FAQ

Great question! And the simple answer is, not always. While we cannot tell you whether to file a claim or not, our team of certified and experienced project directors and adjusters will evaluate how the claim will affect your premiums BEFORE deciding to file. We may be able to save both you and your insurance company the trouble of a claim.

Yes! If our team here at 1st Call Restoration begin to start temporary repairs or water extraction measures, our project managers will immediately begin to document your property loss, and e3nsure appropriate documentation is made readily available to your claims adjustor. Depending on your insurance company, your claim may take longer than expected due to current claim volumes. However, you can rest assured that here at 1st Call Restoration, we will NEVER expect you to pay out of pocket for services rendered that are covered by your home or business insurance policy outside of your deductible.

At 1st Call Restoration, we work for YOU, and with your insurance agency or adjuster. If your insurance is involved, we will work with and bill them directly. You are only responsible for your current insurance deductible. Currently, we offer customers flexible payment options and will thoroughly communicate and coordinate payments with you and your insurance company. So, you always know where we are at, and what’s happening in the way of your insurance claim process with our services. If insurance is not utilized (or needed), we accept all forms of payment; cash, checks, and credit cards when services are completed.

This depends on the extend of the damage, and the size of the affected home or commercial property. Additional to this, the type of water, duration of saturation, present mold, and extent of damages all play factors in the overall cost of your service. As for smoke, fire, biohazard, haul off, and board up services, these too are often based on the extent of damage, and the materials that have been affected needing to be replaced. We provide free estimates of all damages to your property and will thoroughly notate those, so you will know what to expect moving forward from the moment we arrive.

Every situation is different, and we can never promise a guaranteed end date of service for any damages we are there to assess and fix. However, there are some factors that can impact the length of a home or commercial restoration. Those include:

 

• The type of damage you have suffered
• The extent of damage
• The size of your property
• The number of affected personal assets
• The number of affected materials that need to be replaced &
• Any local infrastructure issues, such as downed power lines after a storm

 

Cleanup can take between a few hours to several weeks, even months depending on the extent of damage, and the need to for additional services to your property to properly restore it back to pre-damaged conditions.

First, we will start by cleaning up all standing water if present within your property. Next, we assess the extent of your water damage to determine what can be salvaged and what needs to be disposed of. Our highly trained team will then make sure that the area is dried and dehumidified to stay ahead of any potential mold growth. At 1st Call Restoration, our certified technicians are trained to restore your property before replacing it, if possible. We are firstly a mitigation company, then a repair company.

Some signs of water damage can be difficult for the untrained eye to detect. Be sure to look for;

 

• Peeling paint or wallpaper
• Visible mold
• Moisture and condensation in unusual areas
• Musty odors
• Increase of insect or other pest activity
• Moisture dampness in your carpet or other floorings

After our team has performed our water damage restoration service, and all damage is mitigated, repairs are often necessary. Water is an extremely volatile force, and often creeps into the most unexpected places, causing damage. At 1st Call Restoration, we are a full-service restoration company. This means we will make any repairs needed for you, leaving your home or business in like new condition when our trucks roll out.

Yes! The Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) closely monitors all projects of 1st Call Restoration, ensuring that all clean up or water restoration services are performed at the highest level of expectation. This is one of the many reasons that so many customers can trust in our work. We are diligent in following the IICRC’s stipulations and guidance with all of our trained and certified professionals, delivering the highest quality res4toration services. We understand the IICRC’s standards and work hard to apply them in each home or property that we care for.

The cost of water damage repair varies from the type of property and the extent of water damage done to your home or business. At 1st Call Restoration, we offer a free consultation to assess the extent of you water damage. From there you are given a comprehensive plan on what to expect from our team on how we plan to navigate through your loss.

We strongly advise you to avoid re-entering your home or business following any fire damage. Beyond the basic concerns of smoke inhalation, weakened structures are our biggest concern for home or business owners who want to re-enter their properties after a fire damage. Until your home or business has been structurally restored and is deemed safe for you to enter, we do not recommend re-entry for any purposes. Our team of IICRC Certified technicians are highly trained for these situations and have not only your safety in mind, but theirs as well when working on your fire damaged property.

After a fire damage to your home or business, your property is left vulnerable to theft and additional damages to the outside elements. At 1st Call Restoration, our team will provide emergency board up services. This includes boarding up your windows and doors to secure any openings to your home or business. This provides security to any additional belongings inside such as personal effects as well as merchandise from theft, looting, and additional damages due to weather conditions. We also provide tarping to protect your assets from any parts of your roofing structure that are heavily damaged. Our board-up services are available 24/7 such like our water damage mitigation, as well as our storm damage mitigation services.

Yes! Once our team of certified fire damage restoration specialist have removed all the soot from the walls, carpets, furniture, and other damaged personal contents of your property or business, we will then deodorize your business to permanently remove the smell of the smoke. We do this by using the latest in technology for odor removal, and high-quality machinery. We follow industry standard guidelines, giving you peace of mind that you deserve and need when investing in a clean, odorless property after a fire damage.

The fire damage restoration process can vary mostly by the extent of your damages. Residential properties often take less time than commercial buildings such as offices and warehouses due to their size, as well as passing the inspection codes within your city. But rest assured that our certified project managers will keep you informed every step of the way while our team works diligently to get you back into the comfort of your home.

Any personal items or items with high monetary value should be always kept with you. Items such as;

 

• Family heirlooms
• Artwork
• Personal or business checkbooks and other monetary values (coins, credit cards, cash)
• Medications you will be needing
• Pets

In most fire restoration cases; our contents team will be responsible for salvaging your personal belongings left behind that can be restored. We provide storage and restoration for these items during the duration of our team working on fixing the damages to your home or business. Your items will be inventoried, carefully packed, and delivered to our climate-controlled facility for careful restoration and cleaning. This also includes not only items such as statues, pictures, and other belongings, but clothing as well.

Often times, yes your insurance policy will cover storm damage. Once we are called to the scene and have secured your home or business property, our estimator will get in direct contact with your insurance adjustor if damages are indeed excessive. We handle the entire process for you so that you can focus on getting your home and life back to normal, after the storm.

1ST Call Restoration provides full service to those who are in need after a storm has struck. We provide services such as, emergency board-up, and emergency roof tarping to help prevent any additional damages to your property from either people, or the elements. Providing you with peace of mind and security that your home will be treated as if it was our own. If your home suffered immediate damage from a fallen tree, tornado, high winds, or hail, you would need to contact us as soon as possible so that we can be on site as your first line of defense against further damages.

While there is no way for certain to completely protect your home during a catastrophic natural disaster, there are a few things you can do to prepare for Mother Natures arrival. To limit the amount of damages caused to your property during a storm you should;

 

• Secure all outside items such as patio furniture, pots, trampolines, outside play equipment, grills, trash cans, canopies, awnings, outdoor umbrellas, and other light but potentially damaging items.
• If possible, store your vehicles, lawn mowers, 4-wheelers, and other motor vehicles inside your garage, or a sturdy covered space.
• Make sure that your home and yard are well maintained by trimming away branches from your roof at least by 3 feet.

The estimated repair time for storm damage restoration services varies on a case-by-case basis. It depends on the severity of the storm damages, the size of your structure, and if other services will need to be provided to get your home or business back to pre-storm conditions. Once we arrive on scene, we will thoroughly inspect your home or business, and discuss with you our plans to move forward, and restore your property back to the way it was before the storm damage. If water is present inside of your property, we will begin work immediately to remove it using high powered pumps and water extraction equipment. Once we have removed all water, we bring in our industrial dehumidifiers, along with other specialized drying equipment to get your home or business back to its normal moisture levels pre storm damage state. Our highly certified team of professionals are continually adjusting our routine and standards to ensure that we are performing at our highest standards, and yours too.

Often your insurance company will first advise you to contact a reputable and certified company to assist you with any water damage restoration or storm damage restoration that is needed to secure your home. Because of the fact that water causes more damage to your property the long that it sits, the sooner that our team is able to get on premises to assist you with water mitigation from a recent storm damage, the better. Our IICRC certified team of water damage restoration specialist will begin the cleanup process to prevent further damages, and mold growth within your property.

Yes, and quickly. Within 24-48 hours mold can begin to grow. It’s extremely important to take immediate action when you experience flood damages in any extent.

Mold appears in several different shades, from dark gray, to green, and even black. You will see blotches and spots of these colors on surfaces. You may also notice a raised and lightly textured consistency with a mildew odor.

Mold remediation is the process used to remove mold, eliminate mold odors, and to thoroughly sanitize the effected areas. During the process of mold remediation, restoration of clean, healthy air to your home or business is vital, and expected.

This is a case-by-case basis, depending on the severity of the mold infestation, location, and time of growth. Mold is a naturally occurring organism, with over 100,000 types of mold and some with the ability to remain present in trace amounts. While we can remove mold from your home, commercial property, or business, restoring it to pre-mold/damage conditions, or what is considered to be ‘healthy’; due to the complexity of different types of mold, there is no actual recognized safety measure of mold. However, you can have peace of mind that our team will do our very best to attack the mold from every possible avenue in order to remove it from the core.

 

Please keep in mind that bleach alone does NOT remove mold. Bleach simply removes the color you can see. It is vital to have a professional inspect the affected areas, and thoroughly handle your mold problem. We do not recommend DIY projects for this type of restoration work.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is composed of flexible fibers that are resistant to heat, electricity, and corrosion. These qualities are often thought to make the mineral useful, however, exposure to asbestos is highly toxic.

Asbestos has been widely used in construction as an effective insulator, as it can be added to cloth, paper, cement, plastic, and other building materials to make them stronger. However, when Asbestos is inhaled or ingested, these fibers can become permanently trapped inside your body. Over a period of decades, it can cause inflammation, scarring and eventually genetic damage. Exposure to Asbestos has also been known to cause cancer and other health conditions. Mesothelioma the most well known cancer to be caused nearly exclusively from Asbestos exposure, as well as an extremely progressive lung disease called, Asbestosis.

Some indicators that your home could have Asbestos present include;

 

• If your home or business was built prior to the early 1980’s
• Your home or business contains vermiculite insulation
• You have a home with Vinyl flooring or millboard installed between the years 1952 and 1982
• If you home or business has corrugated roofing
• Walls or other areas in your home or business are constructed from cement sheets If you home or business contains an older cement water tank

The first step would vary depending on the type of Asbestos, where it is located, and whether it is friable. Friable Asbestos means that the material can easily break apart, allowing the material to become airborne and dangerous. Some materials contain Asbestos, but they are non-friable. These materials if they are kept in good condition, may still be safe. You should always hire a professional to handle the Asbestos clean-up process. If the professional determines that the Asbestos needs to be removed, you will need to remove yourself, and any pets from the home or business until an air quality test is performed and the property is deemed to be safe.

 

Never attempt to remove Asbestos from your home yourself, as it is highly dangerous to your health and well-being.