pipe, fire or any other type of disaster.

Some property managers use this as a tool to keep everything organized in one central location.

Is your business ready for a disaster? Even a simple pipe burst can cause a lot of damage and headaches. A SERVPRO Emergency READY Profile can have the critical information to minimize damages, provide the resources for the employees of the company, and provide property details and information. This is a FREE service that we provide to commercial properties.

Make an appointment today to get started!

If the unthinkable happens, call your local SERVPRO seven days a week 24/7 to help you avoid the cost and hassle of secondary damages. We are faster to any disaster and will help make it "Like it never even happened." 

Ask The Experts: Can a homeowner just handle storm damage by themselves?

4/5/2021 (Permalink)

After a storm moves through the area, your home may suffer flood damage, wind damage, and more. The situation may leave your home or commercial building devastated. However, if you act quickly and contact the professionals right away, you can minimize the possibility of secondary damage while restoring anything that has suffered more serious problems.

Why Contact the Professionals?

Contacting the professionals at SERVPRO means you have access to experienced and skilled individuals who have restored homes and commercial buildings through the years. They have access to advanced equipment along with cutting-edge techniques to handle any storm flood damage that may occur.

After flooding has occurred, it isn’t unusual to find interior water damage to the kitchen cabinets, clothing, furniture, floors, ceilings, walls, and other areas in the building or home. If you don’t restore the property properly, flood damage can cause mold infestation and decay. There are several services you can count on the professionals to provide. These include:

• Prompt Response: These professionals understand that when you call for help with flood or storm related damage restoration, timing is critical. This is why they respond to any emergency quickly. The restoration process can begin right away, and the best and most efficient solutions will be used.
• Help with Insurance Claims: These professionals will offer a service that involves listing anything that was ruined during the flood or storm in a detailed list. They will also take an inventory of all the contents in every room.
• Use Professional Grade Tools and Equipment: In most cases, the rental equipment you get from the hardware store may not be able to handle the job effectively. These professionals have access to commercial grade equipment that will completely dry the affected areas to ensure the growth of mold is avoided.
• Removal and Replacement: These professionals will carefully remove or replace any contaminated or unsalvageable structures, such as window trim, door, drywall, padding, and carpeting.

Help with the Restoration Process

Before the professionals arrive at your property, you should remove any furniture or other valuable items like electronics, paintings, and more, until they are put in a safe place. You can also open the doors and windows to help increase the airflow in the home or building.

Proper Cleaning Areas Affected by Contaminated Water

Contaminated water can cause serious health effects for you and for your family. These professionals know the right way to clean the area with strong and effective antimicrobial products. They will also make sure that all affected surfaces and materials are addressed to ensure that no dangerous substances are left behind.

If flooding or other water-related issues arise, the best thing you can do is contact the professionals right away. Make sure you don’t put off calling SERVPRO, as this is going to let help prevent the problem from getting worse and lead to even more issues. Being informed and knowing what to look for and consider is the best way to ensure serious problems don’t occur.

SO call us today! We are faster to any disaster and are here to help get you back to "Like it never even happened."

Ask The Experts: What Happens When Water Damage Hits Your Home?

3/31/2021 (Permalink)

Heavy rainstorms in the Chesterton area can mean you need to prepare yourself for flooding. Being prepared means making sure you are informed about the storm and the areas it is affecting, creating an emergency plan of communication, and knowing what to do when the flood is approaching your home.

Flooding and flood damage to your Chesterton home can be massive in a short amount of time. It is essential that as soon as the storms subside, you get in touch with a professional remediation company, such as SERVPRO, right away. We can help you get all the water out of your home and then dry it out so you and your family can return to a safe, dry home again.

You can reduce the risk of damage to your home by elevating utilities that are critical such as switches, electrical panels, wiring, sockets, heating systems, and appliances. If you live in an region with repeated flooding, think about elevating your whole structure. You should also make sure your basement is waterproofed, and your sump pump is working correctly. Install a battery backup as well in case you lose power.

SERVPRO technicians follow all safety procedures during a flooding emergency like this, including keeping you and your family out of the home while we work and wearing protective equipment. Floodwater can be contaminated by sewage and chemicals, or even animals. Our specialists want to ensure that everyone is kept safe.

We extract as much standing water as we can with powerful, truck-mounted pumps to remove the water as quickly as possible. Once this is complete, we can assess the rest of the damage and dry your structure out.

When floods are approaching, make sure to clear debris from downspouts and gutters and fuel tanks should be anchored. Move your valuables, furniture, and documents which are important to a safe place. You should keep copies of valuable documents like passports and birth certificates in a safe place that is dry, like a safe deposit box.

Building an emergency supply kit is also a good idea. Bottled water, food, medicines, first-aid supplies and a radio that is battery operated should be packed and ready to go when you are. Plan an evacuation route as well and practice it with your entire family, so everyone knows what to in the event of an emergency.

SERVPRO of Porter County is ready to help you restore your home in Portage, Kouts, or Valparaiso when floodwaters have invaded. Please give us a call at (219) 476-1883 as soon as the storm has subsided so we can help you avoid additional damage to your home.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

Crawlspace Woes? Give SERVPRO a call!

3/31/2021 (Permalink)

While you might not give much thought to the crawlspace of your La Porte home, it does much more than providing access to utilities. This space built into your property helps to protect your house against substantial natural disasters like flooding. While these areas can reduce the presence of water penetrating the main floor of your home, they become flooded instead. While it might not seem like a situation that demands immediate attention, a flooded crawlspace needs fast and effective restoration work.

Many homeowners never get into the crawlspace of their La Porte homes, let alone assess damages after instances of flooding throughout the neighborhood. Our SERVPRO professionals have assessment tools and equipment that can help us to easily determine the scope and spread of the groundwater, as well as the necessary steps required to restore the damage entirely. Understanding the risks of a flooded crawlspace can help you to appreciate your need for our professional restoration in this potentially hazardous situation.

Pooling water, even lying on the ground beneath your home, can present several threats to the structural integrity of your house. Wicking is a common concern with materials like wood, which often are foundational support materials that make up the structural skeleton of the crawlspace, but also provide assistance solidifying the floor of your main level and its walls. With pooled water around these beams and supports, moisture can saturate these elements quickly. Over a brief period, the strength of these supports can become compromised to the point of requiring replacement.

Our SERVPRO team has fast extraction and drying tools that can work to reduce this risk immediately when we arrive at your house. By drying out the crawlspace quickly, we can limit the possibility of hazardous situations like mold growth. A dry subterranean area can also improve the indoor air quality. To further protect your home in this trying time, we can also offer effective, long-term solutions like crawlspace encapsulation with the installation of efficient water diversion equipment.

You might not fully appreciate the role that your crawlspace has in protecting your home until you get faced with a flood.  Our SERVPRO of La Porte County can help to keep your home from significant damages by quickly removing floodwater and drying out this area. Give us a call anytime that you need us at (219) 879-1883.

More about our beautiful area by clicking here.

Why SERVPRO? We have the experience, expertise and the equipment to get the job done right!

3/23/2021 (Permalink)

Finding a permanent and thorough solution for fire odor removal in Valparaiso can be challenging, especially without technical knowledge of the machines and processes involved in scrubbing your home free of smoke odors and other signs of damage. As part of our commitment to providing well-rounded and adaptable damage mitigation and restoration services to the area, we train all of our SERVPRO technicians to remove smoke odors quickly and with as little impact as possible on the rest of your home. With superior tools and training, we can help bring your home back to the state it was in before the fire.
 
The Right Tools
 
SERVPRO technicians use an array of advanced deodorizing technologies to provide the most thorough fire removal possible in Valparaiso. The core of our deodorization process revolves around the use of thermal and ultra-low volume fogging devices that create fogs of odor-eliminating compounds that mimic the spread of smoke in your home and neutralize or mask odorous particles even when they embed themselves deep in the materials of the structure. We also make sure to remove surface-level residues and signs of damage that can produce more odors later on.
 
The Right Training
 
Most of our equipment is designed to handle fire damage restorations in even the largest facilities, such as factories and warehouses. Managing these powerful devices can be a challenge even for trained and certified restoration professionals.

All SERVPRO technicians attend national training programs to receive a superior education in relevant restoration topics, and on top of that, also receive continual training from more experienced crew members and the optional advanced classes and certifications offered through our national network of franchise resources. Every crew we send out brings with it years of experience in handling fire damages of all types.
 
SERVPRO of Porter County can remove the traces of smoke odors and damages that may have happened to your home. Call us 24/7 at (219) 476-1883.

Click to see about your local fire department.

Ask The Experts: What Happens After Water Attacks My Commercial Building?

3/14/2021 (Permalink)

If your roof leaks or a pipe breaks inside your Valparaiso distribution warehouse, it could be of benefit to your business to call in a professional restoration company such as SERVPRO. Our commercial water removal specialists can arrive promptly to your company's disaster and begin work immediately. We know that removing moisture while it is in liquid form is much quicker and easier than removing it once it has soaked into your building materials or contents or evaporated into the air. To accomplish this, we utilize the industry's best extraction equipment and advanced technology. We know that completing commercial water removal at your place of business quickly is vital to reducing the overall cost of the disaster.

Before our SERVPRO technicians begin any mitigation procedures, we make sure that the building is safe for our workers and your employees. After your warehouse is deemed safe, we start the commercial water removal process in Valparaiso with the extraction phase. Depending on the situation, we can use either a portable or truck-mounted extractor to work as the vacuum motor. For tight spots and smaller projects, we can bring the portable extractor into your home and extract your contents or building materials. During most situations, we use a truck-mounted extractor because they provide more suction power.

When using truck-mounted units, we can attach a variety of tools to the vacuum. For extracting smaller carpeted areas and for upholstered furniture we often use a handheld water claw tool. These tools have handles on them that our technicians can use to apply pressure to the item they are extracting.

For larger carpeted areas like your warehouse office, we can utilize large weighted extraction tools. To use these units, our technicians stand on them when vacuuming. The unit uses the weight of the operator to compress the carpet and pull up more moisture. When extracting water damage from hard surface floors, our crew uses other types of tools that have rubber to stick to the floor when extracting.

If you ever notice excessive moisture inside your distribution warehouse, call SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 right away.

Discover the Dunes click here for more details.

Storms bring water damage, but SERVPRO is here to help!

3/9/2021 (Permalink)

When you enter a business after a storm, you will immediately notice the water damage. The first step in the cleanup is to tear out everything wet. Tearing out must happen quickly so that mold doesn’t become a problem. Stormwater can find its way

• Into cracks and crevasses
• Under and behind the molding
• Behind walls
• Into the subfloor
• Into the rooms below
  
  

Remove Free-Standing Water

If you don’t remove it now, it will cause more damage later. A wet/dry vac is the perfect tool for this job. Every drop that you collect will help complete the recovery that much sooner.

Remove Wet Fabrics

Fabric items include carpets and padding, window treatments, furniture and anything else that retains water. It might make sense to use your wet/dry vac to remove excess water from these items before moving them.
You may wonder if you should dispose of or restore these items. Items for disposal should go immediately in the trash. Relocate items for restoration to a place where they are out of the way of the cleanup and can’t cause any further problems.

Remove Remaining Items

Wet items should go to someplace where they won’t cause any additional problems. You can decide their disposition later. These items may include electronics, photos, important documents and non-fabric furniture.
Remove everything not damaged to a holding area. It needs to be out of the way so that cleanup can continue.

Locate the Remaining Hidden Moisture

Tear out the wet baseboards and molding. You can reuse them if they survive the drying process without warping. Do the same with the damp wallboard. The only difference is that the wallboard is not salvageable.
The tear out stage of storm restoration is labor-intensive and time-consuming. It also requires a quick completion to prevent mold growth. If your business faces a storm damage crisis, it’s good to know that there are storm damage restoration specialists nearby and ready to help. They are just a phone call away.

Flooding in your Valpo Home or Business? SERVPRO is here for you!

3/9/2021 (Permalink)

Whenever natural disasters force their way through the foundation of your Valparaiso home, the effect could be challenging to overcome without expertise and the right equipment. With many basements throughout the area already susceptible to moisture and dampness from groundwater, flooding is never a far step when the ground surrounding your home becomes oversaturated from torrential rainfall. The pressure of this underground moisture can damage mortar joints, and even fill up columns of blockwork cells with standing water. Our professionals have effective solutions for removing the water damage inside your home and strategies to restore the damage to your foundation as well.

While flood damage can occur from many potential sources, many Valparaiso homes have already seen the destructive force of this rising water on their foundations and basement walls. Our SERVPRO professionals have effective mitigation strategies that can help us to clean up the damage quickly so that our technicians can work to restore the damage to your blockwork and concrete before they become overly saturated and weakened by the pooling water.

We get to work quickly on extraction, and part of this process is determining the source and penetration points of this water damage in the basement. Our moisture detection equipment can help to identify these vulnerabilities, as well as water getting stored in the blockwork. When standing water gets discovered, our technicians can create weep holes in the bottom course of block to drain these cells. Once empty, these created holes can get sealed over with hydraulic cement not to become a hazard point of their own.

This same approach of using hydraulic cement can help to seal up identified penetration points that allowed the flooding to occur. With the use of air movers, our injecti-dry and tenting systems, and dehumidifiers, our professionals can then get to work on drying out the saturated concrete to prevent lingering moisture from allowing secondary effects like mold growth.

Restoring flood damage to your home after flooding is an intricate process that requires specialized equipment and experience. Give our SERVPRO of Porter County rapid response team a call 24/7 at (219) 476-1883.

Discover the Indiana Dunes, click here for more information.

Why SERVPRO? The SERVPRO Advantage!

11/27/2020 (Permalink)

Since its founding in 1967 SERVPRO has expanded to over 1,700 locations across the United States and Canada. Since then SERVPRO has also greatly expanded the array of services we offer. Since those services range from carpet cleaning and deodorization to large-scale disaster recovery and with SERVPRO’s 1,700+ locations our collective knowledge and experience is one of the greatest assets SERVPRO has and we know how to use it. 

SERVPRO locations provide all kind of support to each other ranging from equipment to people-power and technical advice. Sometimes we might run into an issue that we have not encountered before or possibly elements to a job which prevent our normal methods for jobs. This is when we have been able to rely on the knowledge base which our corporate office and other SERVPROs have accumulated. 

There was one deodorization job where a skunk got into a Wichita church’s HVAC system and sprayed in it. The odor was strong throughout the building and the HVAC systems vents were inaccessible due to the construction of the building. Being unable to do much else the church wanted us to come up with a completely chemical-based deodorization method for the HVAC systems vents. 

Since most of the EPA registered chemicals we use are invented and manufactured by our chemists at SERVPRO we can reach out to them for help. The advice they provided in both chemical combinations to use and equipment to pair with it proved effective. The skunk odor in the church had an immediate and significant reduction with almost total elimination of the odor coming by the end of the week. 

We are known for taking care of the big problems and disasters, but we also are adept at helping people with the strange problems. If you have a problem which makes you think “I don’t even know who does this” if it’s not us we probably know who, try giving us a call. 

So if disaster strikes, give SERVPRO a call! We are faster to any disaster and are here to help get you back to "Like it never even happened."

Why SERVPRO? We are the efficient professionals

11/11/2020 (Permalink)

Few things are more complicated than having to deal with fire damage in the home. Sometimes, the steps that you as the homeowner take after the fire damage determine the speed at which the home will be restored to the state it was in before the fire damage happened. Below are is a guideline outlining the steps you ought to take after an electrical fire or another type of fire breaks out in your home.

Evacuation

The very first thing you need to do is ensure that all the people who were in the building have gotten out. In case there is someone still trapped in the building because of soot damage or smoke, you should call in emergency services such as the fire truck, fire sprinkler systems, fire hoses, and firefighters to help rescue them and put out the fire. Do not try to get back into the house once you are out where it is safe.

The fire suppression

The fire trucks and firefighters will arrive and assess the situation. The firefighters, fire hoses, and fire trucks will do their best to try and put out the fire within the shortest time possible after getting to the scene. You might see a firefighter going into the house and trying to rescue people who are trapped in the soot damage. They use equipment such as fire hoses, fire sprinkler systems, and other appropriate equipment to help them achieve fire suppression within the shortest time.

If fire strikes your home or business, give us a call! We are faster to any disaster and are here to help get you back to "Like it never even happened."

SERVPRO Tips: When your appliances attack

9/11/2020 (Permalink)

Think about the last time your appliances were moved or inspected. Many of us don’t think about the household appliances that we use every single day. For most, they probably become a passing thought about how much wear and tear they are receiving.

Most of the appliances we use to make our everyday lives easier utilize water. This means they are prone to leaks at some point if they are not caught early on. Water damage can sit for ages before you as a homeowner realize. This is why regular inspections are important for prevention.

Inspect These Appliances for Leaks Often

• Hot Water Heater
• The lifetime of a hot water heater will typically span 10 to 15 years, but leaks can start much earlier than this. The seals and pipes connected to the hot water heater can often break down, so keeping an eye out for any accumulation both during and after use is a smart move.
• Refrigerator
• The rarity with which refrigerators are moved can lead to secret water damage that festers for ages before it is brought to light. A refrigerator’s water lines are typically made from a soft plastic that can easily fail, so checking for leaks behind and under the fridge as part of your annual home maintenance is wise.
• Dishwasher
• A dishwasher’s tubing is just as problematic as a refrigerator, but is even more isolated and utilizes far more water. Additionally, homeowner’s insurance often does not cover water damage caused by older models of dishwashers, so regular checks are extremely important to keep up with.
• Washing Machine
• Washing machine hoses are some of the most common sources of leaks. Because they are notorious for this, it is recommended that they are inspected at least once a month by homeowners so you can be sure no issues have arisen. In addition to these regular checks, they should be fully replaced every five years in order to prevent hidden deterioration.
• Air Conditioner
• The drain in your HVAC unit is designed to keep condensation from pooling in and around the unit, but if this drain malfunctions, water damage can quickly be caused. Reference your manufacturer’s manual to determine how often your unit should be inspected and serviced—having a professional technician evaluate your machine is the best defense against HVAC-created water damage.

So give us a call! We are faster to any disaster and are here to help get you back to "Like it never even happened."

Why SERVPRO? Because all mold is bad mold!

9/3/2020 (Permalink)

One question we often come across from our customers worried about mold growing in their homes is what kind of mold they have or whether they should get the mold tested before having their home or business remediated. There has been a lot of coverage in the media about black mold or stachybotrys chartarum causing many people to be worried about that type of mold they may have in their home or business here in Wichita.

In cases where third party testing isn’t necessary knowing the exact strain of mold growing does not matter because it simply needs to be removed. The type of mold does not change what needs to be done to properly clean and remediate the affected areas. Even if it isn’t Stachybotrys chartarum it can still be harmful. According to the CDC’s information page on mold not only are the mycotoxins produced by some mold toxic but even strains that are not toxic can still provoke an immune system or allergic response from people who are sensitive to mold. Specifically in regards to the necessity of testing the CDC says:

"Current evidence indicates that allergies are the type of diseases most often associated with molds. Since the reaction of individuals can vary greatly either because of the person’s susceptibility or type and amount of mold present, sampling and culturing are not reliable in determining your health risk. If you are susceptible to mold and mold is seen or smelled, there is a potential health risk; therefore, no matter what type of mold is present, you should arrange for its removal."

If you want to prevent mold in your Home or Business the CDC recommends keeping indoor humidity below 50% which you can do with consistent air conditioner or dehumidifiers. Ensure you have adequate ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens (we would also recommend good ventilation in crawlspaces and attics). Use antimicrobial paints, clean bathrooms with mold killing products. DO NOT carpet bathrooms and remove/replace flooded carpets.

Of course with flooded carpets you don’t need to replace them when you call a professional remediator such as SERVPRO to handle your water damage.  We can also help you investigate.

SERVPRO Tips: Avoiding water damage from a failing water heater

9/1/2020 (Permalink)

Water damage from a broken water heater can ruin a home quickly. Fortunately, before they break, these appliances give off warning signs their service life is coming to an end.

Homeowners can avoid water damage from their hot water tank if they pay attention to some of the most common issues that arise before failure, such as:

• There is only cold water emitted from the tap.
• The water gets warm but never hot and goes cold quickly.
• The water heater rumbles or knocks
• The hot water has a muddy look from the tap.
• The water from the tank appears to be rusty.
• You notice a metallic smell or taste, especially when taking a shower or bath.
• There is noticeable water leaking from the water heater.
• Your water has a metallic smell or taste.
• Water is leaking around your water heater.

Expect a Large Amount of Water

A small water tank holds on average around 50 to 60 gallons of water; larger residential sizes run 80-gallons or more. Now, imagine that water on your floor. When the location of the tank is in an upper story in the home, the amount of water on the floor can quickly affect the ceiling and things in lower levels of the house. 

Common Issues to Avoid

Fast extraction is necessary to limit the damage to the home. SERVPRO technicians use their detection equipment to determine if the water is within the floor joists or wall cavities, requiring additional actions such as removal of baseboards or weep holes to assist with drainage. 

At the first sign of water damage, contact SERVPRO! The technicians are available 24/7 to restore your home to its preloss condition, "Like it never even happened."

Why SERVPRO? We are the experts when it comes to cleaning

9/1/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO is Here to Help during this time of need!

During this unprecedented time caused by the global pandemic of COVID 19, this is a reminder to our customers that we are specialists in cleaning services, and we adhere to the highest cleaning and sanitation standards.

Specialized Training

We are prepared to clean and disinfect your home or business, according to protocols set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have years of experience in dealing with biological contaminants, and we will go beyond the scope of work that regular janitorial staff performs on a daily basis.

The CDC encourages cleaning of high-touch surfaces such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and tables. Other spaces mentioned in the CDC’s guidance for commercial spaces include:

• Kitchen/Food Areas
• Bathrooms
• Schools/Classrooms
• Offices
• Retail Spaces
• Water Fountains
• Shelving/Racks
• Sales Counters
• Carpets and Rugs
• Stair Handrails
• Elevator Cars
• Playground Equipment
• Fitness Equipment

Specialized Products

The CDC recommends usage of a labeled hospital-grade disinfectant with claims against similar pathogens to the coronavirus. Multiple products in the SERVPRO product line carry the EPA-approved emerging pathogens claims. While there is currently no product tested against this particular strain of the coronavirus, we are following all guidelines as provided by the CDC and local authorities.

Call Today for a Proactive Cleaning! We are here to help, and are ready to use our expertise, equipment, and experience to help you today!

SERVPRO Tips: What to do when flooding hits your business

8/30/2020 (Permalink)

A flooding incident has the potential to drive you out of business or force you to start from scratch. It probably took you long to build a customer base and make all the customizations that make clients love your store. Watching as all that disappears in a moment and your customers seek services elsewhere is very disheartening. Help from a professional restoration team can keep your business afloat after commercial flood damage. 

One thing an incident of commercial flood damage affecting your Valparaiso clothes store can create is uncertainty. Even when it is possible to save the store, knowing when normal operations can resume is hard. From site assessment and experience in handling similar situations, our SERVPRO technicians can help estimate the likely restoration timeline. This way, you can inform your customers when to expect the resumption of full services. 

Removing all excess moisture from the premises fast should help save more items. In a clothes shop, the moisture not only affects the building materials but also the clothing items you have in your stock. Such damage can come from exposure to actual water or higher than usual levels humidity. In a moist or heavily humid environment, problems like mold can start developing in less than 48 hours affecting all items made from organic materials, including clothes. Our SERVPRO crews utilize advanced procedures, including making flood cuts and vent holes to remove water. We also have a range of specialized equipment to dry excess moisture, including:

• Injecti-dry Systems
• Desiccant Dehumidifiers
• Venting Box Fans
• Wall ventilating Systems 

Restoring the shop to its preloss state is necessary. The process might involve rebuilding areas such as floors and parts of walls demolished when removing the floodwaters. Even in cases that do not involve any teardown, resetting contents moved during the flooding can be a tedious process. Our SERVPRO technicians help carry out these finishing steps quickly so that you can resume normal operations faster. 

A flooding incident can push you out of business, but professional assistance can help you recover faster. Call SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 to help. We have the resources to deal with any incident "Like it never even happened."

More about Valparaiso.

Why SERVPRO? Because we are the cleaning experts!

7/13/2020 (Permalink)

During this unprecedented time caused by the global pandemic of coronavirus, this is a reminder to our customers that we are specialists in cleaning services, and we adhere to the highest cleaning and sanitation standards.

Specialized Training

We are prepared to clean and disinfect your home or business, according to protocols set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have years of experience in dealing with biological contaminants, and we will go beyond the scope of work that regular janitorial staff performs on a daily basis.

The CDC encourages cleaning of high-touch surfaces such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets, and tables. Other spaces mentioned in the CDC’s guidance for commercial spaces include:

• Kitchen/Food Areas
• Bathrooms
• Schools/Classrooms
• Offices
• Retail Spaces
• Water Fountains
• Shelving/Racks
• Sales Counters
• Carpets and Rugs
• Stair Handrails
• Elevator Cars
• Playground Equipment
• Fitness Equipment

Specialized Products

The CDC recommends usage of a labeled hospital-grade disinfectant with claims against similar pathogens to the coronavirus. Multiple products in the SERVPRO product line carry the EPA-approved emerging pathogens claims. While there is currently no product tested against this particular strain of the coronavirus, we are following all guidelines as provided by the CDC and local authorities.

So give us a call today! We are faster to any disaster and are here to put our expertise, equipment and experience to work for you!

Why SERVPRO? Three Services SERVPRO Offers After A Fire

6/1/2020 (Permalink)

Demand for damage mitigation and restoration services spikes after a severe storm. Insurance agents and adjusters need to be able to rely on a local mitigation and restoration company to provide timely storm response services. Here are three services that make a local SERVPRO franchise the right choice for storm restoration.

1. Disaster Response

No matter how many properties are affected by a storm, a Disaster Response Team can arrive on each location within a matter of hours. Independent mitigation and restoration services are more likely to be backlogged than a national corporation that can dispatch employees and equipment from nearby franchises to areas that have experienced large losses.

2. Mitigation and Cleanup

The initial stage of storm response involves mitigating damage. In the case of structural damage, this may involve boarding up broken windows or breaches in a building envelope or tarping over a damaged roof. Standing water resulting from flood damage should be extracted as soon as possible. A full-service company can ensure that these initial measures contribute toward complete storm restoration.

3. All-In-One Restoration

A company that offers mitigation and restoration services can reduce the workload on insurance agents and adjusters while simplifying the claim process for property owners. Relying on a one-stop shop may make miscommunication less likely, prevent scheduling conflicts and allow for a faster and more thorough restoration job. Depending on a single service also means that the initial estimate is likely to be more accurate.

These storm restoration services set SERVPRO franchises apart from independent companies. The business model means that each location has the backing of a national corporation and the ability to call on nearby locations for additional personnel and equipment. A single estimate from a service that can clean up damage and rebuild a commercial property can also be more convenient for insurance agents, adjusters, and clients.

Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned – a defensive cleaning program

5/21/2020 (Permalink)

Let us help you get back to business

As our communities re-open, we’re all moving back toward a new kind of normal. The expectations of visitors, customers, and employees who come into our establishments have evolved, and staying safe and well is a top concern. The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed what it means to be clean, and we’ve developed a program to help your business meet the new higher standard of clean that is now expected.

Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned is a defensive cleaning program we’re offering to businesses and commercial locations to address the current COVID-19 pandemic. This proactive viral pathogen cleaning program goes well beyond janitorial or carpet cleaning. By choosing Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, you, your employees, your customers, and your community can rest assured that you’ve selected a higher cleaning standard – you are Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned.

Extensive training and specialized products

As the #1 choice in cleanup and restoration*, we stand on more than 50 years of experience and expertise to help your business become Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned.  Beyond fire & water, SERVPRO professionals are trained and experienced in biohazard decontamination and chemical spills – always adhering to the cleaning and decontamination standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local authorities. 

From formulating and creating our proprietary cleaning products, like SERVPROXIDE, at our headquarters in Gallatin, TN, to taking the utmost care while disinfecting, we will ensure you and your business are set up to inspire consumer confidence as the economy continues to reopen.

3 C’s – Consult, Clean, and Certify

When the stakes are this high, you want a partner who has developed an industry leading, proprietary training program, cleaning solutions, and remediation processes over decades. We’ve cleaned up some of the most challenging biohazards imaginable. Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned reflects our unique experiences and capabilities. The program is grounded with our unique 3 C’s: Consult, Clean, and Certify.

• Consult – Every business is different, which is why you’ll be assigned a Cleaning Protocol Consultant who understands your business and will create a cleaning program to meet your specific needs. This program will be developed based on your business type, size of space, amount of high frequency touchpoints, foot traffic and congestion points.
• Clean – Based on your specific business needs, your location will undergo a thorough, deep clean, using exclusive cleaning products, according to protocols set forth by the CDC. Our employees have years of experience, and we will go beyond the scope of work that regular janitorial staff perform. Cleanup procedures generally include cleaning of porous and non-porous surfaces, disinfecting of non-porous surfaces, cleaning and disinfecting of equipment, tools, and/or supplies used for cleanup process, and disposal of hazardous materials.  In the event of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 event, we will be there cleaning within 24 hours to ensure you get back to business as quickly as possible. 
• Certify - Once your business location has been Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, you will gain access to proprietary signage, digital emblems, and other collateral that communicates that you’ve selected a higher standard of clean available to help protect your employees and customers. And because we add the day, month, and year to that proprietary stamp of clean, your guests will know that not only did you choose Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, but that your location is being cleaned regularly at this standard.

Call today for a Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned consultation

We’re Here to Help – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – until life is back to normal in the communities we all call home.

Call SERVPRO of Porter County today at  219-476-1883 for your Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned consultation.

SERVPRO of Porter County is here to help in this time of need

3/23/2020 (Permalink)

During this unprecedented time caused by the global pandemic of coronavirus, this is a reminder to our customers that we are specialists in cleaning services, and we adhere to the highest cleaning and sanitation standards.

Specialized Training

We are prepared to clean and disinfect your home or business, according to protocols set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have years of experience in dealing with biological contaminants, and we will go beyond the scope of work that regular janitorial staff perform on a daily basis.

The CDC encourages cleaning of high-touch surfaces such as counters, tabletops, doorknobs, light switches, bathroom fixtures, toilets, phones, keyboards, tablets and tables. Other spaces mentioned in the CDC’s guidance for commercial spaces include:

• Kitchen/Food Areas
• Bathrooms
• Schools/Classrooms
• Offices
• Retail Spaces
• Water Fountains
• Shelving/Racks
• Sales Counters
• Carpets and Rugs
• Stair Handrails
• Elevator Cars
• Playground Equipment
• Fitness Equipment

Specialized Products

The CDC recommends usage of a labeled hospital-grade disinfectant with claims against similar pathogens to the coronavirus. Multiple products in the SERVPRO product line carry the EPA-approved emerging pathogens claims. While there is currently no product tested against this particular strain of the coronavirus, we are following all guidelines as provided by the CDC and local authorities.

Call Today for a Proactive Cleaning

If your home or business needs deep cleaning services, call the experts at SERVPRO of Porter County at 219-476-1883.

SERVPRO Tips: Many materials can be salvaged after a water incident

3/15/2020 (Permalink)

Hardwood surfaces tend to be finished with varnish making them non-porous and protecting them against damages from large quantities of moisture. If left in saturated condition for an extended period the varnish may wear, but generally organic materials require weeks to show signs of permanent damage. Carpeted properties, on the other hand, need immediate professional attention and can be up to 50% weaker when wet.

When looking for services providing water removal in Chesterton your primary concern should be protecting your fittings. Structures, more often than not, can sustain substantial quantities of water without showing signs of permanent damage. However, items like carpet or upholstery can be expensive to replace. SERVPRO operate with a restore over replace mentality to ensure your claim remains low and can prevent your insurance rate from rising.

Many materials can be salvaged after a water incident so using an honest, professional service is of real benefit. Where water has migrated beneath your carpets, the subfloor mat must be removed for disposal. However, carpets can be salvaged using rapid air movers. Your SERVPRO technician can attach the carpet to an air mover and blast hot air through it for an extended period. This method is kind to the carpet itself and exceptionally effective at removing moisture.

Once the fabric is sufficiently dry, your SERVPRO technician can apply a light anti-microbial treatment to the underside of your carpet. This helps to prevent mold growth if humidity levels rise during the summer months and ensure that the service we provide is a comprehensive one. The same approach can be used for other large fitted materials in your home.

Soft porous furniture can imbibe moisture quickly. This can cause obstacles further down the line as, although the surface appears dry, moisture resides deeper within. SERVPRO can use powerful water extractors with heated wands to help draw moisture out of upholstery and check the job is complete using accurate moisture meters.

Our approach is to both remove water and to restore your possessions in such a way as to limit the chances of secondary damages over time. Contact SERVPRO of Porter County at (219) 476-1883 today for a comprehensive inspection and service.

Click here for more about Chesterton.

When Mold Hits Your Portage Home SERVPRO Is Ready

12/20/2018 (Permalink)

Mold like this needs to be fully removed by a professional right away.

Debunking Mold Myths in Your Portage Home

One of the most significant struggles that Portage homeowners face is a wealth of bad information they can find on the internet that leads them to unsatisfactory cleanup and removal of threats in their home. Some influential websites and blogs indicate that homeowners can remove threats like mold colonies from their homes without the need for remediation professionals, but in truth, this is almost never the case. Most situations present immediate threats to the occupants of the house, especially those with already compromised respiratory systems, so taking care of active mold growth in your home requires an immediate response from highly-trained professionals like ours.

Keeping your Portage home and your family safe from mold damage requires a working knowledge of how these situations occur and by debunking some of the common myths associated with this organism. The more that you understand about mold and what it can do to your home, the better prepared you to become to reach out to our SERVPRO applied microbial remediation technicians at the first sign of trouble.

Mold is Not Dangerous 

One of the common misconceptions about mold growth is that it does not threaten your home or your family. With active mold spores feeding on organic material it encounters, it does not take long for colonies to weaken structural elements to the point of failure. Also, these same colonies can cause potential health effects for any person or pet within your home that encounters the growth.

Mold Goes Away on Its Own 

Another way homeowners get mistaken is the belief that these conditions go away on their own without direct intervention. Our SERVPRO professionals encounter extensive mold growth in homes and businesses where the owner believed that with enough time, the situation resolves itself. In actuality, the organism continues to spread and degrade structural elements.

While these are just two of the many myths that homeowners believe about mold growth in their home, it is critical to understand that the only way to fully remove the threat is with trained professionals with specialized equipment and expertise. Our SERVPRO of Porter County remediation technicians can help you. Give us a call at (219) 476-1883. 

Portage Parks is hosting a travel league night at Imagination Glen again this Spring, click here for more information.