Calling SERVPRO® after a fire is a crucial step in mitigating damage and ensuring your home or business is properly restored. Here’s why:

11/21/2024 (Permalink)

1. Expert Fire Damage Restoration

SERVPRO specializes in fire damage restoration, with the experience and expertise needed to handle even the most severe fire situations. They understand the complexities of smoke, soot, and water damage, and use advanced techniques to clean and restore your property safely and efficiently. 

2. Smoke and Soot Removal

Even after a fire is extinguished, smoke and soot residues can settle on surfaces, infiltrate materials, and cause long-lasting odors. SERVPRO uses specialized equipment and cleaning agents to remove soot from walls, ceilings, furniture, and other surfaces. They can also eliminate smoke odors that might otherwise linger. 

3. Water Damage Mitigation

In many cases, fire-fighting efforts involve the use of water or fire suppressant chemicals, which can lead to significant water damage. SERVPRO has the equipment to remove water quickly, dry out your property, and prevent further issues like mold growth, which can develop in as little as 48 hours in a damp environment. 

4. Comprehensive Restoration Services

SERVPRO’s team doesn’t just clean up the immediate aftermath of a fire—they handle the full restoration process. This includes everything from structural repairs to replacing damaged furniture or flooring. Whether it’s repairing walls, cleaning your keepsakes, or rebuilding parts of your home, SERVPRO can restore your property to its pre-fire condition. 

5. Insurance Coordination

SERVPRO works directly with insurance companies to help streamline the claims process. They provide detailed documentation and damage assessments, which can make it easier for you to navigate the complex paperwork that follows a fire. This ensures you receive the compensation you're entitled to, with minimal stress. 

6. Faster Recovery

Time is of the essence when it comes to fire damage restoration. The longer you wait, the more difficult it may be to salvage certain items or prevent additional damage (such as mold growth or permanent staining from soot). SERVPRO is available 24/7 and responds quickly to your call, minimizing downtime and allowing you to get back to normal faster. 

7. Health and Safety

After a fire, the property may harbor hazardous materials, including toxic smoke residue, charred debris, and potential structural weaknesses. SERVPRO’s trained professionals follow safety protocols to ensure the health of both their team and your family. They wear proper protective gear, use safe cleaning agents, and follow industry standards to handle these risks. 

8. Peace of Mind

The emotional toll of a fire can be overwhelming. SERVPRO offers peace of mind by taking the burden of cleanup and restoration off your shoulders. Their experienced team handles everything with care and professionalism, allowing you to focus on your family’s well-being and recovery. 

In summary, calling SERVPRO after a fire means getting access to a team of professionals equipped to handle all aspects of fire damage restoration—from cleanup and repair to insurance coordination and health safety. Their expertise ensures a faster, more efficient recovery process, helping you restore your home and life after the devastation of a fire. 

SERVPRO of Lynchburg, Bedford and Campbell Counties stands ready to respond 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to your catastrophic event. Please call us with your questions or concerns at 434.525.9559 or visit us at www.SERVPROlynchburgbedfordcampbellcounties.com for more information. 

Better yet, save our contact information in your phone for when an emergency strikes you. When you think fire, smoke, water damage, think SERVPRO. Locally owned and operated. 

When a storm hit Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell Counties SERVPRO is ready!

10/30/2024 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Lynchburg 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. 

Have Storm or Flood Damage? Call us today

434-525-9559 or 540-586-1579

How to help prevent storm damage to your home.

10/28/2024 (Permalink)

Here is some great info provided by the Property and Liability Resource Bureau about preventing storm damage.  Check them out at plrb.org

Severe Thunderstorms

It is the severe thunderstorm that produces the tornado, large hail, and high wind damage to structures, as well as frequent lightning strikes that cause most property damage. All thunderstorms are dangerous. Though small in size, compared to a hurricane for example, they are extremely powerful. The National Weather Service rates approximately 10,000 thunderstorms as severe each season.

Hail

Background

            The majority of the structural damage caused in a severe thunderstorm occurs during a hailstorm. Hail damage to structures, foliage, vehicles, and agricultural crops is estimated to exceed $1-billion annually.

            Hail that causes damage to structures is usually at least 1” in diameter. The larger the diameter of the hailstone, and the harder the stone, the more severe the impact on a building. The so-called baseball-sized hail causes more severe damage that the so-called golf-ball sized hail.

            Vehicle damage can be caused by hail that is about .75” in diameter. Crop damage has been caused by hail as small as .25”.

Preventing Damage

            Roof damage is the most frequent structural loss caused by hail. Reducing roof damage that might result from a major hailstorm is possible. It depends on the type and quality, as well as the maintenance of the structure’s roofing system. It is a fact the cedar shake roofing is more likely to be damaged than 50-pound composite roofing material. The choice of roofing is a decision made by the building’s owner, although building code requirements sometimes restrict it.

Mitigating Damage after a Storm

            Close any openings made in the structure by the hail. Broken windows are the most common problem. Keep a roll of plastic sheeting that can be quickly cut to size and nailed over the opening.

            Openings in the roof and in siding from hail are rare. If they occur it is best to close them as soon as possible. Keep your personal safety in mind and attempt such a closure yourself only if it can be done with little or no risk. Your insurance policy will likely cover the cost of emergency close up. Contact your agent or claims center to report the damage and seek advice on how to proceed.

Wind

Background

            The number two cause of structural damage in a severe thunderstorm is from the so-called straight-line wind. This is wind moving in one direction and not rotating, such as a tornado.

            Wind is considered severe when it reaches about 60 miles per hour. Some very severe windstorms can achieve a velocity of 100 miles per hour. Both are dangerous and will cause structural damage.

            A form of wind that causes damage approaching that of a strong tornado is the downburst. This is usually in a very concentrated area. It is created by air blasting out of a thunderstorm to the ground beneath the storm cell.

Preventing Damage

            Minimizing and preventing wind damage to a structure is possible. Roof and siding damage are the two leading types of loss following a windstorm.

Roof damage can be reduced during the construction phase when the roof deck and the shingles or membrane are applied over the decking. A well-designed roofing system will firmly anchor the trusses and decking to the walls and foundation to keep the entire roof from lifting off the building in a strong wind. Roofing material must be properly fastened to the deck. Weakly connected shingles will lift easily from the deck.

            Siding damage can be reduced at the construction phase as well. Properly fastened siding is less likely to lift off a structure in strong wind. Building codes will likely direct the minimum standards for connections. You, your architect, or your contractor may decide to exceed these minimums for a stronger and more storm resistant structure.

            Falling trees and tree limbs are another significant type of damage to structures in a windstorm. Tree maintenance to remove dead limbs or identify and remove weakened trees will reduce the likelihood of the structure being damaged.

Mitigating Damage after a Storm

            Close any openings made in the structure by the wind. Roof openings and broken windows are the most common problem. Keep a roll of plastic sheeting that can be quickly cut to size and nailed over the opening.

            Keep your personal safety in mind and attempt such a closure yourself only if it can be done with little or no risk. Your insurance policy will likely cover the cost of emergency close up. Contact your agent or claims center to report the damage and seek advice on how to proceed.

            Falling trees and tree limbs can open a structure with sudden violence. A tree on a structure is a very serious personal and structural safety issue. A tree may look as if it will not shift position. But it can shift and cause serious injury to the unwary. A fallen tree may also mask other very serious safety issues, such as downed electrical wires. The wires may still be live and the tree itself energized. Contact your agent or claims center to report the damage and seek advice on how to proceed.

Tornadoes

Background

A tornado is a violent rotating column of air. It originates in a severe thunderstorm as a funnel and dips to the ground. Once on the ground it is a tornado and a highly dangerous storm. About 1200 tornadoes occur annually, according to the National Weather Service. Fortunately most of them are the so-called weak tornado with winds of less than 110 miles per hour. While these will damage structures they cause few deaths. The most violent tornadoes, such as the storm that destroyed a swath of property in Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma, during the 2003 season, are very rare. However they kill the most people and cause landscape clearing, catastrophic structural damage.

Please see the wind section for preventing and mitigating damage from a tornado.

Flooding

 Background

            Flash flooding sometimes follows rain during a severe thunderstorm. This peril is the leading killer of people during the severe thunderstorms. The fatalities occur not in structures, but usually in vehicles and after dark. Drivers under estimate the depth of water, the energy of its velocity, and how easily a vehicle can begin floating in about 24” of water.

            Structural flooding typically occurs in areas that are known to be flood plains and have been mapped by the National Flood Insurance Program.

When rainstorms cause flooding call SERVPRO

10/28/2024 (Permalink)

It is tragic when a flood brings devastation and water damage to your home. But rapid water removal, clean up and repairs certainly must get under way for you home to get back to normal with minimal losses.
 
Safety is a top priority. After the flood damage, evaluation of the home's safety issues must be completed before you dare to enter your home again. 
 
You do need to call your insurance agent to be certain if you are covered under your standard home owners policy or if you do possess flood insurance coverage.  An insurance adjuster will be dispatched to your property to inspect the damage and eventually offer a settlement. Ask for help in retaining a competent water damage restoration company. SERVPRO does work with many agencies. We can assess and document all water damaged items, help you with your claims and paperwork, and expedite the water removal and restoration.  Our inspection will indicate to you the severity of the water damage that your home has suffered and any potential health effects you may have to address during the process of getting the flood damage repairs done on your home. 
 
When these concerns have been addressed, and if you have been given permission to enter your home, you should also document all the flood causing water damage for insurance purposes. Be sure that you do take pictures of the flooded areas of your home and any damaged belongings, including damaged furniture. This, along with the input from SERVPRO, will help you to be fairly compensated by the insurance company. 
 
Once you have done the documentation and the adjuster had done his inspection, then the clean up starts to get under way. The home needs to be made dry and needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible to prevent any other damage from occurring. This will also lessen the likelihood of mold and mildew growth.  Contamination is a given if the flooding is the result of groundwater intrusion, whether from rain, bodies of water, or a sewage blockage. Do not attempt to clean and sanitize on your own. The potential for future illness is too great.
 
It is wise to call the professionals from SERVPRO because they can immediately begin to pump out the water and mitigate on-going water damage. And they have the skill and knowledge, along with the professional equipment required to start and complete the entire restoration process for you. 
 
After the water removal and clean up are in operation, then repairs need to be done. They could be extensive, depending on how much structural damage has occurred and the condition of the contents of your property.

If you have water damage to your home, call SERVPRO of Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell Counties at 434-525-9559.

Call SERVPRO of Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell counties for mold remediation.

10/28/2024 (Permalink)

If you look on the internet, there are scores of DIY mold test kits. Before you invest in one of these kits, here are things you ought to know about mold:

• Mold is everywhere and every single house has some form of “mold.”
• Most self-test mold kits only tell you if your home has mold, but often provides false negatives and positives. It also does not tell you what kind of mold or how to kill it.

A true mold test can only be conducted by a Professional Environmental testing company; they determine the type of mold, the source of the moisture, and how to kill the mold at the core. They create a protocol, which can be read by an IICRC professional like SERVPRO of Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell Counties.  It’s best to use a testing company that does not do cleaning themselves because their assessment will be unbiased.

• Mold is more often hidden, sometimes under the floor or in the walls, or in your air ducts

Where the mold is located, often dictates where the moisture is affecting the building

• Untreated water damage may result in mold growth within 24-48 hours of the event

Wood, insulation, fiberglass, carpet and other organic substances become a thriving environment for mold once there is moisture present for more than 24 hours. After a week, it is almost guaranteed.

Free estimates or removing mold yourself cost homeowners more in the long run!

Be wary of companies who advertise free mold testing. Free mold tests are often offered by people who are uncertified or inexperienced and if they do the mold testing themselves, they are using these kits mentioned above. Unless they are a certified Environmental Hygienist and have a PhD in microbiology, they do not have the knowledge or resources to truly diagnose the mold condition in your home.

• The source of the mold is never addressed, so the problem is reoccurring.
• They use the “self-test” kits mentioned above instead of environmental testing with diagnostics
• Remove only topical mold instead of killing it at the source
• They often remove more walls and floors than needed which increases the price to rebuild.
• They do not remove enough, or don’t use the right materials which brings the mold back.

This means you have to pay to have it removed again, and have more sanitation and demolition performed, which increases the price to rebuild and replace tremendously.

What you should do instead

Having mold can be scary, especially if anyone in your home is prone to getting sick (people with asthma, low immune systems, allergies, babies and the elderly). We recommend the following course of action if you need to have mold removed from your home.

1. Measure the area affected and check for moisture.
2. Call your insurance company to check for coverage.

Now that you’re armed with knowledge, it’s time to start making some calls!

SERVPRO of Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell Counties' technicians are qualified to help you with your mold clean up, and have the following certifications:

• IICRC, Water Restoration Technician
• IICRC, Mold restoration
• IICRC, Applied Structural Drying

Every second counts

8/15/2024 (Permalink)

In a fire, seconds count. Seconds can mean the difference between residents of our community escaping safely from a fire or having their lives end in tragedy.

Everyone needs to have an escape plan!

• Draw a map of your home with all members of your household, marking two exits from each room and a path to the outside from each exit.
• Practice your home fire drill twice a year. Conduct one at night and one during the day with everyone in your home, and practice using different ways out.
• Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.
• Make sure the number of your home is clearly marked and easy for the fire department to find.
• Close doors behind you as you leave – this may slow the spread of smoke, heat, and fire.
• Once you get outside, stay outside. Never go back inside a burning building.

via http://www.nfpa.org/

Have you contacted your local fire department? See how you can get involved with them and your community to prevent house fires. Sometimes they will have events or give out smoke detectors for your home. Don't think this could never happen to you because it easily could. We don't have control over everything in our homes! Be safe and have a plan!

Proper Ventilation for mold prevention

8/15/2024 (Permalink)

Mold can spring up very quickly in humid environments and many homes have areas that are prone to mold growth for this reason. Bathrooms, kitchens, attics, and basements all have the highest chance of developing mold because humid air often circulates in these rooms.  Proper ventilation can help to significantly reduce the chance of mold growth in these areas of your home. It is important to take steps to ensure that each room is well-ventilated and that the air is circulating well.

Some of the most important areas to vent are the bathrooms and the attic. Bathrooms are usually quite small with a lot of warm, moist air circulating within them regularly.  This makes them very susceptible to rapid mold growth.  Investing in vents and fans that push the humid air outside of the home will help to keep mold growth to a minimum.  Attics often have poor ventilation and many homeowners are tempted to quickly ventilate bathrooms by placing vents in the bathrooms that push the humid air into the attic.  This will result in mold growth in the attic, which could then spread into the ducts as well as tight, difficult-to-reach spaces.

Avoid these potentially costly problems by investing in quality fans and vents that will draw humid air out of the rooms, sending it outside of the home, rather than into the attic.

If you see mold, call SERVPRO of Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell Counties 434-525-9559.

Water damage from the eyes of the Technician:

8/14/2024 (Permalink)

Ever wonder what a water damage is like in the eyes of the technician?  Well know you can know!  Here is what one of our lead water technicians here as SERVPRO of Lynchburg / Bedford & Campbell Counties, has to say about it.

"There are a million things that run through my mind as a technician when I receive the call for a water damage. Where did the water come from? What kind of floorings are we working with? How many levels of the property are affected? Although these questions are typically answered by the customer on the initial call, we still wonder about the unknown things to prepare for.

These questions are turned to assumptions of the worst as we prepare the trucks to respond, and then we arrive only to ask more questions. What is wet, how wet, how far has the damage spread, and what are the best methods to dry it quickly to prevent further damage? While most technicians can diagnose with a simple tool, we have to diagnose using tools and by looking in places that property owners never even imagine water could have went.

During the course of drying a structure we still ask constant questions like; is it drying, how dry is it, when might it be completely dry. We answer these by frequently checking the amount of moisture content in the air and structure. Water is so good at hiding and most times a property owner is thinking; why are they looking there? Some will say it, while others will just look at you with the eyes of disbelief, but just as we gauge our equipment’s readings, we read the customer and give the response to their possibly unasked concern.

Above all else in the mitigation of a property, I have some other questions that I ask myself. These are the questions that, I feel, distinguish SERVPRO in our industry. How can I make this customer's nightmare turn into a mere uncomfortable dream, and what can my team do to keep our customer confident in us throughout this process? These answers are only available by communication and assurance that the home or business they've worked so hard for are being cared for as if it were ours."

Lead Technician at SERVPRO of Lynchburg / Bedford & Campbell Counties 

Why SERVPRO of Lynchburg

3/5/2024 (Permalink)

Mission

To develop a team of Quality People, who Focus on Excellent Service, Fairness and Mutual Respect.

Vision 

To be the Premier Fire, Water, Mold Restoration Company in the Communities we Serve.

Values 

Integrity: To act with integrity and honesty in the work that we do, the people we interact with, and the decisions we make. We will not compromise what is right, for what is easiest. 

Customer Service: To provide premier services through continual reviewing of our goals, expectations, and training. 

Leadership:  To lead others by our example. 

Responsibility:  To maintain our team’s strong foundation, and to be a positive agent of change. 

Respect:  To show respect to others with our words, our actions and our attitudes.

Goals 

SERVPRO of Lynchburg/Bedford & Campbell Counties seeks to honor the Lord in all that we do, and to have a positive impact on the lives of our employees, customers, and community.

We specialize in Flooded basement cleanup and Restoration

3/5/2024 (Permalink)

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 Lynchburg 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 - 434-525-9559

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 Lynchburg / Bedford & Campbell Counties 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