Recent Posts

Safety precautions I can take to safeguard my home from fire damage

3/7/2023 (Permalink)

There are several safety precautions you can take to safeguard your home from fire damage. Here are some tips:

  1. Install smoke detectors: Make sure you have working smoke detectors installed in every room of your house, and test them regularly to ensure they are functioning properly.

  2. Have a fire escape plan: Develop a fire escape plan with your family and practice it regularly. Make sure everyone knows how to exit the house safely in case of a fire.

  3. Keep flammable materials away from heat sources: Keep flammable materials like curtains, bedding, and furniture away from heat sources like heaters and stoves.

  4. Install fire extinguishers: Keep fire extinguishers on hand and learn how to use them. Make sure you have extinguishers in the kitchen, garage, and other areas where fires may occur.

  5. Avoid overloading electrical outlets: Do not overload electrical outlets or use frayed or damaged cords. Make sure your electrical system is up to code and have it inspected regularly.

  6. Keep your kitchen safe: Never leave cooking food unattended, keep flammable items away from the stove, and clean your oven and stovetop regularly.

  7. Maintain your heating system: Have your heating system inspected and cleaned annually to ensure it is functioning properly and safely.

  8. Store flammable materials safely: Store flammable materials like gasoline, propane, and paint in a cool, dry place away from heat sources.

  9. Be careful with candles: Never leave candles unattended, and keep them away from flammable materials like curtains and bedding.

By taking these precautions, you can greatly reduce the risk of fire damage to your home and keep your family safe.

8 Essential Steps to Rebuilding Your Home After a Fire

3/2/2023 (Permalink)

House Fire Damage

The State of California has seen an increase with wildfires of late, with claiming 8,106 incidents causing damage to 3,269 structures.

In the light of such overwhelming fire damage statistics, the construction industry has rapidly adapted to using technologies and materials that keep structural fire damage at bay to some extent; however, fire is a very strong force to contend with. Its deleterious nature leaves people at a loss for solutions to deal with the aftermath. They are left wondering how to go about carrying out house repairs after a fire. Listed below are steps to take after a fire damage to your home.

  • APPLY FOR A FIRE INSURANCE CLAIM.

  •  SECURE YOUR PREMISES.

  • START WITH STRUCTURAL REPAIRS.

  •  BEGIN WITH ELECTRICAL SYSTEM REPAIR.

  • REPAIR FIRE-SPECIFIC DAMAGE TO THE HOUSE.

  • RESTORE EVERY ROOM, ONE BY ONE.

  •  KEEP A RECORD OF EVERYTHING.

Mold Common Problem in the Bathroom

2/21/2023 (Permalink)

Mold is a common problem in bathrooms, particularly in the shower where moisture can accumulate. Here are some steps you can take to remove mold from your shower:

  • Safety first: Wear gloves, eye protection, and a mask to protect yourself from inhaling mold spores or cleaning products.
  •   Clean the shower: Remove any visible mold using a bathroom cleaner or a solution of one part bleach to ten parts water. Scrub the area thoroughly, being sure to reach into any crevices or grout lines.
  •   Rinse and dry: Once the mold has been removed, rinse the area thoroughly with water to remove any remaining cleaning solution. Then dry the area completely using a towel or a fan to prevent moisture from lingering.
  •   Prevent future mold growth: To prevent mold from returning, make sure to keep the shower area clean and dry. Use a squeegee to remove excess water after each use, and run the bathroom fan or open a window to improve ventilation.
  • Address any leaks: If there is a leak in your shower or in the surrounding walls, this could be contributing to mold growth. Address any leaks as soon as possible to prevent moisture from accumulating and causing mold to grow.

If you have a severe or widespread mold problem in your shower, or if you are concerned about the presence of mold in your home, it is best to contact a professional mold removal and remediation company to assess the situation and provide appropriate treatment. Please call the professionals SERVPRO Hancock Park/Hollywood at 323-545-6115

How much homeowners insurance do I need?

2/13/2023 (Permalink)

If disaster strikes, you'll want enough homeowners insurance to rebuild the structure of your home, to help replace your belongings, to defray costs if you're unable to live in your home and to protect your financial assets in the event of liability to others. Use these guidelines to help determine the coverage and amounts you need.

 Standard homeowners policies provide coverage for disasters such as damage due to fire, lightning, hail and explosions.

Those who live in areas where there is risk of flood or earthquake will need coverage for those disasters, as well. In every case, you'll want the limits on your policy to be high enough to cover the cost of rebuilding your home.

The price you paid for your home—or the current market price may be more or less than the cost to rebuild. And if the limit of your insurance policy is based on your mortgage (as some banks require), it may not adequately cover the cost of rebuilding.

While your insurer will provide a recommended coverage limit for the structure of your home, it’s a good idea to educate yourself as well. To make sure your home has the right amount of structural coverage, consider:

Major factors that will impact home rebuilding costs

  • Local construction costs
  • The square footage of the structure

For a quick estimate of the amount of insurance you need, multiply the total square footage of your home by local, per-square-foot building costs. (Note that the land is not factored into rebuilding estimates.)

Structure

5/18/2022 (Permalink)

The infrastructure and plumbing is not entirely ready for large scale storm flooding In places like California where storms don't occur often. There have been scenarios such ass the example that is about to be written, where the infrastructure failed and cased massive damage. This example is a case when there was a storm in Southern California and the flood waters that came from the storm filled he storm drains to a point where they went beyond capacity and cracked, this caused the flood water to flood into an apartment building nearby the affected area. This type of damage is sometimes a freak accident such as this is unavoidable, but the best thing to do is  always keep in mind that such scenarios can occur, so when disaster strikes you can act quickly. SERVPRO is always ready to help!

Fire Spreads Quick

5/18/2022 (Permalink)

Fire is one of the most dangerous type of disasters for many reasons but mainly how fires start and spread. The reasons fire starts is not always human error but more often than not is the case with a reported majority of fires being caused by human error and negligence outside of arson. The essential ingredients of a house fire is an ignition source and flammable/combustible material. The ignition source in a fire is usually something like a spark or lit cigarette which must be hot enough to ignite a material. Other than that the materials that are ignited have different ignition temperatures such as paper which has an ignition temp of paper is very low at about 140 degrees F. Depending on what materials are near an ignition source fires can start more easily but once a fire is started, most materials will burn so always be cautious with potentially flammable things.

SERVPRO is #1

5/18/2022 (Permalink)

SERVPRO is the #1 largest restoration company in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world. SERVPRO has managed to grow this big due to our impeccable reliability. The people you deal with at SERVPRO aren’t just trained employees, we’re experts due to the countless hours spent training and working on the job. Regardless of the time of day we answer the call and get you to the project manger that can deal with all your needs. Our quality of service shows just how much we care for our clients. Our goal here at SERVPRO is too ensure your home or businesses safety by providing the absolute best service possible. Don’t risk added damage due to careless, money hungry restoration services. Call SERVPRO.

Complexity of Water

5/18/2022 (Permalink)

Water is an interesting substance, as it is vital to life on earth and important to almost every living organism on our planet, and on the other hand it can be one of the most terrifying forces in the form of torrential downpours and tsunamis. Water is a force of nature and it can damage, that’s why SERVPRO is always at the ready in any case of emergency to help you and your property, whatever the scenario may be. Water damage is complex; even a small drip left for a time inside the walls of a building could soak all the surrounding walls, causing direct damage to the material and acting as a catalyst to mold growth throughout the whole building. SERVPRO is constantly at the ready to help anyone we can with these types of issues, this is why we serve 24/7, 365 days a year. 

Storm Ready

5/17/2022 (Permalink)

There are many types of natural disasters, but a storm is among the worst on a large scale. When a storm hits it can not only affect one home or family but many, even entire communities can be displaced by severe storms. We’ve spoken on measures you can take to prevent damage a be prepared when a storm strikes so for any information on that check out our previous blogs but for any other case, you can contact us at the info above to also create an emergency readiness plan and be prepared to deal with the damage a storm can cause. If you have any other questions about how we deal with storm damage you can again contact us at the info above. Remember, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. 

Avoiding Data Loss

3/8/2022 (Permalink)

If a business you’re responsible for relies on backing up large amounts of electronic information, you’ll probably want to make sure there’s a way to preserve it in the case of an accident. To be more specific, you’ll want to have a contingency plan set up to deal with the possibility of fire damage. A fire in the server room can do more than simply damage infrastructure. It can also set a business back months while you replace ruined equipment, and—perhaps worst of all—it can obliterate large quantities of data that the company needs on a daily basis. Data could include everything from financial records to client databases, so you should only ignore the risk of fir eat the peril of losing some very important assets. If you’re a contractor working on behalf of one of these businesses, it also represents a significant challenge.

That said, there are a few things you can do to help avoid irreparable data loss in the event of a fire. From preventative measures to restorative treatments, here are a few ideas to help you soldier on when the sparks literally start flying:

Protect your data using cloud based backups

If you’re worried about losing data when physical servers and computers are threatened, there’s one simple solution: house it somewhere else (or at least house a copy there). Using a cloud based backup lets you store an extra version of your most important information using servers that you won’t be responsible for. Since many of the largest cloud based backup solutions (like Backblaze and Crashplan) take special care to preserve their users’ info, it’s a pretty safe bet that nothing will happen to your stash once you entrust it to them for safekeeping. Of course, this won’t save your equipment or facilities themselves, but it’s better than nothing.

Electronic restoration

In the unfortunate event that damage occurs to your servers and you haven’t stored backups of your information elsewhere, electronic restoration might be the only effective route to take. Many highly sensitive technologies can be restored—at least to some extent—including computers, telecommunications technology, manufacturing machinery and medical instruments. By removing corrosion and deposits, it’s often very possible to get these units working like new again for as little as 10-30% of the cost of replacing them entirely. Once a skilled technician removes contaminants such as soot, dust, and deposits from chemical vapors, he should be able to take the equipment apart, clean the individual pieces, reassemble them, adjust the machinery and return it to service.

Proactive planning for fire (and water) disasters

Of course, one of the best ways to deal with damage is to avoid it completely. You can save yourself from the inconvenience of having to restore your equipment by making sure it’s not an easy place for a fire to start or a flood to break out. Avoid storing flammable materials near sensitive equipment, and make sure electronics aren’t stored under your sprinkler system or near water pipes. It’s also a good idea to have maintenance briefed on the nature of the technology in the area so that they use safe and appropriate methods when cleaning or tidying up around it.

Have insurance

Finally, you want to make you have cover if a disaster does happen to strike. Restoring your electronics can save them, but it can also be time-consuming—and you want to make sure you can afford the downtime. That’s why having comprehensive fire and accident insurance is key to keeping you in business when the unexpected occurs. Make sure you understand your policy and keep an up to date copy with you always, just in case.