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Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration


Cleaning Up Storm Damage from a Smithtown Home’s Crawlspace

Once flooding had overwhelmed this Smithtown crawlspace, the homeowners contacted our SERVPRO team to begin extraction and cleaning. Because known contaminants existed, the process focused first on the safety of our technicians involved and preventing the spread of microbial or biological hazards through the house above.

The Focus on Personal Protective Equipment

As the After Photo shows, we are highly concerned with the safety of our responding team members. Because sewage was a known contaminant of this flooded crawlspace, the team member was fitted with the appropriate personal protective equipment to prevent cross-contamination or potential health hazards. This included:

- Full-coverage suit

- Gloves

- Respirator

- Eye protection

- Rubber boots

High-Powered Extraction Devices to Manage Standing Water

You can see in the After Photo, which occurred during the extraction phase, this technician utilizes a hose to access the pool of water in the crawlspace. You do not see that this hose is attached to our most powerful extraction device that runs on a truck in our SERVPRO of Greater Smithtown Green Fleet. This engine-powered unit can pull out hundreds of gallons per minute, travel considerable distances with its intake, and can continue to be effective with shallow pooling, as you see in the Before Photo.

Contending with Contaminants 

In these situations, it is vital to understand the magnitude of contaminants that could be present. Our technicians anticipated pathogenic threats beyond our knowledge of sewage being present. Protecting our technicians is critical to our process, even with our commitment to efficient solutions after flood loss events. We used air filtration equipment and powerful cleaning products to overcome:

- Bacteria

- Viral pathogens

- Decaying matter

- Sewage

- Microbes

Controlled Demolition and Later Reconstruction for this Smithtown Home

Our experienced SERVPRO of Greater Smithtown professionals has a general contractor license to provide controlled demolition in these situations. As you can see in both the Before and After Photograph, elements of the insulation and supports for the main floor are compromised by the damp conditions of the crawlspace. These building materials were removed and later replaced before encapsulation occurred.

Preventing Secondary Effects like Mold Growth

Pumping out water and drying up the damage is not enough. As you can see in the After Photo, much of the structural surfaces are damp and impacted by the pooling water at the feet of our technician. Moist conditions like this can facilitate mold growth, so inhibiting products are advisable, and we apply these to the exposed surfaces to prevent mold colonization.

Providing Crawlspace Encapsulation Services to Prevent Recurrences

Among the final steps that our SERVPRO of Greater Smithtown team encouraged after cleaning up this flood, loss situation was to install encapsulation for the crawlspace. The final product covered the blockwork serving as the foundation for the main floor of the house, including the masonry pillars and dirt floor. Preventing water intrusion moving forward will protect this house for years to come and provide stable equipment to discharge any intruding water before damage could occur.