Does My Retail Business Need to Close for Commercial Flood Damage Cleanup?

4/28/2020 (Permalink)

Let SERVPRO help your Lower East Side business during a water damage.

SERVPRO can remove the water and get your Lower East Side business reopened quickly

The majority of retail businesses in the Lower East Side sell both online and offline; however, a water loss can put the brakes on filling orders, servicing customers, and more. For companies that rely on foot traffic as part of their regular sales with customers, the danger of slip and fall accidents may require closure during the cleaning. Online purchases may get delayed due to the need to move stock or computer equipment out of the loss area. 

How Can Retail Businesses Avoid Commercial Flood Damage?

There are steps to avoid commercial flood damage that Lower East Side property owners can take, but there is no way to prevent it altogether. Actions you can practice to limit the potential include: 

• Monthly inspections of your structure to look for signs of water intrusion
• Regular maintenance gets done for weather-stripping and repairs to the roof and other exterior areas
• Ensure the grade around the property diverts rainwater away from rather than towards the building
• Seal exterior basement access doors against water intrusion
• The installation of environmental detection equipment to note when moisture levels in the interior rise work for both flood loss and internal plumbing issues during off-hours

What are the First Things I Should Do After Flood Damage Happens in My Building?

Before SERVPRO arrives, there are numerous actions business owners can perform to limit the loss to their property and contents in the event flood damage happens, only if it safe to do so:

• Turn off the electricity to the property if there is any danger of the water coming into contact with outlets or electrical equipment
• A retail store should protect their investments in their stock, move out items in cardboard or paper packaging or made from fabric get priority and should get relocated until mitigation efforts complete
• Anything using electrical outlets located on the floor should get moved to another area
• Equipment that has come into contact with the water should have an inspection to ascertain it is safe to operate before reuse, SERVPRO techs can arrange that for you with a certified industry professional

If you have specific items that are of concern, inform the crew chief with SERVPRO on the arrival of vital documents, stock items that require moving, or other issues, and they will get it done for you immediately.

What Does a Professional Restoration Services Company Do to Help Retail Properties with Commercial Water Loss?

There are many differences between consumer-grade equipment and the machinery that SERVPRO technicians bring onto the scene. The extraction equipment is just the beginning. The most common types of water removal equipment that gets used are the fleet of portable pumps that techs use to move swiftly around the property. The pulling power of these devices allows the techs to remove the majority of the moisture and speed the drying process. This method enables stores to reopen faster. 

After flood water enters a property, the interior humidity levels go up substantially. This type of loss can cause a host of issues, particularly on the floor where items are for sale and in the storage area. Depending on the severity of the air moisture levels, SERVPRO techs may move the contents in an organized pack out, or they can protect items by covering them in heavy gauge plastic. 

One of the main issues after a water loss in a structure occurs when inadequate removal of the moisture happens, which can lead to a host of secondary problems to deal with, such as musty odors. This may be due to missing areas of water loss, or the floodwater ran to an area that could not get dried. SERVPRO techs carefully inspect properties with their advanced detection equipment to find the migration path of water, and if it runs behind baseboards or seeps under the floor, they can extract it. 

Actions for Complete Drying of Retail Properties with Flood Loss

After discovering all the areas that retain excessive moisture, the technicians set up drying equipment. Additional procedures to assist with drainage might be drilling weep holes in sheetrock, removal of baseboards, and, when needed, controlled demolition of damaged portions of sheetrock to open the wall cavity for complete drying. Special care may be needed for plastered walls.

Odor Control for Reopening

No one wants to enter a retail store that has a foul odor, and that smell can permeate shelf stock, so odor control is a big part of the restoration process. The technicians have a diverse array of scent neutralizing equipment and choose the application based on the need on each individual job site.

SERVPRO of Lower East Side / Downtown Manhattan at (332) 900-2337 is ready to help retail store properties with commercial flood damage 24/7. The certified technicians know cleanup cannot wait, so they arrive quickly to restore your property to its pre-loss condition using their advanced equipment and restoration methods.