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What happens if water damage is ignored?

Whether you know where water has been dripping or need a leak detection service to find the problem, don’t wait to take action! Ignoring water damage can lead to severe consequences for your property and health. Here are a few potential risks:

  • Mold Growth: Mold thrives in damp, dark areas and can develop within 24 hours of water exposure. Black mold and similar types can cause health and structural problems in your space.
  • Unsightly Interiors: Water damage can stain walls, ceilings, and floors, leaving unattractive marks. Over time, these areas may peel, chip, or warp, degrading the overall aesthetic.
  • Structural Damage: Excessive water exposure weakens your home’s structure, leading to wood rot, rusted metals, and crumbling concrete, resulting in potential hazards.
  • Electrical Hazards: Water and electricity are a dangerous mix. If water reaches electrical systems, it can lead to shocks, fires, or explosions.
  • Musty Odors: Water damage often results in a persistent, musty smell that is difficult to eliminate, making the environment uncomfortable for residents, visitors, or employees.

The longer you wait to address water damage, the more damage will occur, leading to increased costs and extended recovery time. That’s why it’s crucial to act fast and seek professional water damage cleanup as soon as possible to kick-start your restoration!

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Winter Electrical Safety Tips

Home Maintenance Around the home maintenance that can save you from costly repairs.

It’s that time of year again: the air is cold, snow is starting to fall and you’re trying to stay cozy and warm inside your home. You might rely on heating equipment to do so. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, heating equipment purchases increase during the winter months, and using heating equipment increases the chance of electrical fires, electrocutions and injuries.

We want you to stay safe and warm this winter. Keep these tips in mind to help avoid electrical hazards throughout your home.

Space Heaters

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, between 2017 and 2019, space heaters were involved in 1,700 fires, resulting in 70 deaths and 160 injuries each year.

When used correctly, space heaters can provide extra comfort. Follow these steps to ensure they’re used safely:

  • Space heaters should never be used to warm bedding, dry clothes or thaw pipes. Keep anything that could catch fire at least three feet away.
  • Always turn a space heater off when sleeping or leaving the room.
  • Don’t let children or pets come too close or leave a space heater near a sleeping person.
  • Space heaters should be plugged in directly to a wall outlet. Never use a power strip or extension cord.
  • Inspect your space heater for damage before using, including the cord, to prevent electrocution, fire or injury.

Generators

While portable generators can provide emergency power to help you manage through an outage, they can cause serious injury or death if not used properly. In fact, according to the Electrical Safety Foundation, 50% of all portable-generator-related carbon monoxide deaths happen November through February.

If using a generator during a power outage, always:

  • Make sure generators are installed correctly. Whole-house generators and wiring for use with portable generators should be installed by a licensed electrician and must include a proper isolation device. A generator that is not isolated can feed electricity back onto power lines, creating a hazard situation for the public, first responders and line workers.
  • Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Operate the generator outside of the home, including the garage, and place it at least 20 feet away with the exhaust pointed away from any building. Gasoline or diesel-powered generators can produce as much carbon monoxide as hundreds of cars.
  • Turn it off and wait for it to cool down before refueling. Never refuel it while it is running.
  • Ensure carbon monoxide detectors are installed throughout your home and functioning properly. You cannot see, smell or taste carbon monoxide.

Appliances and Other Electrical Hazards

Electrical hazards can be hidden in unexpected places throughout your home. Take these important precautions this winter:

  • Never use an oven, stove or grill to heat your home or dry clothes.
  • An electric blanket should never be folded while being used. This can damage the wires inside and cause it to overheat or spark.
  • Have a qualified professional clean and inspect fireplaces and chimneys every year.
  • Only plug one heat producing appliance into an outlet at a time.
  • During a power outage, use battery-powered flashlights or lanterns instead of candles for light. If candles are used, never leave them burning unattended.

With seasonal conditions also comes the threat of hazards caused by downed power lines. Each year, people are injured or killed by accidental contact with electrical equipment. If you’re ever unsure if an activity poses a risk, keep these three words in mind:

  • STOP. Stop what you’re doing and stay at least 30 feet away from downed or damaged electrical equipment.
  • LOOK. Look around for hazards and call 911 for help.
  • LIVE. Prevent serious injury by taking safety precautions.

If you find your self with fire damages as a result of a faulty Electrical Appliance, our Insurance Restoration team can assist you.  Our process includes working with your home insurance provided to get the you maximum amount of dollars to cover the cost of your repairs,  and we’ll completed the work with no out of pocket cost to you.

 

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It’s Getting Cold

It's getting cold!Prepare your pipes for the winter months.

It’s getting cold!
Prepare your pipes for the winter month

It feels like the Winter weather has arrived, it’s time to prepare your home for the cold if you haven’t done so already. Frozen pipes can leave you without water in the worst of weather and cost a lot to repair. But with a few simple steps, you can easily preserve both your budget and your peace of mind.

BEFORE THE COLD SETS IN

Know how to shut off your water: Locate your main water shut-off valve. In many homes, it is located near the water meter or close to where the water pipe enters the home.

Check sprinkler or irrigation systems: Make sure everything is turned off and fully drained.

Eliminate sources of cold air near water lines: Check for pipes in areas that might be prone to freezing, such as crawl spaces, unheated rooms, basements, garages, and exterior walls. Fix drafty windows, insulate walls around pipes and plug drafts around doors.

Protect your pipes: Where pipes are exposed to cold, wrap them with insulation or heat tape (even fabric or newspaper can help).

WHEN TEMPERATURES STAY BELOW FREEZING

Give pipes a helping hand: If pipes run through cabinets or vanities, open the doors to let warmer room temperatures flow in.

Keep water moving through the pipes: Allow a small trickle of water to run. The cost of the extra water is typically lower than the cost to repair a broken pipe.

IF YOUR PIPES FREEZE

Shut off the water immediately: Don’t attempt to thaw pipes without turning off the main shut-off valve.

Thaw a frozen pipe by warming the air around it: Do not leave space heaters unattended and avoid using kerosene heaters or open flames.

Carefully turn the water back on: Once pipes are thawed, slowly turn the water back on and check pipes and joints for any cracks or leaks.

 

Need more information on freezing pipes this winter, visit American Water

 

 

 

 

 

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Insurance Claim Remodeling Contractor

Insurance Claim Remodeling Contractor

You may be aware of what a pain an insurance company can be when it comes to giving compensation to take care of your fire restoration or water restoration work. Most people are frequently shocked by the insurance company’s indifference in terms of awarding compensation.

You may have paid all your premiums on time and can expect the insurer to cut you a check in an effortless process. However, the reality is that they will try to make it as difficult as possible for you to get a fair settlement from them. The explanation for the difficult procedure is that insurance agencies are companies that make money. They profit from your insurance premiums and generate losses when they pay out compensation to you. They will thus scrutinize your claims request and most likely deny it or ask you to resubmit a request with additional paperwork. Otherwise, they’ll award you damages which are a lot lower than your actual fire clean up or water restoration costs.

An ideal way to get around this problem is to hire the services of a professional restoration company. Aside from being equipped with skilled manpower and high tech, heavy-duty equipment, restoration companies will also give you a big helping hand with the insurance claims process. The varying stages of their involvement are discussed below.

Once you hire a water restoration or fire restoration company, they will appoint an insurance professional or an insurance handler for your case. This person will assist you with the insurance claims process by first finding out if you should indeed apply for an insurance claim.

Once you submit your claim, the insurance company will send a claims adjustor to your property to evaluate the extent of the damage. This claims adjustor will frequently not have a specialized or construction background and you will learn that his judgment is rather poor in terms of damage assessment. This is where the insurance specialist or the insurance handler from your fire restoration or water restoration company will play a vital role. He will be present on the day of the insurance adjustor’s visit to the property. He will take time to explain the degree of damages to the insurance adjuster that might otherwise go overlooked. For instance, a brick wall might seem to be in good condition although there might be widespread water damage behind the brick wall. The wall will thus have to be torn down to access the water damaged material in the back. If not for the insurance specialist, the claims adjustor should not have worked at the price of the demolition and reconstruction of the brick wall that will be necessary.

Another essential advantage that a fire and water restoration company will have to offer is that they’ll guarantee that their repair estimates will be accepted by the insurance company. This will allow you to let them begin their work and not have to wait for the insurance company to first cut you a check.

Contact4 Star Construction at: (201) 505-1555

Our service area:

Alpine, Bergen County, Bergenfield, Carlstadt, Clifton, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest,
Dumont, East Rutherford, Elmwood Park, Emerson, Englewood Cliffs, Essex County,
Fair Lawn, Fort Lee, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Hackensack, Haledon, Harrington Park,
Hasbrouck Heights, Haskell, Haworth, Hawthorn, Hillsdale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Hudson County,
Hudson Valley, Little Falls, Little Ferry, Lodi, Mahwah, Manhattan, Maywood, Midland Park,
Moonachie, Morris County, New Jersey, New Milford, New York City, North Haledon,
North Jersey, Northvale, Norwood, NYC, Oakland, Old Tappan, Oradell, Paramus, Park Ridge,
Passaic, Pompton Lakes, Ramsey, Ridgewood, Ringwood, River Edge, River Vale,
Rochelle Park, Rutherford, Saddle Brook, Saddle River, Suffern, Teaneck, Tenafly,
Totowa, Upper Saddle River, Waldwick, Wallington, Wanaque, Washington Township, Wayne,
Westwood, Wood-Ridge, Woodcliff Lake, Wyckoff, Morris County, Passaic County, Essex County,
Ocean County, Engelwood, Livingston, Morristown

 

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Water and Flood Damage Information

Water and Flood damage requires prompt consideration regarding limit advance misfortunes. In the event that water damage happens in your home or property attempt to find the issue. By doing as such you can help avert additionally damages. Illustrations are killing the water line for faucet, washing machine or dishwasher. Call a handyman to report a break for administration and report the damage to your Insurance Company.

Your protection agents will control you through the procedure and will give you advice on what to do. At that point move Items ahead of time, for example, furniture, boxes, garments, beds, and so forth to a room that is unaffected. The essential thought here is to Move and Protect your own assets and reports. Standing water and wet materials are a reproducing ground for microorganisms, for example, infections, microbes, and shape.

Water Damage Tips

*Remove however much overabundance water as could be expected by cleaning the zone or utilizing a wet/dry vacuum.

*Wipe as much overabundance water from wood furniture as you can and expel tabletop lights and different things from the furniture.

*Turn the aerating and cooling on for most extreme drying in the late spring and open the windows in the winter to discharge caught for enhanced indoor air quality.

*Remove any work of art and artistic creations from the dividers if influenced.

*Remove any region carpets from the floor and hang to dry outside or inside.

*Remove wet upholstery pads from the casing and prop them up to dry quickly.

*Place plastic or aluminum thwart under any furniture legs that are not plastic to anticipate staining or dying.

*Punch modest gaps in a listing roof to calm caught water try to put something underneath the openings heretofore to gather any caught water.

*Make beyond any doubt that electrical machines are killed while remaining on wet rugs, floors or particularly on wet solid floors to avoid conceivable electric shock.

*Report your damage to your insurance agency.

*Get assistance from a professional for water damage rebuilding administration.

Perils caused by a Water Damage in your Home

Development of Mold

Buildup or Strong Mildew Smell

Upsetting or Bad Indoor Air Quality

Development of different sorts of Micro-Organisms

Surge Damage

Most Water and Flood Damages are from catastrophic events. To limit your misfortunes it regards check dependably the zone of your property on the off chance that you have to buy an extra scope. Get some information about surge protection and on the off chance that you meet all requirements for it. It is constantly best to have an extra scope if your home or office is in a Flood Prone Area. Remember that water which originates from outside of your home generally is not secured by your customary home protection strategy. It is constantly best to peruse and comprehend your arrangement.

In instances of serious tempests or tropical storms dependably be readied. Here are some Immediate Things that you may require.

* Handheld Radios and Batteries to tune in for Warning Updates

* A Good Supply of Bottled Water

* Flashlights with Batteries

* Cellphones Fully Charged

* Jackets or Raincoats

 

We specialize in Insurance Claim Repairs, for more information on what to do if you have water and flood damage click HERE.

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