Saving Hardwood Flooring After a Water Damage

8/5/2020 (Permalink)

SERVPRO can help when your hardwood floors are damaged by a water damage  

Hardwood flooring is an everyday staple of construction in many Homewood homes, but caring for this material can often be a challenge. Moisture and saturation can distort the shape and weaken the integrity of these materials, which can ultimately cause homeowners to need to replace them. To avoid this costly repair and reinstallation of hardwood, seek the experience and industry-leading equipment of restoration professionals that can address this saturation effectively.  

Many homeowners mistakenly believe that addressing flooring damage in their home after a water loss incident in Homewood is only involved as removing surface moisture and standing water. In truth, these situations can often move far beyond the surface and affect into subflooring material. The only way to know the full extent of the spread of water damage is to utilize the advanced detection equipment and thermal imagery cameras available to our SERVPRO team.  

We understand how vital it is to address water damaged flooring as quickly as possible because, within a few days, hardwood flooring and vinyl alternatives can begin to swell and distort. Bloating can cause the tongue and groove connections of the individual planks to disconnect, separating entire portions of flooring. Once this degradation begins, it is no longer possible for professionals to reverse this damage and controlled demolition techniques become necessary instead.  

We understand how critical a fast response is to protecting hardwood flooring in your house, and so our SERVPRO of Fort Dodge professionals stay available 24/7 to help. You can trust our experienced and equipped professionals to make flooring damage “Like it never even happened.” Give us a call anytime that you need us at 515-955-4009 

Emergency Board Up in Fort Dodge Iowa

8/5/2020 (Permalink)

Board Ups from Fire or Storm Damage 

It is not unheard of for a severe storm, fire, or accident to cause major structural damage to a home that may include holes or openings in the siding and roof.  If the home is left exposed, it is vulnerable to further damage by the elements or even vandalism.  Our technicians are dedicated to boarding up your home quickly to secure it and prevent further damage.  We have the materials and experience to board up your home and we respond within 2 to 4 hours of your call to provide emergency board ups. 

• Closing up of all holes and openings in the structure 
• Full temporary enclosure of severely damaged buildings 
• Barricades in key areas 

• Tarping services for damage roofs 

If a disaster or accident has left your home in Matteson or Homewood Flossmoor exposed do not hesitate to contact SERVPRO of Fort Dodge for board up services.  Our technicians can effectively board up your home or building to keep it secured and protected until it can be rebuilt.  We are available 24 hours a day at 515-955-4009 for emergency board ups in Fort Dodge and surrounding areas 

Power Washing Services Iowa | Questions to Ask Before Hiring

8/8/2019 (Permalink)

Does the exterior of your home or business need an economical face-lift? Then it’s a good idea to hire a power washing professional. In fact, regular power washing is incredibly essential to maintain your building. However, if you’ve never hired a power washing service before, it could be quite tricky as to what you should look for before hiring one. Don’t worry! Below is a list of questions to ask before hiring any power washing service in order to get a thorough, safe and effective cleaning that is worth the money your investment.

How do You Perform  a Power Washing?

One needs to have an idea of what will happen when you hire power washing service. Ask the company about their process, their technique, materials used, and the time frame to accomplish the task. This will help you to determine whether they’re the right people to get the job done. It's also good to know that many companies will use hot water in their a power washing for best results, but power washing just requires cold water. The right amount of power washing doesn’t cause any damage to your vinyl siding, roofing, or other parts of your building. Additionally, it keeps the outside of your commercial and residential space clean and pristine.

Do They Work According to Your Schedule?

Check if the service provider works with the needs of customers with busy schedules. Most power washing services are available even outside business hours for the customer’s convenience.

How Much do You Charge?

The cost of power washing can differ substantially based on the size and location of your home or office. However, make sure to compare the price estimates and work quality of at least three power washing companies. Check out the previous records of the companies and see whether the price estimates provided for their earlier projects were accurate or not.

Can You Show Me Some Before And After Pictures?

To see the quality of their work, one of the best things to do is to ask for some before and after images of recent jobs they've done. If a company doesn’t offer any, simply turn them down. If any company offers, browse for photos that are similar to your home or office building surface. This help you get a better idea of the finished result.

Do You Offer a Guaranteed service?

Ask the potential company, whether it offers any sort of guarantees for their work. If they don’t, you can remove them from your list. Be sure  to hire a professional company that prides in offering quality work and stands by their services. If you’re unhappy with the end results of the work they've done, then you should be able to get your money back.

Are Your Workers Insured?

Make sure that you choose a power washing service with insurance coverage. In fact, it is a dangerous business. Even experienced professionals get hurt occasionally on the job. So, hire the company who has insurance to pay for any injuries that workers may suffer on the job.

Be sure to ask the above questions before hiring any power washing company as it helps you find one that truly offers quality services.

If you’re looking for a reputable power washing service provider in Iowa, contact us today at (515) 955-4009.

Soda Blasting, Sandblasting Services Iowa| SERVPRO of Fort Dodge

8/8/2019 (Permalink)

In this blog, you will learn all about soda blasting and sandblasting along with their pros and cons. 

Soda Blasting

It is a versatile cleaning method which uses compressed air to deliver sodium bicarbonate media (i.e. baking soda) onto a surface to be cleaned. Thus, it is also referred to as a non-abrasive, non-destructive paint and coating removal method that can be safely used on most surfaces like thin metal, glass, rubber, and wood.  The sodium bicarbonate is applied with high-speed pressure onto the surface to remove anything you want like grease, dirt, dust, paint, and mildew.  This is one of the best solutions for restoring and refurbishing any surface.

Soda blasting can work on a wide variety of applications such as:

• Large scale industrial equipment maintenance
• Cleaning
• Paint stripping
• Property maintenance
• Rust removal
• Graffiti removal
• Automotive restoration
• Food processing facilities and equipment
• Boat hull cleaning
• Many other applications

It is even incredibly useful for mold restoration and can help cleanup and deodorize fire/smoke damage.

Pros of Soda Blasting:

• Eco-Friendly:
  Soda blasting is environmentally friendly and biodegradable. This could be a safe method to use without causing much harm to nature.

• Nontoxic:
  It is non-toxic in nature; sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is a major component of the human body. In fact, it is being endorsed by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) due to its safe use.

• Non-Abrasive
  The Bicarbonate of soda is pretty soft. When it is squeezed with soda, the soda crystals explode and come in contact with the substrate. This process helps in removing any dirt from surfaces without damaging the substrate.

• Doesn’t Generate Heat
  The main benefit is it doesn’t cause the surface to heat up. Thus, it does not produce any excess heat. So, it will not warp or pit any metal surfaces.

Sandblasting

Sandblasting is most commonly known as abrasive blasting. It is one of the effective methods of smoothing and cleaning a rough surface, shape a surface, or to remove surface contaminants. In the sandblasting process, cleaning a hard surface at high speed using compressed air will remove all the debris thus resulting in an extremely smooth surface.

However, the sandblasting consists of two different processes

1. Air-Driven: The air-driven is best suited for metal surfaces
   
   
2. Water Driven: The water driven is commonly used for brick and concrete surfaces.

Pros of Sandblasting:

• Aggressive Abrasion Action:
  It quickly removes the surface contaminants.
  
  
• Profiling of Surface:
  During manufacturing of metal objects, the surface needs to be shaped, so that the finished coating can be stuck to the surface. Sandblasting is often used for this purpose.

If you’re looking to hire soda blasting or sandblasting professionals for your projects in Iowa, contact us today at (515) 955-4009.