Water damage can be financially devastating as well as dangerous to your health. Cleaning up the mess and restoring the affected areas is not simply about removing the excess water and drying or replacing the damaged materials.
There must also be a proper handling of the contaminants that may have been spread as a result and a thorough extermination of any mold, fungi or mildew that may have developed.
Because of the immediate and long-term risk factors to both property and health, it is vitally important that you choose a restoration service that truly knows the ins and outs of the whole removal and restoration process and who is going to do their job well.
As with many services, though, there are an overwhelming number of companies to choose from who perform them. It can be hard to know how to identify a trustworthy company that will truly be worth the price you are going to have
Since that is the case, we wanted to discuss 5 important characteristics that you should look for in a reliable water damage restoration service.
- Qualifications: First, it is important to make sure that the company you choose has technicians who hold certifications. The water damage restoration industry does not have any formal regulations that help with quality control, so it is up to you to look out for yourself.Because there are no government regulations, however, that does mean if you find a company who holds certifications, you know they genuinely care about the quality of their work and that they know what they are doing.
- Availability: Because water damage spreads the longer it goes untreated, it is imperative that you find a company who will respond immediately. The longer the problem lasts, the exponentially more the repairs will cost and the risks to health will be.A good company understands this and will have 24/7 availability and should be able to make it out to you within an hour or two of being contacted.
- Full service: It is also a wise idea to find a company who can handle many/all areas of the restoration process (in other words a service that offers not only cleanup and drying, but also actual restoration, repairs, and the more intense process of cleaning up contaminants, etc).
This is for two reasons: 1) It is a greater hassle on you if you have to call out multiple companies to handle what is essentially one job and process. 2) A company that offers more services is more likely to be a true expert in the field who fully understands all of the various consequences of water damage and how to deal with them. It is much less likely that such a company is going to miss something that would later end up causing additional trouble.
- Estimates: You also want to work with a company who is willing to be upfront with you about everything that needs to be done and the estimation of the cost. A good company should be willing to come out to assess the situation and offer you a thorough and honest estimate before expecting you to sign papers or pay any fees.
- Warranty: Similar to the above, you also want a company who believes enough in the quality of their own skill and work that they offer guarantees and warranties on it. Any company not willing to do so is more likely to leave the process incomplete or poorly executed.
