3 Types of Inspections During Flood Damage Cleaning

One of the first things to do when there has been flood damage to your home is to call an emergency water damage professional. They will inspect your property and ensure it is safe to commence the drying process. During the flood cleaning the technicians will most likely need to perform various types of inspections throughout the work. This involves the initial inspection, ongoing inspections as well as the final inspection. All of these inspections are carried out routinely to ensure the job is being done properly and your property is restore to pre-loss condition as soon as possible. Below we’ll outline the difference between the 3 types of inspections and what each involves.

1. Initial Inspection

The technician performs the initial inspection upon entering the water damaged building for the first time. The technician will be equipped with professional moisture detection equipment that will be used to assess and evaluate the level of moisture within the building, on structures, flooring and within the air. These psychometric environmental conditions are documented and stored to compare between different readings inside the building and outside the building. The technician will assess and store all data including the source of the water, the time of water intrusion, visible damage to surfaces and structures as well as any evidence of mould. Upon this inspection the restorer will establish specific drying goals with all parties involved such as the tenant, property owner and manager of the building. Once an appropriate drying goal has been established all work done will be documented along the way and a plan will be made to ensure all involved parties are on the same page.

2. Ongoing Inspections

Following the initial inspection, ongoing inspections will need to be performed to assess the drying process and identify any other issues with saturated items that will arise. During the ongoing inspections the restorer will perform additional psychometric environmental readings with moisture meters and other equipment of the environment inside the building and water damaged areas compared to outside the building and non-water damaged areas. This is to assess the rate of drying and success of the restoration. The amount of inspections will increase or decrease depending on the type of flood and water contamination, saturation and rate of drying. The change in inspection frequency will be approved by the parties involved. When ongoing inspections are being performed, there are levels of moisture that should be met across a certain amount of time once the drying process has begun. If these measurements and targets are not being met, the restorer will investigate further and take appropriate corrective action immediately.

3. Final Inspection

The final inspection is performed once the job is complete and the materials, structures, surfaces and restorable items are considered dry according to the readings from the tests. The level of drying should be in line with the predetermined drying goals and the job will be considered finished once these targets are met. All readings will be documented accordingly and will be provided to the parties involved including the owners of the building and insurance companies. It’s after the final inspection when the owner or the tenant can return to using the household or property as they once did and can rest assured that the amount of moisture has been reduced to safe levels again. All appropriate and interested parties will be notified of all items that have been restored, replaced or removed entirely depending on the amount of sustained water damage.