Insurance Adjusters! Avoid Paying Out Large Sums for Replacement of Soft Contents.

In the past sentimental soft contents were discarded and the insured was paid out for the replacement cost. Unfortunately, this was a loose loose situation as many insureds could not replace these items as they hold sentimental value and the insurance company would have to pay more than the cost of the restoration.

This is no longer the case.
With new technologies on the market, it is now with in the reach of a well equipped restoration contractor to restore these toys at a reasonable cost.

Take the below example.

These two toys were placed in our Milnor Soft Contents washer on a special cycle to remove odor and soot stains. In this case, no hand washing is needed. We were able to restore a large amount of toys in a large batch.

The end result is a win win. We were able to recover this important valuable item with a minimal cost to our client. Insurance company, adjuster and home owner happy.

Are There Australian Mould Standards?

Often I am asked whether we have an Australian Standards. Unfortunately there are no standards in Australia however there are guidelines with acceptable industry practices we can follow which include

• Australian Mould Guidelines - purchased from Mycologia Australia
• Standard & Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation by IICRC S520

Australian Mould Guidelines

These are guidelines only with the intention of it eventually becoming an Australian standard. It was Authored by Peter Kemp and Dr Heike Neumeister-Kemp with the second edition released in 2010.

In my opinion, it is probably the easiest guidline to follow with easy to identify levels of mould contamination. Each level of mould contamination may  requires different personal equipment and mould removal method as explained in the guideline.

Mycologia Australia also provide training in mould suitable for hygienists  remediators, property managers government etc. 

Standard Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation by IICRC

A very detailed view for remediating mould. Training courses following this guideline in Australia include Jena Dyco and CPK Training 

Smoke Fire Damage Chandelier Cleaning

I have been to many jobs where where there has been chandeliers and light fittings which have been simply discarded after fire damage. Many of these chandeliers and light fittings are worth upwards of $1000 or upwards of $10000. At our facility we can recover these chandeliers using ultrasonic cleaning technology from Omegasonics.

With the example below, we saved the insurance company thousands by recovering these fire damaged chandeliers. The total cost of recover was much much less than replacement cost. If you have any comments about this make sure you send drop me an email at admin@newlife.net.au.

If you are from the insurance industry make sure you visit our state of the art contents restoration & contents pack out facility at 5/158 Murarrie rd Murarrie QLD 4172.

Chandelier before

Fire Damage Chandelier before

Before Cleaning

Chandelier lamp shades pre vacuum

Lamp Shade ultrasonics cleaning

Dipping Chandelier in Ultrasonics 

Post Rinse 

Post Rinse of Lamp shade

Lamp shade parts lined up in contents facility

Rinsing Chandelier after ultrasonics cleaning

Chandelier After picture 

After Result

After Result of Smoke damaged Chandelier 

Finding a Reliable Water & Fire Damage Restoration Company

So you have a flood in your home or business? or you are a property manager, insurance agent/company and want to find a reliable water and fire damage restoration contractor?

These days, there are quite a few companies out there doing a good job. Increased competition is always a good thing. Having said this, you really want to pick a company who you trust and feel comfortable with.  In my opinion, what makes a great Restoration company is:

• Ethical company culture
• Up to date training
• Experienced staff with preferably 5-10 years restoration experience
• Clean Trust certification is a must 
• Fully Insured
• Have the right amount of fully serviceable air movers and dehumidifiers available
• Good to have Memberships with associations such as Specialised Cleaning & Restoration Industry Association 

Ok, so how do you find these qualities? I understand this may be difficult to find out. But here are a few things which may help you.

Check your local industry association or organisation for certified members (Here are some Australia based associations)
Don't be afraid to enquire to find a good member

• AGCCWA
• SCRIA 

Clean Trust qualification
You can check this on the clean trust website.

Customer Feedback
Have a look at customer feedback on websites such as True Local, yelp or Google places. You can try calling local restoration  suppliers or even any friends who have used water and fire restoration contractors.

Qualify over the phone
Do they seem genuinely interested in helping you? Listen to the first phone call.

Response Time
Response time can be crucial for water damage disasters. The total cost for the restoration can be greatly reduced if the property is attended to ASAP.


Established Business
Sometimes this could be a good indicator of them being successful with past clients. Also can give some assurance they will be there in a few months time if there are problems.

Insurance
The company attending the job must be fully insured. Also a must!

Good Luck with finding the right water and fire restoration contractor.

Odour Removal using Hydroxyl - It Works!

Why We purchased it

We have found Ozone a little constrictive due to it being unsafe to use while the property is being occupied. So we were actively seeking out an alternative.

I did a tour of the largest and highly successful restoration facility in the US and they were using the hydroxyl sucessfully to reduce odour in home contents affected by fire, mould, flood etc.

Compared to Ozone

Hydroxyl is far more reactive then ozone it is also a smaller molecule than ozone. Meaning it can go into smaller spaces faster than ozone.

I really don't understand the chemistry behind it, but one thing I know is the Hydroxyl machine works well for its intended purpose.

How we have used it

• Textiles & Home Contents: After washing smoke damaged clothes twice with the correct chemical and wash methods we have found some odour remains. We hung up the clothes in the drying room with the hydroxyl running for 24 hours and found to have a substantial reduction in odour.
• Electronics: Some smoke damaged electronics contain slight odours and we have found using hydroxyl has been effective in decreasing odour.
• Mould Remediation: This is used alongside an air scrubber to reduce odour in the airspace. We still follow industry practices (AMG-2010) for mould remediation. 
• Smoke Damage Property: For years we have used thermal fogging and ozone for odour removal. Some situations we prefer to use the hydroxyl due to it being safer for occupants involved.

The Verdict 

We are really happy with the machine and I really think it is a useful tool for any restoration contractor to have. Definitely worth considering this as a safer and more effective alternative to using ozone.

Need to Know More Information?
 
Australian Suppliers for Hydroxyl Machines:

• Bennetts Direct
• Carpet Cleaners Warehouse

If you have an odour problem in your home or business you may advice on removal. Remember the source contaminate muse be removed first. If you are in Brisbane please call New Life Restorations Odour Removal Brisbane on 1300 356 633

Does Ozone Kill Mould?

It is important to remember we cannot just simply run a ozone generator for 2 days and expect we will achieve complete mould removal. The mould must be remediated professionally using the IICRC s520 guidelines. 

Uses for Ozone in Mould Remedation

I am yet to find conclusive evidence which say ozone is effective for killing mould in airpace. Ozone can be used to remove odour in the airspace only providing physical source cotaminate has been removed.

How to Remove Mould Spores in Airspace

Hepa Filtration unit used by us

If you have toxic moulds offgassing in your property, part of the remediation will includ treating your airspace. You need to remove mould spores out of the air to return the building back to normal mould eucology. You can do this using a hepa Filter (see picture). A unit like this can be purchased from restoration express or carpet cleaners warehouse.

How to Actually Kill the Mould

Physically, remediate the mould in your property using IICRC s520 or Australia Mould Guidlines 2010. This process includes using HEPA Filtration units to filter mould spores from the air.  

Call us
If you are in Brisbane and need help finding the right solution for mould remediation in your home or business, we are always happy to have a chat with you over the phone. Call us on 1300 356 633.

Water Damage Structural Drying in Lismore NSW

Use of Workplace Health and Safety Equipment

Type Of Service: Water Damage Carpet drying and Structural Drying
Date of Loss: 04/05/2012
Location: Lismore, NSW

Details of Damage

• Damage Caused by high pressure fire hydrant burst
• 1000m2 of carpet in offices affected

Structural Drying Equipment Used

Extracting Large Quantities of Water

 Affected Items

• Wall bases 
• Carpet
• Underlay
• Concrete slab
• Contents

How we fixed it

• Movement of Furniture to Unaffected areas
• Extraction of Water with 2 Prochem Legend Truckmount Machines

Removal of Skirting Boards

Drilling of Holes to ventilate wall bases

RCD (Residual Current Device) Boxes

• Installation of over 70 air movers and 12 dehumidifiers to reduce humidity in drying environment
• Removal of skirting boards & Drilling of holes behind skirting board to ventilate wall bases. This will help ensure there is no mould problem in future.
• Installation of Residual Current Devices (RCD). Our drying equipment will plug into these boxes to provide a high level of protection against electrical shock



Lifting of Carpet and drying underneath

• Some carpet was lifted to provide ventilation between carpet and underlay. This was necessary in some rooms to ensure property was dried down within 3 day limit.

•  We removed cabinets from the walls and provided ventilation behind them to prevent mould growth

           

• Some rooms were top down dried. Meaning we did not have to lift the carpet to dry the underlay and concrete
  
  \

•  Moisture levels were monitored throughout the 3 day drying period
  
  
• Carpet were Removed in some units to increase dry down time
  
  
• Carpets were relayed by New Life technicians at completion of dry down
• Moisture tests completed to ensure the building has been dried down

Moisture Monitoring Equipment used by us

Commercial Business Interruption

• Business interruption was kept to a minimum as dry down was completed over the weekend
• We were able to dry down the carpet, concrete and walls within the 3 day limit. We were able to achieve this through our use of restorative drying techniques and understanding of psychrometry and how it affects the drying process

Why use New Life for Structural Drying

• Large stock of commercial drying equipment available including 150 air movers, 25 LGR dehumidifiers, injectidry system etc. 
• Established business of more than 10 years
• Training in restorative structural drying
• One hour response time on average. 
• Family owned and operated

Our Equipment and teams can be transported anywhere in QLD, NSW and VIC.

Service Area for Structural and Carpet Drying

• Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast,
• Structural Drying Mobile service available for NSW, QLD & VIC.
• 2 Large response vehicles

Contact us about our structural drying services at the New Life Restorations website on 1300 356 633.