Servpro Emergency Ready Profile (ERP)

A fire or flood can devastate any home or business. In fact 50 % of businesses may never recover or reopen after suffering a disaster. Servpro has a solution to prepare our community in the event that such a loss would happen. It's called the Servpro Emergency Ready Profile or ERP.

The Servpro ERP is a detailed emergency ready plan that incorporates important contacts, phone numbers and pictures. The report is simple and loaded with pictures of important areas.

What you get:

Shut-off tags

                    

Minutes can make a difference when dealing with water damage. The longer the water is flowing the greater the damage. I will find and tag all water and gas shut-offs in the property and include pictures with instructions if needed.

Utility locations and shut offs

The ERP will contain  facility details such as shut-off valve locations, priority areas and priority contact information.

Full customization

No two properties are exactly the same. Each ERP is customized to include information that is important and relevant to your needs. Only include the information needed or include additional instructions for specific emergencies. 

Want multiple copies? No problem. 

Want it converted to PDF and loaded into your smart phone? We can do that.

Want a copy on a flash drive for your office? We can handle it. 

No Cost Evaluation

That's right, you get a profile of you property for free! No cost to you in any way and no contract to sign obligating additional services. If you use the ERP as a reference for contact information that's great, but if you do have a need for our services we would like you to call us directly for quick priority service. 

The Servpro ERP can save your business in case of emergency. We have seen losses that could have been a quarter of the damage had someone known where the vital shut-off locations were. Don't let this happen to you, call me for a free consultation (773-878-5200).

Regards, 

Dan

Chicago Area Flood Map

If you live in the Chicago land area you know the past two summers have seen some heavy rain storms. I remember our office getting calls nearly ever minute requesting service. Servpro of Ravenswood literally received hundreds of calls over those first two days.

We noticed certain areas were affected more than others. The map below is from an article in the Wells Park Bull Dog that does a nice job illustrating where basements are more prone to flooding. This is pretty consistent with what we saw last year in June and July.

If you have property in the areas with a high risk of basement flooding it would be a good idea to look into adding sewage backup or flood backup to your current policy. You might be surprised to find out you are not covered for certain types of damage under your regular homeowners policy. If you can't afford to add sewage backup or flood coverage at least make sure your sump pumps are working properly and have a secondary power source in case of a blackout during a heavy rain storm.

Does it matter where the water came from?

YES! One of the first things a professionally trained water restoration technician should know is the category of water that caused the damage. There are three categories of water:

Category 1

This is basically clean water. Sources can range from a broken pipe, icemaker and drain over flow among other sources. Category 1 water is classified as not containing waste or contaminants.

Category 2

This is gray water. Sources can range from washing machines, dishwasher and roof leaks among other sources. Category 2 water is classified as containing some soils and contaminants. 

Category 3

This is black water. Nasty stuff. Sources can range from sewage drain backups, backed up toilets and flood water among other sources. Category 3 water is classified as containing a high degree of waste and contaminants. 

Knowing the category of water present is important in determining the drying methods that can be used to safely and quickly restoring the damaged area. 

Knowing how "wet" something is makes a big difference.

Water flows towards the path of least resistance, therefore it can sneak under flooring or run along walls into neighboring rooms causing further damage. If moisture isn't dried properly your home or business can run a greater risk of mold and mildew damage later. At the very least, untreated water damage can cause musty odors and warping of flooring.

Any reputable restoration company should be using a moisture meter to measure the amount of moisture in walls or flooring. Simply touching the surface can be very deceiving as our sense of touch is not sensitive enough to correctly know how wet something is. A typical moisture meter looks something like this:

The two prongs at the top will detect the amount of moisture present and some meters also have a non-penetrating feature that when touched gives a reading. Having the correct moisture detection equipment is the first step in starting the restoration process. 

For more information check out the Clean Trust (formally the IICRC) website and Servpro of Ravenswood.