5 Tips for Hiring Fire and Water Damage Restoration Companies

Fire and water damage restoration companies are a necessity after your home or business experiences a disastrous event. While fire and water damage on their own are scary, shopping through companies to ensure your property’s health can be equally challenging. If you’ve never experienced this before, you may not know what to do or where to start. 

Fire and water damage are two very common situations for hundreds of thousands of home and business owners every year. In 2018 the National Fire Protection Agency reported 499,000 structure fires. Water damage claims have surged in recent years as well. This is largely due to aging sewer and pipe systems. With over 600,000 miles of sewer pipes across the country, the average age of these pipes is 33 years old.

Our systems aren’t getting any younger, so the concern for water damage grows for every business and home every year. Shopping through fire and water damage restoration companies can be tricky. This is why United Water Restoration Group would like to help you navigate this task with 5 tips to help you find the company right for you.

Tip 1: Seek a Trustworthy Company

While fire and water damage restoration companies may seem expensive and you may consider looking for a contractor, it isn’t always the best idea. Fire and water damage restoration companies, like United Water Restoration Group, come with certain guarantees. While a smaller contractor may be cheaper, they also don’t have the manpower of a company such as ours. They also may not be covered by insurance and an accident could cost you and your property thousands of more dollars. Seeking tried and true fire and water damage restoration companies is your best bet to ensure your home or business’ health.

Tip 2: Find a Company That Can Help Immediately

Another problem with hiring a smaller contractor is their availability. While most fire and water damage restoration companies can vary in response time, they are likely to have more members to assist. United Water Restoration Group has a 24-hour hotline, (800) 430-5838, that is open every day of the week. Within minutes of contacting our hotline you will receive a call from one of our certified technicians. They can help assess your problem over the phone and schedule an appointment that best works with your availability. Depending on the amount of services requests in your area, one of our technicians can be at your property in as little as a few hours. 

Tip 3: One-Stop-Shop

While the damage dealt by a fire or flood can be severe, some fire and water damage restoration companies are equipped to handle everything. You may think you need to find a cleaning service company and a construction company, but companies like United Water Restoration Group are equipped to handle everything. From the cleaning process to the reconstruction phase, United Water Restoration Group can handle it all. This will allow you to skip the process of seeking multiple companies to fix one underlying problem.

Tip 4: Learn About the Process

While fire and water damage restoration companies are in the same business, their practices may vary. It is recommended that you learn about a company’s process so that you can find peace of mind and comfort in awareness. Fire and water damage restoration companies can vary, but this is the United Water Restoration Group’s process:

Part 1: Emergency Contact

As we’ve stated, our hotline, (800) 430-5838, is open 24-hours, 7 days a week. Minutes after contacting our hotline you will be placed in direct contact with one of our local technicians. This technician will begin the process and try to understand your situation.

Part 2: Inspecting the Property

Depending on the amount of service requests in your area, one of our technicians can be at your property in as little as a few hours. During this step, our technician will begin inspecting your property to assess its damages. They will fully go over their report with you and describe the steps required to return your home or business back to normalcy. Customer service and support is a major part of United Water Restoration Group’s process. Our technicians can go over what needs to be done in great detail to help support and comfort you.

Part 3: Protecting the Property

Fire damage can cause areas of the building to be exposed to elements. If your roof or windows are damaged, our technicians will tarp or board up the affected areas. 

Part 4: Water Removal

Even if your property is enduring fire damage, water extraction is likely needed. While a fire department can put out the fire, they can’t remove the copious amount of water used during the process. 

Part 5: Removing Smoke and Soot

This part of the process is strictly for fire damage dealt to a home or business. During this part of the process we will remove any lingering smoke damage and soot. Soot is a common byproduct of fire and can build up on counter tops or floor.

Part 6: Sanitization

Whether you have fire or water damage dealt to a property the affected areas will need to be cleansed. Water damage poses the concern of mold damage and fire has the concern of dangerous toxins in the air. This part of the process will also help eliminate any lingering odors caused by the fire or water damage in the affected areas. 

Part 7: Restoration

After your home is cleared we can begin the process of restoring your property to pre-loss conditions. Whether the damage is minor or severe, our technicians are equipped and trained to handle it. Our teams are able to do anything from replacing carpet to major reconstruction. 

Tip 5: Working with Insurance

After any major event occurs you’ll want to contact your insurance company to see what extent of your damages are covered. This process alone can be tricky and frustrating for the average home or business owner. Fire and water damage companies, like United Water Restoration Group, can help you and work alongside you and your insurance. 

After a serious event such as a fire or flood, you deserve peace of mind. It’s hard to find much comfort when your living area or livelihood are at stake. United Water Restoration Group can help provide you with peace of mind and get your home or business back to pre-loss conditions.

We have many locations around the United States. To find out if we have an office local to your area, put your zip code in and check! We provide services in Ormond Beach, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, Orlando, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Melbourne, Florida, and many other locations around Florida!