Avoid a Winter Water Emergency in Your North Prince William County Home

11/10/2023 (Permalink)

Winter weather can be a stunning sight to behold. The beauty of snowflakes falling and blankets of white snow covering our town can be breathtaking. But while this weather might be lovely, it also brings an increased danger of water damage to your property.

The accumulation of snow and ice surrounding your home is a water emergency waiting to happen.

Winter’s effects don't have to put your property at risk for water damage. You can take in its beauty while keeping in mind some of the ways that winter weather might cause a water crisis.

Check Your Gutters

• When it comes to protecting your property from the effects of winter weather, your gutters are a crucial tool. When your gutters are clogged with debris or ice, water can leak down and ruin your roof, basement and foundation. Due to restricted water flow, clogged gutters also increase the risk of an ice dam forming around your home.
• Make sure your gutters are free of any leftover fall debris like leaves and twigs to allow water to flow smoothly away from your home. If you find your gutters are frozen solid, hot water can help melt any ice stuck inside.

Look Out for Melting Snow

• It only takes a few inches of snow to create a water damage threat all around your property. And given that the North Prince William County area has been hit by some severe snowstorms in the past, we should take the time to prepare for the unexpected.
• Snow melt is a common cause of leaks in the winter. As soon as the weather begins to warm up and snow begins to melt, water can flood your foundation, leak through your roof and damage your drain pipes.
• The potential for snow melt is another reason you should keep your gutters clear of debris. As long as your gutters and downspouts are clear, melting snow will have somewhere to go! 

Protect Your Pipes

• You aren't the only one who’s freezing cold in the winter, your pipes can get really chilly, too. When the water in your pipes expands when temperatures drop, excess pressure can lead to a rupture. An unfavorable winter water emergency can result from this sudden surge of water flooding into your home.
• Keep your pipes warm and cozy by adjusting your thermostat and opening up your cabinet doors. If you are wanting to go the extra mile, insulate any exposed pipes and wrap your pipes in heat tape for added protection.

Fall Maintenance Checklist

11/8/2023 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of North Prince William County is here to help. Take the time to reduce property damage by taking a few steps this fall to prevent property damage. Winter is around the corner and Virginia temperatures can become cold and harsh. Be prepared by taking a little action by doing a little fall preventative maintenance. 

• Seal any air leaks
• Check your roof
• Clean your gutters and downspouts
• Check smoke alarms and carbon monoxide 
• Adjust your thermostat
• Have your furnace inspected 
• Check your air and water filters 
• Drain your water heater
• Check your chimney for any blockages. 

When damage happens SERVPRO of North Prince William County is a phone call away! 703-368-4399.

How Can I Protect My Business?

11/11/2022 (Permalink)

What is the Emergency Ready Program?

• As many as 50% of businesses may never recover following a disaster, according to the latest research.
• The overwhelming majority of them had a preparedness plan in place. Pre-Planning can serve as an insurance policy aimed at peace of mind.
• SERVPRO Emergency READY Profile for your business, you minimize business interruption by having an immediate plan of action. Knowing what to do and what to expect in advance is the key to timely mitigation and can help minimize how water & fire damage can affect your business.

As a business owner you ALWAYS want to make sure you have an action plan if ever an emergency occurs. If there was a flood, major leak, tornado you would want contacts and action plan close by.

- A no cost assessment of your facility.
(This means there is no need to allocate funds, giving you a great value at no cost)

- A concise Profile Document that contains only the critical information needed in the event of an Emergency. (It will only take a little time to complete and will not take you away from current projects. But it will save a lot of time if ever needed)

- A guide to help you get back into your building following a disaster.
(This can help minimize the amount of time your business is inactive by having an immediate plan of action)

- Establishes your local SERVPRO Franchise Professional as your disaster mitigation and restoration provider. (You have a provider that is recognized as an industry leader and close by)

- Identification of the line of command for authorizing work to begin. (This saves time so we can begin the work of mitigating the damage which can save you time and money)

- Provides facility details such as shut-off valve locations, priority areas and priority contact information. (Having a quick reference of what to do, how to do it and who to call provides solutions in advance of an emergency so that during the emergency you are "Ready for whatever happens.")

SERVPRO of North Prince William wants to ease that stress and we realize that you might not think about the unexpected things that may happen, therefore we have implemented the ERP Program.

IICRC

11/7/2022 (Permalink)

IICRC Sets A High Standard For Inspection, Cleaning And Restoration

Nearly everyone respects certification. It gives businesses and trained professionals credibility in the marketplace. SERVPRO of North Prince William requires all of their Crew Chiefs and Technicians to have up to date IICRC credits. It gives customers confidence in the qualifications of those holding the certification. IICRC is the gold standard for certification in the inspection, cleaning and restoration industry. The Institution of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification is more than just another credential. People and businesses earn and keep this certification through:

• Education
• Initial certification
• Continuing education
• Membership

Comprehensive Certification Offers Clients Peace of Mind

Comprehensive certification is not a single certificate. There are at least thirty different categories of inspection, cleaning and restoration certificates available. The institute provides training and testing for each one. It awards students a mitigation certificate upon successful completion of each category.

An IICRC certified provider employs professionals with one or more mitigation certificate. Each inspection, cleaning or restoration job requires a combination of certified skills. The business assembles a team with the appropriate skills and dispatches them to the job. The mix of professionals on the job changes as the list of required skills changes.

Happy Clients Are the Foundation of a Certified Provider

A provider may survive with an occasional unhappy customer. A provider cannot survive without its certification. A certified provider holds itself and its employees to a high standard. This high standard is what certification is all about. Failing to meet this standard jeopardizes the value of the certification for others. This failure can lead to discipline and, eventually, revocation of the certificate. Without that, the provider is out of business.

The same level of standards applies to individuals and their certifications. Revocation is a real possibility if there are problems. It makes attaining employment in the inspection, cleaning and restoration industry difficult.

Certification Is a Key to Provider Selection

Find an inspection, cleaning and restoration provider with an IICRC, and you are off to a good start. Next, you want one located nearby. Confidence in the provider will give you confidence in the quality of the job once it is complete. Call your local SERVPRO of North Prince William County (703)368-4399 to have a certified technician assess whatever remediation related problem you may be having.

How to fix busted pipes

11/18/2021 (Permalink)

As the cold weather is starting arrive in North Prince William county, you may experience bursting pipes. You may inspect your commercial property on a regular basis, but sometimes bursting pipes still occur. If you experience water damage, as the result of a damaged pipe, time is of the essence. You want to get it fixed quickly so that you can avoid as much damage as possible. Here is a timeline of how that may go.

Expert Location
As soon as you notice there is a problem, you may want to call water mitigation experts to fix the broken pipe. The representative who answers the phone will likely ask you a few questions to determine what kind of problem you have.

• Where is the pipe located?
• How big is the damaged area?
• How long has it been leaking?
• How fast is it leaking?
• Have you turned off the water and power to the area?

Make sure before you call know these answers or we can guide you through it. If you want to be extra prepared for the cold season, contact your Marketing Rep and have them conduct an ERP, that way you know 100% how to turn off your water at your commercial property.

Damage Assessment
Bursting pipes are as critical as they sound. Water is likely spewing in all directions, soaking everything in its path. Once the technicians arrive, they will assess the damage this has caused and be able to devise a plan.

Water Extraction
If your preliminary report over the phone was accurate, it will likely match the professional assessment pretty closely. This means the technicians can get right to the water extraction. They pump the water out to halt its potential to cause secondary damage.

Surface Drying
It's not enough to just remove the standing water. Everything has to be dried, or your building is likely to develop a mold problem. This is particularly probable if the leak has significantly raised the humidity of the area.

All of these things ideally happen within the first 24 hours. Mold can start to grow in as little as a day, so you are probably rushing the clock to get everything dry again. The sooner you call the problem with your bursting pipes in and get the repair process started, the better chance you have of avoiding secondary damage.

If you do experience a pipe bursting, call SERVPRO of North Price William county. 

SERVPRO of North Prince William County – Most Trusted Restoration Company

7/3/2017 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Near Me

At SERVPRO of North Prince William County we pride ourselves on being not just the biggest, and most well-known restoration company in the area, but the most trusted.

The North Prince William County office is owned by Rob Wise, is a forward-thinking entrepreneur with years of experience in the home construction industry. Under his leadership area residents have received the highest quality service for everything from water damage and mold removal, to fire damage and soot removal.

Contact SERVPRO of North Prince William County now!

Our office is consistently a top performing franchise location, so in addition to benefiting from the top notch services of the corporate hub residents and businesses also receive top notch service from the one of the top performing locations in the country. That’s because we are always ready to help clean up water damage emergencies, hoarding or death scenes, smoke damaged items, and more.

Perhaps one of the reasons our company is so well trusted, is that we have the benefit of relying on different arms within the company to respond to different situations. For example, we have a Fire division that deals with only restoring items that were damaged by soot, smoke, and flames. Our employees who work there do not have to spend time responding to flooded basements or buildings because other employees are ready to respond to those emergencies.

Another attribute that area residents admire about our office is that we are able to respond day or night, at any hour, on any day. This means that if one of our customers insists on service immediately, we provide it, regardless of when it is. That puts you in control of the situation, and let’s you get back to your life at the speed and rate that you need to.

For all your home and business restoration needs, call SERVPRO of North Prince William County, and find out why we are Manassas, Manassas Park, Bristow, Lake Jackson, Gainesville, Haymarket, Yorkshire, Nokesville area’s most trusted restoration company!

Insurance Claims on Water Damage

5/19/2017 (Permalink)

Insurance Claims on Water Damage

Water damage is one of the most common claims for home insurance. At SERVPRO of North Prince William County we not only repair water damage in your home, but we also specialize in dealing with insurance companies to get you covered for our services.

If you need help dealing with your home insurance company for water, fire, or mold damage call us today.

Problem Areas:

You might run into some trouble with your insurance claims for water damage in some cases. For example, if you are claiming something that was the result of gradual damage they might give you some problems. Gradual damage is anything that happened over time as opposed to an accident or sudden damage. These can be things such as a leaky ceiling that was due to plumbing defects, water damage caused by cracks in the foundation, and a lot of times mold will also fall into this category. Basically, anything that has been happening for a long time is generally not covered by home insurance.

However, there may be some exceptions to this. For example, some insurance companies allow coverage for mold remediation. For example, in the case of mold resulting from another claim that was covered under insurance, but was not properly fixed, and the mold was the result.

On the other hand if water damage is sudden and accidental you’ll probably have a much easier time getting covered for the damages. Of course everything is dependent upon the language of the policy that you purchased, but this is the very nature of insurance: coverage for sudden and accidental loss.

A good practice for homeowners is to keep record of all repairs and transactions for services that are made to your home. This will prove valuable in the event you ever make a claim. It is also worth mentioning that there are different types of water damage as far as insurance is concerned. Some cover flood, some cover sewer backup, and many times the items that are covered reflects what is commonplace for the region that you live in.

At SERVPRO of North Prince William County we are not only experts at restoring your home as if it never even happened, we are also experts at dealing with insurance companies. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you through the entire recovery process today!