Kitchen fires happen – the most common cause of household fires

The fire started in the kitchen when the homeowner went into another room – “just for a second.”

Where the fire went – up and out of the kitchen

The fire was contained to the first floor, and everyone was able to get out safely, so thankfully there were no injuries to the residents of the home.

However, the water damage in the basement left by the fire fighters who put the fire out was extensive – as well as the smoke damage to the contents throughout the home.

Smoke damage from the kitchen fire in the bathroom on the other side of the house

What made things worse were the piles and piles of belongings throughout the home. Every room of the home was filled with clutter!

Smoke damage throughout the house – even in the bedrooms

To add insult to injury, the homeowner had several cats who had decided that the piles of clutter in the basement were fair game to use as a litter box.

Piles of children’s books and papers in the basement now ruined by the water used to put out the fire

So, now, not only was the home damaged with fire, smoke and water, the contents in the basement were infested with fleas and cat feces. . . .

And, you can only imagine the smell!

Before we could even begin to do the smoke and fire remediation, we had to call in an exterminator.

Precious possessions now burned – somewhere in this pile are several Coach® handbags

The saddest part was that the owner of this home had a beautiful collection of Coach® handbags she had received as gifts from friends and family members.

Because the Coach® collection was mixed in with all of her other belongings, many of them were destroyed by the water the fire fighters used to put out the fire, and the smoke that permeated everything in the home.

We were able to help her by getting her home clean, dry and sanitized and we cleaned the undamaged items so they could be moved back into the home.

But, it took several months for all the work to be completed.

And, the homeowner lost many of her cherished belongings – including several of her cherished Coach® handbags.

So here are the top 8 reasons that just might motivate you to do some Fall cleaning and de-clutter your home right now:

1. The first and most important reason to de-clutter your home now: Piles of books, papers, and clothing on the floor are a fire hazard because they make exiting from a burning home safely much harder. Keep your home safe for you and your loved ones and de-clutter now so nobody trips and falls if they need to make a fast exit from your home!

2. Second, the cost of cleaning water and fire damaged homes increases with the amount of “stuff” you have because there’s so much more work to do.

Yes, your homeowner’s insurance policy will cover the cost of damages and restoration after a fire.

But, if you have a fire, it will take a lot longer to get back into your home after the remediation is complete because all the contents have to be cleaned off-site.

What that means is that the contents have to be packed out, each item individually cleaned by hand, then treated for smoke damage, and then re-packed to be moved back into the home after the remediation and repairs have been completed.

Do you really want to wait months for something to be cleaned and de-odorized and moved back into your home when you just don’t care about it anymore?

3. The third reason you want to de-clutter now: As with our Haddonfield, NJ homeowner with the Coach® handbag collection, the loss of precious personal belongings goes way up when there is smoke and water damage to a home that has suffered a fire.

Remember: In a home that suffers a fire, valuable items that are mixed in with items that no longer have any meaning for you might sometimes end up getting discarded.

4. Fourth, basement clutter, more than clutter in any other room, increases the chance that toxic mold will grow because there’s a decrease in the amount of air circulation. Decreased air circulating the in the basement increases the chance that moisture will be trapped in and among the clutter. Stagnant air in your basement will feed mold growth – and that’s even without a significant water damage event like a sewage backup, a sump pump failure or fire water damage.

5. The fifth reason you want to de-clutter now: Insurance Adjusters are only human. When they see a fire and water damaged home that is well maintained – clean and tidy – it’s a sign to them that the owners care about their property and their belongings. If the home is cluttered and dirty, it’s harder for the adjuster to place a value on the contents of the home. And, while there is estimating software that helps adjusters place value on fire and water damaged homes, it’s a much harder judgment call to estimate the damage to the contents. It’s not possible for an insurance adjuster to understand the meaningful or sentimental attachment you might have to some of your belongings if your home contains a lot of other things that no longer matter to you.

6. Sixth, de-cluttering now can save you money. There are some tax advantages (albeit small) to donating your unused belongings – housewares, clothing, toys. All you have to do is save your receipt when you donate and report it on your income tax return. If these items are sitting in your basement, don’t you think they could be put to better use for someone in need?

7. Seventh, if you plan to down-size later in life to a smaller residence, the move will be a lot easier if you “de-junkify” now. Why wait?

8. The eighth reason to de-clutter now: If you have adult children, it will be much easier for them to manage your estate after you pass if they don’t have to sort through items that have no meaning for them. If you love your children, you can save them undue physical and emotional hardship with the simple solution of de-cluttering now.

While we specialize in compassionate and caring treatment of fire and water damaged homes, we also hope that you never have to experience this kind of loss. And,thankfully, the statistics for fires in the homes in our region have been decreasing steadily for the past several years.

But, if you, or someone you love needs help recovering from the loss of a fire, call the fire damage remediation experts at PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services 877-750-7876. We can help you sort out, clean out, and move back in after fire, water and smoke damages your home. That’s why we’ve earned the reputation as The Paramedics of Property Damage ® So give us a call. You’ll be glad you did!

Look out below! Water damaged ceiling in this finished Philadelphia basement

But, sometimes that indoor plumbing can cause problems when water goes where it’s not supposed to be.
There are situations of age that can cause these types of problems. But sometimes, it’s just human error.

Water waits for no man . . . woman . . . or child.

In this story, a Philadelphia homeowner was at work when the ice maker supply line on his refrigerator burst.
And, like most of us he didn’t have a clue there was anything wrong until he got home from work and his kids went down to the basement after dinner to play.

The cause of all the damage downstairs is the ice maker supply line in the kitchen – that burst!

Lucky for him, he knew who to call! We were there in 25 minutes and were able to find the source of the problem.
What’s interesting about this story is that the water damage should never have happened!
The supply line that burst was cheap plastic that was installed when the refrigerator was delivered to the home – 2 years ago! The homeowner was lucky the flood hadn’t happened before this!

Like my Daddy always said “When all else fails, read the instructions!”

Look closely. The installation instructions clearly state NOT to use plastic hose and to use copper line instead.

Yes, the water loss was covered by the man’s homeowners insurance. And, the insurance company was able to subrogate the loss back to – you guessed it! – the company that delivered and installed the appliance incorrectly. But this could have been avoided . . .

Photo courtesy of Home Depot

But, if you do have this unfortunate experience, please remember our name and number:
PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services
877-750-7876
We are at your service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – for all your property damage needs – including burst ice maker supply lines!

In order to save the floors, we have to chase the water to find out where it went

Recently we were called out to do water damage remediation for a homeowner in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

The homeowner had just completed a remodel of the first floor of his home a few weeks ago.

And then,
his dishwasher supply line burst . . .
in the middle of the night . . .
while he was sleeping.

The homeowner woke up to an inch of water flowing out of his newly remodeled kitchen into the hallway and on into the dining room.

Yes, it’s wet! Using meters to measure the moisture makes all the difference

As you can imagine, he was very upset. Yes, he had homeowner’s insurance, and yes, his insurance agent assured him his loss was covered. But he wanted to know if we could save his new floors since he and his wife had just installed them and loved them so much.

The short answer to the question by the homeowner “Can we save the floors?” is Yes!

But the longer, more accurate answer is . . . It depends

Yes, we can dry hardwood floors – as long as we get there quickly enough

We were able to save the floors in this Cherry Hill home because it fit all the criteria:
1. the homeowner had installed hardwood floors
2. the source of the water loss was a clean water source
3. And, he had called us as soon as he discovered the loss, so we were able to extract the water and begin the drying process immediately.

However, we have been to many water remediation projects where the homeowners were not so lucky.

Multiple mat system is integrated to dry this hardwood floor

In these other cases, homeowners had installed laminate floors.
Unlike hardwood, laminate floors are usually installed to “float” over the sub-floor on top of a foam/film underlayment. The two problems with this type of flooring are that laminate floors are made with glue that dissolves when it becomes soaked with water. The other problem with laminate flooring is that the underlayment becomes soaked with water and is virtually impossible to dry. Once it is soaked, it becomes a breeding ground for health-threatening mold growth. So, the only option in this case is to tear out the floor and get it replaced.

In other situations, we have been called to do water damage remediation in homes with hardwood floors, but we were called too late to save the floors. The floors had become cupped and warped and required total replacement. But more importantly, the water had dwelled so long that mold had begun to grow.

So the moral of the story is, if you find your home flooded with water – no matter what the source – act quickly! Call PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services at 877-750-7876 and we can save your hardwood floors too!

Center City Philadelphia office basement flooded with water . . . and who knows what else?

What do you do when you’re:

• an insurance agent in Center City Philadelphia
• you arrive to work in your office after a long holiday weekend
• and green water is filling your basement?

What is that stuff in the water? Looks an awful lot like antifreeze!

You call PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services of course! 877-750-7876

Lucky for this insurance agent they knew us and had our phone number programmed into their cell phone. We arrived in less than an hour and helped this agent reduce the damage of the loss by getting this basement pumped out, dried, and sanitized so no mold could grow.

   Happy Labor Day Weekend 2013 from
PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services

As summer comes to a close and school begins, we wish you and yours all the best for a safe, happy, and healthy Labor Day weekend.

And, because we believe the best way to solve a problem with water damage is to prevent it from happening, here are some helpful tips you can use to avoid water damage to your home while you’re away: 5 Tips to avoid vacation water damage

And remember: PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services is there for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – even on holidays! – for all your property damage needs in the Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey area.

When fire, smoke, water, or storms create property damage problems, we’re here to be the solution!

Our business exists to solve problems

And part of what makes our business so rewarding is our ability to find solutions to problems – especially when the cause of the problem is not immediately apparent. Sometimes the problems are caused by nature; sometimes they’re caused by human error.

In this story, it was human error.

A cable technician (for a national cable company who shall remain nameless!) made a mistake when installing a new system for a homeowner. Part of any cable installation process is drilling through drywall in order to keep the cable as invisible as possible. Normally, this doesn’t create any problems.

Typical cable installation behind drywall

Unfortunately, for this homeowner, the technician made a mistake and drilled through the drywall . . . AND the plumbing.

The mistake was not immediately apparent because the cable was perfectly threaded through the holes the technician had created in the plumbing – so most of the holes were plugged  . . . for a while.

Slow leak in punctured plumbing created an extensive mold problem

After a few weeks, the homeowner started noticing dampness on the basement carpet.

A few weeks later, she noticed the walls were becoming discolored and were buckling.

And then there was the smell . . . .

Using meters to measure the moisture to determine where the water was coming from

With our moisture meters and infrared camera, we were able to pinpoint where the water was coming from – and the extent of the damage.

Catching water from the drilled pipe. The cable technician didn’t know he had drilled through the pipe too

Once the cable was removed from the pipe, water began gushing out!

We were able to stem the tide of the water by temporarily plugging it until the plumber could arrive to replace the pipe.

Mistakes can happen; we help correct them

But, because the water had been slowly leaking into the basement for more than 6 weeks after the cable installation, there was a lot of mold damage that had to be remediated to protect the health of the family living in the home.

While it might not look like it at first glance, this homeowner was extremely lucky! Because we found where the plumbing was punctured behind the wall that caused the water damage – that led to the mold growth – the bill for our services was picked up by the cable company. And, the cable company was lucky the homeowner called us to solve the problem -before the family suffered long term illness from exposure to mold.

So, if you need help solving any kind of problem you can trust that we will help you find solutions – for all your property damage restoration needs! PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services is here for you – homeowners, contractors, business owners and insurance agents – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! 877-750-7876

Our business exists to solve problems. Sometimes the problems we solve are for homeowners; sometimes we solve them for for other contractors.

In this story, we got to do both!

A few years ago we were contacted by a roofing contractor who was in a panic. It seems that just when he was in the middle of replacing the roof for a home in Philadelphia, a freak storm with tons of rain and gale force winds blew into town. It was a “freak” storm because the weather report indicated clear skies for the region that day. The home was at its most vulnerable because the contractor had just removed all the old shingles. And, because the storm came up so quickly, the contractor didn’t have time to tarp the roof completely before the storm. Gallons of rain water landed in the homeowner’s attic.

On the surface, it didn’t look too bad. . . .

What happens when a roof repair is interrupted by a freak storm

But when the tarp and wet insulation were removed, the full extent of the damage to the attic was apparent.

This is what we found underneath the roofing tarp

And the storm water, being water, traveled from the attic and soaked through the wall board into the ceiling of all three second floor bedrooms.

Moisture readings showed where all that storm water from the attic went

What’s interesting is that this roofer – and his insurance company - were able to save thousands of dollars by contacting us. The contractor was worried that the damage would require extensive demolition and repair. But, because he called us as soon as the storm had passed, we were able to begin the drying process immediately. Everything was able to be dried in place! And, because of our ability to do accurate moisture mapping, we were able to ease the worry of the homeowner about the potential for mold growth. Mold can’t grow when there’s no moisture.

So, if you, or a contractor you know needs help solving problems related to property damage, give us a call at 877-750-7876. We’re here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services – Your trusted resource for contractors, homeowners and insurance agents in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey!

Just like mold, in order to survive termites have to maintain contact with a moisture source, like leaky plumbing, roofs, air conditioning condensers or poorly maintained gutters that don’t drain away from the home’s foundation. A dry environment in your home’s basement, crawl space or attic not only inhibits the growth of mold, but stops termites because they are extremely vulnerable to dehydration.

So the key to curtail the proliferation of both these threats is moisture control!

However, knowing if you have termites before they show themselves in a swarm is difficult.

First, termite damage can appear similar to water damage with the same outward signs that include buckled wood, swollen floors and drooping ceilings.
Second, termite infestations can produce an odor similar to mildew or mold.
And, third, when they do make their appearance, termites are often mistaken for flying ants.

If your home has experienced damage from a recent water loss that might not have been dried completely, and/or there is evidence of mold damage it’s important to hire a trained pest control professional to assess whether your home has termite damage.

So, in addition to making sure your home or office building is dried completely after water damage, here are 5 additional tips to preventing a termite infestation:

water damage in a basement crawl space needs to be dried to prevent growth of mold and infestation by termites

2. While you’re cleaning out the crawl space, decrease humidity by clearing the vents of dirt and debris. And, if you need additional moisture reduction, give us a call. We can help you further reduce moisture in the crawl space by laying down polyethylene vapor barrier.

PuroClean technicians installing a vapor barrier in a crawl space

3. Keep any wood attached to the outside of your home at least 12 inches off the ground. If possible, remove any wood siding that’s in contact with the ground and decorative wood latticework, wooden doors or window frames that come in contact with the ground.

4. Stop those leaks! – both indoors and outdoors. Termites and mold both need moisture to survive. Clean gutters, blocked downspouts and remove anything that doesn’t allow water to flow away from the house’s foundation. Make sure that outdoor faucets aren’t dripping and creating wet spots adjacent to the house. And indoors, check bathroom and kitchen cabinets often for leaks under the sink.

5. Mulch around the base of your home can be a huge termite attractor for 2 reasons. First because the wood chips provide the cellulose food that termites love, but more often because when it’s piled against the walls of your home it won’t let water drain. So if you feel you absolutely must use mulch to protect your plants, don’t let mulch mound up against your home’s foundation.

If you suspect you have a problem with termites, and if you need help finding a reputable exterminator, give us a call at 877-750-7876! We know several licensed professional exterminators in our Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey area we would be happy to refer to you.

Extracting water from a flooded basement in Cherry Hill, NJ after the homeowner returned from vacation

So, here’s a list of 5 helpful tips to help you savor all that rest and relaxation you bring home with you from your vacation by avoiding costly water damage when you’re away:

Always shut off the water to your home before leaving on vacation

1. The best protection against water damage and flooded basements when you’re on vacation is to shut off the main valve that controls all the water entering your home before you leave. If you’re not sure where it is, look for your water meter; the main shutoff will be located nearby. (It’s a good idea for everyone in your home to know where the main water shutoff valve is so they can stop the water in case of an emergency.)

Give us a call at 877-750-7876 if you’d like one of our technicians to install a water main shut off tag for you

2. If you’ve never shut off the main water valve before, test it before you leave on vacation. Turn on a faucet somewhere in the house and shut off the main water valve. All the water should stop. An old valve can break, so be gentle when you’re performing this test. If the valve is stuck, leave it alone. If it leaks or doesn’t shut off all the way, have a licensed plumber replace the valve. (You’ll need to call your water department to have the water to your house turned off at the curb while you have the repairs made.)
 

Closing the valve stop behind a bathroom sink before vacation can save your home from water damage when you’re away

3. If you don’t want to shut off the main water supply because you have an automatic sprinkler system or a neighbor watering the plants while you’re gone, shut off the valves to the most common sources of water damage: dishwashers, icemakers and washing machines, in case a hose cracks or leaks while you’re away. Individual shutoff valves or “stops” are installed on the supply lines leading to most appliances as well as to toilets and faucets. Supply stops usually have a small round or oval handle that you turn clockwise to shut off the flow of water.

4. If you have a well, shut off the electrical switch for the well before you leave so it won’t pump any water while you’re gone.

But if the worst should happen and you need help cleaning up water damage in a flooded basement, PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services is here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get your home clean, dry and sanitized Call 877-750-7876

Memorial Day, May 27, 2013           

For all those who made the ultimate sacrifice . . .
We remember

 In remembering our heroes, we honor the great sacrifices made for the dreams of every American. 

May we never forget their strength, courage, and profound willingness to stand up and defend our way of life.

We hope this important holiday finds you and your family well and inspires you to reach for your dreams.

  Remember PuroClean Emergency Recovery Services for all your property damage restoration needs:

fire, flood, water, storm damage, sewage, mold, smoke, crime scene or unattended death scene clean-up – we’re there for you!

We never take a vacation and we promise a 2 hour response time – even on holiday weekends!

And, for every job referred to us this weekend,

we’re donating $20 to the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts in Oklahoma to help  the victims of the tornadoes.  

For Emergency Services this holiday weekend call 877-750-7876