19 Jul Restoring Your Building from Fire or Flood Damage
Fire and flooding are perhaps the most common types of damage for a home or business premises. Obviously, the immediate priorities are to make sure everyone’s safe and the short-term threat is neutralised, but then the clean-up starts.
Whether it’s your home or your established place of business, you need everything restored as quickly as possible. Our Bush Hill Construction subsidiary has over thirty years’ experience in a range of building work, including fire and flood damage remedial works and restoration.
Fire Damage
Even in a best-case scenario, fire can result in scorching and smoke damage, often with unavoidable extra damage caused by the firefighters’ water or foam. At worst, it can mean structural instability and collapse of walls or roof.
The first thing is to assess the damage, which could be more serious than meets the eye. This may mean a report from a chartered surveyor or a structural engineer, which should be covered by your insurance. Once you have this report, a construction company can carry out structural repairs like replacing damaged support timbers, as well as rebuilding work.
Even if little or no rebuilding is needed, there’ll probably be smoke damage to the interior, and it may be toxic as well as an eyesore. The building can be thoroughly cleaned with an agent like blasting soda, which will remove the grime and toxins without damaging the actual materials.
Flood Damage
Flooding in your home can be caused by anything from overflowing rivers to burst pipes. It’s less likely than fire to cause catastrophic structural damage, though in some cases there can be subsidence, which would need remedial work.
Perhaps the most significant issue from flooding, once the water’s gone, is the damp itself, encouraging mould and mildew to grow. Like the toxic effects of smoke, these can be a health hazard, so it’s vital that the drying process begins straight away. Once that’s done, problems can often be treated in a similar way to smoke damage, with blasting soda or a similar material.
Restoring Your Property
Once the drying and urgent structural work has been done, it’s likely there’ll be jobs from redecorating to checking the electrics. If it’s a business property, you may need it fitted out again, and Bush Hill Construction can do all these.