Water damage repair can be hazardous. The most common types of hazard? Contaminated water and mold. Both pose a huge threat to you and your family.
Thankfully personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, is readily available this day in age.
In this third part of our series on water damage repair, we look at recommended PPE for both contaminated water removal and mold removal. As always, these articles are merely suggestions, and we do not recommend removing toxic materials unless you are certified to do so and you understand the risks!
Your PPE protects against three major forms of contamination:
+ Inhalation - Breathing contaminated air.
+ Ingestion - Contaminated materials entering your mouth, nose or eyes.
+ Skin Contact - Contaminated materials touching your body and exposing you to illness.
Sounds delightful, right? Use the following PPE to combat these elements:
When water damage occurs, the first step is assessing the source of the water and thus its category. This is important because the category determines what can be saved and what can't be saved.
Let's start with the easy diagnosis: Category III Water
Remember, category III water has either sewage or toxic chemical potential. This includes not just raw sewage, but water from a source of raw sewage. For example, a toilet overflow from the bowl, even if the water in the bowl was "clean" just prior to the overflow, should be treated as category III because the source of the contamination. Think about it this way: no matter how clean water sitting in a toilet might be, you likely would not add Kool Aid to it and mix it up for a nice summer drink, right?
Salvaging After Category III Water Damage
When category III water damage occurs, all porous surfaces should be removed with full personal protective equipment on (we'll look at this equipment in a subsequent post). Drywall, carpet, carpet pad, insulation, baseboard, wood flooring, rugs, furnishings, etc. You name it. It should be discarded.
Now, if you have an antique rug from the 1650's worth more than our national debt, you of course would try to save it by hiring a restoration company specializing in textiles. But if the products are not unique, they should be tossed. It's for the safety of your family.
Non-porous materials, like tile, concrete, plumbing fixtures, etc. can be cleaned with a standard biocide cleaner and left in the home. You may want to get a a relatively strong biocide from a janitorial supply company. When using such products, be sure to follow the use label on the product explicitly. Not doing so can harm the occupants of the home and is also illegal.
Salvaging After Category I and II Water Damage
In contrast to category III water damage, salvaging materials after category I or II water damage depends on the actual damage to the material, not necessarily the contamination to the material. In essence, you are concerned more about the finished product rather than endangering the occupants.
A few months back we featured a series on identifying, isolating and drying water damage in the home. The series left off after an effective drying system is set-up, and your home is on its way back to a livable condition.
Over the next week or so, we will look at how to actually repair water damaged material. Here's what we will cover:
* What materials can be salvaged and what needs to be discarded
* Personal protective equipment
* Safely removing contaminated or moldy materials
* Tips for making the repair easier on yourself or your contractors
Before getting too far into the series, here is a refresher on water remediation category terms. These terms will be used throughout the series:
In our last post, I shared a few lessons from our rental property search phase, including how to avoid neighboring pit bulls.
As escrows begin to close (three this week!) I spent much of the last week feverishly purchasing material. Here's my method for balancing urgently needing product with desperately needed good pricing.
Today I will focus specifically on developing my material list.
Step 1: Build the List
The first step in purchasing is knowing what to purchase. I walk each job in detail and compile a room-by-room material list. It's painstaking but necessary. Sure, it causes a few minor strokes when uncovering items initially missed in the initial pre-offer walk through, but all in all it's not too bad. Upon completing the walk each of the properties has a 3-4 page list of materials.
Step 2: Excel-ize the List
Back at the ranch (ok, not the ranch, but it sounds better than "back at the office") I transcribe my list from hand-written to Excel. Lots of cut-n-paste here folks. In fact, I have become a bit of a hot-key expert. I'm sure to enter quantities next to each item as I input; this becomes invaluable when searching the isles of Home Depot. I initially input my material list by room code, item description, quantity and approximate location in our local Home Depot. I know, sounds like overkill, but it makes shopping much easier.
