Why Would Controlled Demolition Be Necessary After Water Damage in Middletown?

9/11/2020 (Permalink)

Let SERVPRO help you determine what needs demolition in your Middletown office after water damage.

When your Middletown office complex suffers widespread water damage, it can deteriorate structural elements to require demolition. 

Coming back from a long weekend to your Middletown office and finding it flooded from a burst pipe or other disaster could be devastating. You need immediate restoration services provided by outfits like our SERVPRO team, but you must also determine if there is anything you can do to keep the business going while this recovery gets underway. Depending on the severity of the situation, it is possible to keep doors open in a limited capacity through containment and a fast response of our technicians. Controlled demolition and other emergency services have become a vital role in that effort. 

Water damage repair for the Middletown offices seeks to both reduce the spread and severity of the water damage, but also to protect exposed contents and structural elements when possible. Reconstruction is often a necessary component of restoration when drywall becomes exposed to standing water. While metal tracks and framing of commercial structures can resist rusting and water damage, outside materials like sheetrock and insulation are highly porous and quickly irreparably damaged. 

What is Controlled Demolition? 

Between our SERVPRO contractors and professionals on our roster and third-party subcontractors and trusted experts, we can perform actions like controlled demolition. This approach is specifically designed to remove compromised portions of construction materials from a property without removing unaffected or undamaged elements in the process. The careful calculation of drylines and damaged zones can make reconstruction and repairs more efficient. Controlled demolition is often an element of either emergency services that occur before even job scoping or during the earliest mitigation stages. The benefits of this demolition include:

• Easier Access to Damaged Areas
• Faster Drying of Moist Environments
• Removes Compromised Structural Materials
• Prepares Area for Reconstruction

Where is Water Damage the Worst? 

Understanding where the most damaged areas of your facility are can achieve multiple things, including showcasing where restoration and recovery efforts should be the most focused. A concentration of water damage effects can become devastating to the documentation of your office building or the equipment that you have in every individual workspace. Utilities stored within your building walls can often be one of the common origin points for water damage. With severe temperature drops overnight in an office, inadequate insulation could freeze and burst pipes. In fact, there are many different ways that these hidden pipes could be problematic, including:

• Drips
• Leaks
• Sprays
• Damaged Fixtures
• Broken Plumbing

How Does Removing Saturated Material Help? 

Choosing controlled demolition is not a decision made lightly. The understanding that comes with discarding structural materials and construction elements is that it is more beneficial to proceed without them than to attempt to restore and dry them where they are. Sometimes this decision can get made for our technicians by elements becoming too saturated and collapsing or showing clear signs of warping, distortion, and bloating after prolonged exposure. Ultimately, removing damaged materials can do three things:

• Slow the Spread – When materials that were once oversaturated are no longer installed, they cannot impact neighboring surfaces and materials with higher moisture content or transference. 

• Preventing Mold Growth – Mold growth is not always entirely unavoidable with substantial loss events in your office building. How severe these situations become can shut down the facility if not appropriately contained.

• Clean Foundation for Rebuilding – Removing damaged construction materials leaves a clean and stable base for reinstalling new elements when drying and cleaning complete. This allows reconstruction at a later point to be more efficient. 

Is Mold a Potential Problem? 

You might not realize how quickly water damages in your office building can become more palpable threats like microbial colonization. Mold is a destructive force that is often not taken as seriously as it should be. Within 48 hours of exposure to water damage and saturation, structural elements could facilitate mold growth. The formation of these colonies could ultimately require more demolition and repairs to the structure if not promptly addressed. With Applied Microbial Remediation Technicians (AMRT) and our in-house contractors readily available, we can overcome these possible hurdles often before they get out of control through demolition, mold inhibitors, and drying.

There is no mistaking how devastating situations like plumbing breaks and appliance malfunctions can be for an entire office building. Rapidly spreading water effects can compromise structural elements and require preventative steps like controlled demolition to resolve. No matter what your office needs, our SERVPRO of Middletown / New Britain team can help. Give us a call today at (860) 826-5169.