Contain and Protect: It Matters
To Our Customers


Drying out a water damaged home can solve one big problem, but it can also create another one if the right measures aren't taken.

Biological pollutants should always be considered when drying wet ceilings, walls and floors.

According to the American Lung Association:
Biological pollutants include molds, bacteria, viruses, pollen, animal dander and particles from dust mites and cockroaches. These may cause infections, provoke allergic symptoms or trigger asthma attacks. 

Since the drying process often requires forcing air at high velocity into wall and ceiling cavities where dust and other small particulates reside, our customers and the unaffected areas of their homes need all the protection they can get from biological pollutants.

That's especially important for those with respiratory conditions or allergies; and, of course, it's always a best practice to keep clean spaces clean.

The easiest way to deal with all of those issues is to contain the affected area and prevent the spread of dust, debris, and other small, airborne particulates throughout the home whenever possible.
Using thick plastic sheeting; foam board; adjustable poles; and a few other materials, water restoration technicians will:

• Create a barrier between the affected area and the rest of the home, installing zippers for easy access
• Cover all contents left within the affected area
• Cover all window blinds in the affected area
• Cover all air vents and returns with a thin, breatheable fabric that filters particulate

A few extra steps can make all the difference for our customers, and when it comes to their health and protecting the undamaged areas of their homes, it matters to us.

Be Prepared. It's Not Just A Motto For Boy Scouts

Are you prepared for a large-scale emergency situation?

Recent record snowfall around the U.S., as well as the upcoming tornado season, once again brings to mind the need for emergency preparedness.

Possible scenarios include earthquakes, tornados, flash floods, blizzards, and even acts of terrorism. Whether the event happens while you're at home or while you're traveling by car, you might need to quickly relocate to a safer area.

While you can't be prepared for every possible situation, there are some basic things you can do to greatly increase your family's chance of survival if you become the victims of a major disaster or are somehow stranded in harsh conditions.

One of the best ways to prepare is to make a 72-hour emergency kit for every member of your household. An emergency supply kit doesn't have to be expensive; it only needs to contain enough essentials to help you get by until help arrives.

An inexpensive school backpack would work fine to hold your supplies, and it should be small and light enough to be easily portable. You want something you can grab quickly and get out if the situation calls for you to leave your home (or car) in a hurry and under dire circumstances. Putting it together can be a fun family project. Get creative with it and experiment a little; you'll learn a lot.

The following is a bare bones list of essentials that you'll be glad to have with you if a disaster occurs:

• Change of clothes / shoes: This should be kept season-appropriate, so when winter comes, replace those cotton socks with wool ones and add a warm shirt.
• Water: Have a 48 oz. container for each person. It won't be enough for comfort, but it'll keep you alive for 72 hours in most circumstances. You might also want to consider a means of water purification, such as a small, portable filter or purification tablets.
• Food: Some energy bars like the ones athletes use don't take up much space, but they're packed with calories and will help you keep your energy up. Nine or ten for each kit should work.
• Mylar emergency blanket: They're also commonly referred to as "space blankets". They're thin, but they can help you preserve body heat if you get wet or chilled.
• Cash: ATM's and credit card readers might not work in a major disaster if the power is out.
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Multi-tool, like a Leatherman or Swiss Army knife
• A small first aid kit with bandages and antiseptic
• Lighter or waterproof matches. A heat source can be a life saver if you're stuck outdoors in cold weather.
• Plastic tarp or poncho: Good for protection against wind and rain if you're stuck outside.
• Copies of important documents: Keeping these on a flash drive with a second one as a backup could save you a lot of headaches in the aftermath of a disaster.

Of course, there are several things you might add for an even better kit, but if you have at least these things and you keep them in an accessible place (like under your bed, in a closet by the back door or in your car), you can grab your pack and go without being left helpless and empty-handed if a disaster should force you to relocate quickly and without warning.

Pop Goes The Plumbing; The Freeze of January 2014.

In case you didn't know, the freeze of January 2014 was a monumental catastrophe in the mid-south, and we don't use that term lightly. We'll be telling our grandchildren about this one. Many people are still dealing with the effects of it, and it could be months before life is back to normal for some of them.

Sure, you couldn't see the devastation by merely driving through the streets like you could if it had been a hurricane like Sandy, or if it had been a flood like the one in Nashville a few years ago. Even so, you'd never know the difference by the number of emergency calls received by our franchise and other local disaster mitigation companies last month.

Water damage from frozen pipes that burst after the hard freeze the first week of January affected what we can only guess was thousands of homes and businesses in the area. We had over 170 requests for service in three days.

The calls flooded in all at once (pun only slightly intended), and nearly overwhelmed our office staff. We had expected a big increase in volume because of the freeze, but the volume of calls we eventually got was far beyond anything we had imagined. We have a whole new level of respect for our customer service representative, Trudie, who showed an incredible amount of grace under pressure. It's not easy dealing with people who are (in many instances) in a panic because their home or business is flooded, but Trudie did so with patience and sympathy for the customer. She even called each one of them back every other day until we were able to get to them, just to reassure them that they had not been forgotten.

Our crews of technicians, having already worked a full day on several other big water losses when the calls started coming in, mobilized quickly and began stabilizing the situation for as many customers as possible.

It's hard to know where to begin in a situation like that. Do you prioritize based on the order the calls were received, or do you base your response on the level of crisis the customer is experiencing? We decided to base it on the crisis level, making the ones that presented serious safety concerns the highest priority. If there was standing water in a large portion of the structure, and if there were ceilings or walls becoming unsound, we wanted to stabilize the situation immediately.

Our water technicians worked late into the night on that first evening, many of them having worked late the night before.  Hats off to them, by the way; we've never seen people work as hard as those guys did. They sacrificed sleep; they sacrificed plans they had made; and they sacrificed time with their families to make sure we could do our best for those who depend on us in an emergency.

Temperatures are starting to warm up now, and spring is just around the corner. It looks like the worst of the cold weather is probably behind us for this year. Now the spring rains and the storms that come with them are on our minds. I hope all the Memphis area roofs are water-tight and ready for that, but if not, we're ready to respond.