What to do after a fire - Part 2 of a 5 part series

Call the company that holds your mortgage

You have to call the financial institution that holds your mortgage. Fire lowers the value of your house and affects your mortgage. Properly restoring your house will restore its value, but the mortgage company must be involved until your house is restored.

Choose a contractor

Hopefully, the first-response contractor that you hire will also be the contractor who does the restoration work.But securing your home and property and getting the preliminary cleanout and drying done quickly are so important that you may have to settle for less than the best. You can change contractors once the immediate cleanup is done. For the work, insist on a firm whose workers are certified by the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) or an equivalent industry organization. These personnel should be at least supervisors for your restoration. Get this guaranteed in writing. Poor restoration will leave you with a house that is not a healthy home for your family. Standards for fire restoration are constantly revised. You want work done to the most up-to-date standard. Ask what industry standards your contractor uses, including the edition of the standards and guides your contractor uses. If you have to switch restoration contractors, carefully set out the scope of work for each firm. You are responsible for ensuring that everything that must be done is included in the scope of work. Do not pay for, or authorize payment for, work that does not match that scope.

Personal protection

A fire-damaged house can be very dangerous. It may be structurally unsound. If it is, the fire department will not allow you on the site. Contact your fire department to learn about conditions of access. The fire department may allow a qualified restoration contractor into the house. You may have to contact the police as well, if they are involved. Your house may still have dangerous chemicals produced by the fire or from fighting the fire. The house will be dark, probably wet and likely already be growing mold. Floors can be slippery and there may be sharp and jagged items lying around. If you are allowed back in your house, wear safety boots, a hardhat, and protection for your lungs and eyes. Your fire department and restoration contractor can recommend proper safety gear. Don’t go into your house alone. Investigate in teams of at least two, one of whom is a professional.

Questions of sensitivity

If you or anyone in your family is sensitive to chemicals or mold, make sure that everyone involved in restoring your house knows that fact. You may have to insist that your contractor take special precautions. Your physician may be willing to write to your insurance professional, contractors or others if you have special needs.

Your insurance may only cover restoration to normal standards, but for an extra fee you should be able to negotiate the right to pre-approve chemicals, products and processes to deal with your sensitivities. If you need premium materials or processes you may have to pay any extra costs yourself.

www.unitedfw.com

http://picasaweb.google.com/Unitedfw

United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. called in by Blockbuster Video

Picasa Web Albums - info - Blockbuster

United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. is proud to have provided remediation and restoration services to Blockbuster Video www.blockbuster.com stores from Biloxi to Lake Charles after Hurricanes Katrina & Rita

Services for these stores ranged from a simple dry out to full interior demolition and mold remediation. United Fire & Water Damage Restoration is licensed in the State of Louisiana (#250237) for mold remediation, and we specialize in water damage dry outs, and fire and smoke damage restoration.

We service all of Southern Louisiana and the surrounding region, and can be on scene in as little as one hour for most locations.

Or check out a slide show - When the new window opens just be sure to click "slideshow" on the right hand side of the screen

United Fire & Water
7575 Jefferson Hwy #136
Baton Rouge LA 70806
1.888.657.7779 office
1.225.771.9880 cell

www.unitedfw.com
Info@unitedfw.com

What to do after a fire - Part 4 of a 5 part series

Cleaning up mold

Mold may grow if you or your restoration contractor can’t get in the house quickly enough. Fabric materials with active mold growth must be replaced. Often, a restoration contractor can clean painted and hard surfaces. However, if your contractor couldn’t get into your house quickly enough, insist on inspecting the back of wetted drywall. If it is moldy, you must replace it. If you don’t, the mold will get into the air that you breathe, often days or weeks or even months later. Do not accept the presence of moldy materials anywhere in your house. You can use IICRC S520: Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation or Clean-up Procedures for Mold in Houses as reference guides. Don’t allow chemicals to be used to prevent future mold growth. Mold will only return if your house is too damp for too long. Chemical washes are not necessary and are usually too toxic to have anywhere in your house. If it is judged that mold found in your house existed before the fire, your insurance company may not pay for mold removal. If the mold is on materials to be replaced because of fire damage, these materials will be replaced at no cost to you. Otherwise be prepared to pay extra or sign off to have the mold problem left untreated.

Cleaning surfaces and contents

Smoke residues are usually very chemically active. They attack the surfaces they fall on or stick to. Chemicals from smoke residues can permanently stain or change surface finishes, the texture of fabrics and the performance of finishes and textures. Qualified fire-restoration contractors know how to do this specialized cleaning and save as many items as possible. Get the contractor who will clean up smoke residues into your house as quickly as you possibly can so the contractor can act quickly to minimize the chemical attack and damage. Remember that some items will have to go out for specialized care. Not everything can be properly cleaned in your house.

Monitoring progress

Since the fire-involved house is your home and you are in charge of the remediation (although sometimes it seems that the insurance company is driving the process), it is important that you monitor the progress of the restoration and note any problems that you see. Be polite but be firm. Make sure that all parties know how to reach you, 24 hours a day, so that you can be kept informed of critical steps and decisions required. If you do not have a cell phone, this may be the time to get one. If you have one, keep it on, with you, and well charged.

Signing off on completed work

As stages of the restoration are completed to your satisfaction, you will be expected to sign off on the work. If some work isn’t done well enough, note it on the document when you sign off, and request that a holdback be kept to ensure that the work is done well enough later on. Remember to be reasonable and sign off as soon as you honestly can.

What to do after a fire - Part 5 of a 5 part series

Obtaining financing

You may need extra financing to complete all the work that should be done. Check with your financial institution to make sure that the money will be there if you need it. A little preplanning can save lots of stress. That’s important after a fire.

Improving your home during restoration

Restoration work may also be a good time to upgrade your house. If the upgrades are really needed or highly desirable and you can afford them, seriously consider doing them during the restoration or immediately after restoration. Remember that there may be financial support for energy upgrades, which can give you some tax relief or money back.

Air tightness improvements

Especially after a fire, a healthy house is a tight house, so that still-contaminated air cannot leak into your breathing air through walls, ceilings or basement floors. Most houses are too leaky for good indoor air quality or energy efficiency. Leaks do not guarantee good ventilation, except in the coldest and windiest weather, but they do ensure contamination of in leaking air since air leakage paths are normally contaminated, even in normal houses. Consider having your house envelope tightened by a specialist and install a mechanical ventilation system to ensure good air quality. The combination is needed for a really healthy house.

Ventilation improvements

Good ventilation is almost always mechanical ventilation, because wind and temperature differences are too variable to give you reliable ventilation. A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) system is the most cost-effective way to ensure good ventilation. It is very beneficial to run it at high speed for the first few months after a fire restoration to improve air exchange and the removal of restoration contaminants. Seriously consider installing an HRV in your fire-affected house. It will help make your house a healthier home.

Energy upgrades of surfaces and appliances

Many of our houses are not insulated as well as they should be. Restoration will likely be a good time to improve the energy efficiency of surfaces like windows, walls or ceilings. While that is being done it may also be cheaper to upgrade other, undamaged windows, walls or ceilings. Check out the possibilities because you will have a better home in the long run if it is more energy efficient. It is also true that well insulated and airtight homes are less likely to grow mold if an HRV is also in place and running. If your appliances were in any way damaged, consider replacing them with Energy Star™ units, which consume much less energy. They may be much cheaper when the cost of electricity is included.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this About Your House is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical, legal, financial, or other advice and it should not be relied upon in that regard. Neither United Fire & Water Damage Inc. nor any of its employees, agents, or advisors shall have any liability for any damage caused by or related to the use of the information contained in About Your House.

What to do after a fire - Part 1 of a 5 part series

Act quickly to avoid secondary damage

A house fire is devastating. There is damage to your house and its contents from the fire itself. And once the fire is out, you have to deal with secondary damage — damage caused by smoke and the water and chemicals firefighters use to put a fire out.

Call your insurance professional

You have to start with some phone calls — first, and most important, to your insurance professional or company. Major insurance companies have 24-hour hotlines and will generally treat your problem promptly. Ask your insurance company to recommend at least three fire restoration companies. Choose one to start the immediate work — making your house and property secure, removing water and seriously damaged materials, drying the house and contents and removing smoke residue.

Few of us know exactly what our insurance policies cover. Work with your insurance company agent or representative to find out what is covered, what is not covered and what may be subject to further discussion. Get all this in writing as soon as possible, because it will influence what you do and what you put off until later.

Be sure to document any disputed items or classes of items that are supposedly not covered. There are arbitration processes that you can use to get a final determination (short of going to court) of what is actually covered. In general, insurance companies want to find a fair and reasonable scope of needed repairs.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for notifying all affected parties and arranging for security of the site, rapid drying and smoke cleaning and all other steps needed to minimize secondary damage. To do this you will likely hire a company that specializes in fire restoration.

Your insurance company may suggest specific firms with which they have established relationships. But it is not only your right to choose the best contractors and to ensure that they do the work promptly and well — it is your responsibility.

You define the scope of the work, with help from your insurance professional and advice from the contractors you select. Make sure that you know what your insurance will cover and what you will have to pay yourself. Your insurance company calculates what it will pay for according to industry-accepted standards.

The right forms

Your insurance company has forms that you must use to help you determine fire damage and losses. Get the forms as quickly as you can. Filling them out is a top priority. Work with your restoration contractor to complete them.

Your restoration contractor will probably also have forms to complete. Work with your contractor to get those forms completed. Remember that the contractor has experience in documenting everything — and in getting paid.

United Fire & Water
7575 Jefferson Hwy #136
Baton Rouge LA 70806
1.888.657.7779 office
1.225.771.9880 cell

www.unitedfw.com

http://picasaweb.google.com/Unitedfw

UFW RESTORATION INC. WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOUR DEPARTMENT FILL THE BOOT!

WE WILL DONATE 5% OF INVOICING TO YOUR STATION FOR YOUR USE. THIS CAN EQUATE TO $5000 OR MORE FOR YOUR STATION ON LARGER FIRE JOBS.

We are United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. & we provide services in Southern Louisiana and the surrounding region. Some of our clients include:

· Blockbuster Video

· Central Plumbing

· Macaroni Grill

· B&D Plumbing

· Cunningham Lindsey Insurance Adjusters

· Latter & Blum Property Management

Our expertise include mold remediation, water damage dry outs, fire damage restoration and board up and tarping services. We are a fully licensed (LA State #250237) and insured company and we bill insurance when applicable. Feel free to look us up on the web at www.unitedfw.com for more information on our company.

225.771.9880 or 888.657.7779

INFO@UNITEDFW.COM

WWW.UNITEDFW.COM

100% Coverage for plumbers warranty work offered by United Fire & Water

Stan,

Thanks for your time on the phone earlier - I appreciate it. Hopefully the program I have proposed here will be of interest to you.

Currently we are servicing plumbing contractors with a program that effectively allows them to have any warranty work done for free. What happens is this - We present you with materials to pass out to your technicians so that every time B&D www.bdplumbing.net has a water damage related response your technicians or the property owner calls United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. www.unitedfw.com When that happens we arrive on scene and contract the home or business owner. As soon as we get the contract for restoration work, your technician receives a $100 cash referral fee - this is important because it helps to keep your guys motivated when it comes to referring our services. Plus they have a chance to earn a little extra cash. When UFW completes the job, we send you a dollar for dollar credit for all restoration work completed at the property. This includes drying equipment and labor associated with the water loss. This would not include construction costs associated with rebuilding the property if in fact it needed those services. To date you guys have had two warranty issues - had those been referral jobs from your technician instead of warranty work calls you would have a credit for exactly $3920.54 - that was the total amount we billed before discounts to B&D. Instead B&D was invoiced $2924.54 That is a $6845.08 swing, and that is just in the last 16 days - If you extrapolate that out over a 12 month period you are looking at substantial savings.

The key to the program is getting your guys on board with the $100 cash referral fee - and if it comes down from the top we usually see very good results!

If you guys would like to discuss this further I'd be happy to sit down with you again. Also, if you're interested in moving forward with a program of this type, I can arrange to meet with you and your staff at your convenience to give a short presentation.

Please let me know!!

Thanks,

Kevin Hussey CMR/WRT
President
United Fire & Water
7575 Jefferson Hwy #136
Baton Rouge LA 70806
1.888.657.7779 office
1.225.771.9880 cell

khussey@unitedfw.com
www.unitedfw.com

Planned Response for Riverstone Residential

Jose,

Let me thank you again for the opportunity to present Riverstone Residential Group www.riverstoneres.com with an estimate for fire damage restoration services at the St Jean Apartments. Please find attached to this package estimates for services currently required for occupancy at units #5313 & #1707, as well as additional information on references and services provided by United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc.

After some reflection on your present situation with regards to recent fires at St Jean Apartments, I have addressed some of the present factors (listed below) that will help you mitigate financial loss. There are a number of factors that are currently affecting your bottom line that are not being addressed for the units affected by fire. These costs can be easily avoided, and will be considerable given the number of units that have recently been affected by fire, smoke and water damage. United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. can help Riverstone Residential LLC to reduce or eliminate some of the costs associated with secondary damage caused by a lack of immediate attention to these matters.

An action plan is necessary for Riverstone Residential Group www.riverstoneres.com to realize some of these cost eliminating options starting with these essential steps:

• Immediate response to all fire/water damage incidents at Riverstone Residential Properties
• Proper management of fire/water damage events
• Specific and immediate assessment of situation, with protocol determined and then presented to Riverstone Residential to mitigate loss
• Water extraction and dehumidification within 24 hours of initial call to mitigate microbial growth within affected and surrounding units
• Restoration services to begin as soon as possible
• Renovations to be completed as soon as possible
• Certificate of occupancy to be issued as soon as possible

Addressing these issues with an action plan prepared by United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. www.unitedfw.com will help Riverstone Residential to not only eliminate or reduce costs associated with secondary damage but to also get those units affected by fire and water damage to be occupied as soon as possible. This type of pre-planned response will save Riverstone Residential tens of thousands of dollars over the course of just a few fire/water related incidents.

Our goal is to assist Riverstone Residential in allowing these units to generate a positive cash flow at the earliest possible opportunity. A lack of ability to effectively make decisions at certain levels of middle management may seriously hamper vacancy rates and therefore potential rental profits. The bottom line is this - with a pre-positioned catastrophic response program of this type in place Riverstone Residential could make decisions effectively at the property management level, and potentially procure savings in the hundred’s of thousands of dollars over the course of just one year in the Baton Rouge market alone.

In addition, our “Pre-positioned Catastrophic Response Program” will enable Riverstone Residential to realize a 10% discount for any incomplete estimates (presently at $80,000 +/-) that have been presented by UFW Restoration Inc., as well as ALL future billing for ANY restoration service offered by United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc. This program and all applicable discounts would be extended to ALL Louisiana based Riverstone Residential Properties.

Our services include the following:

· 24 hour response

· Louisiana State Licensing

· Full Restoration Services – including commercial and residential reconstruction services

· Upon arrival, complete investigation of loss, containment and loss mitigation procedures

· Structural drying

· Smoke and soot removal

· Odor mitigation and deodorization

· Content pack out, inventory and on site / off site restoration

· Air scrubbing (HEPA or High Efficiency Particulate Air)

· O- Zone machines

· Dehumidification

· Fully insured restoration company

See the attached appendix for a full list of equipment, certifications and services offered by United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc.

Please visit our website for more information on our company, or feel free to contact me directly at your convenience if I can answer any questions, or address any concerns.

Thank you,

Kevin Hussey CMR/WRT
President
United Fire & Water
7575 Jefferson Hwy #136
Baton Rouge LA 70806
1.888.657.7779 office
1.225.771.9880 cell

khussey@unitedfw.com
www.unitedfw.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW8w-nhxa0I

Do you have a plan?

Do you have a plan?

We do.

United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc specializes in the unexpected. Whether it is a natural disaster or a broken pipe, we offer comprehensive disaster recovery solutions to effectively restore any property to a pre loss condition.

We are experts in the field of water and fire damage restoration. We are a Louisiana State Licensed (#250237) Mold Remediation company, and we service the entire gulf coast region. United Fire & Water can be on scene in as little as one hour for Southern Louisiana locations.

United Fire & Water Damage Restoration Inc specializes in the unexpected. Whether it is a natural disaster or a broken pipe, we offer comprehensive disaster recovery solutions to effectively restore any property to a pre loss condition.

We are experts in the field of water and fire damage restoration. We are a Louisiana State Licensed (#250237) Mold Remediation company, and we service the entire gulf coast region. United Fire & Water can be on scene in as little as one hour for Southern Louisiana locations.

Businesses that currently have a plan include:

Blockbuster Video
www.blockbuster.com

B&D Plumbing
www.bdplumbing.net

Beau Box Commercial Real Estate & Property Management
www.beaubox.com

Brinker International / Macaroni Grill
www.brinker.com

Central Plumbing
www.centralplumbing.org

Cunningham Lindsey Insurance Adjusters
www.cunninghamlindsey.net

Latter & Blum Property Management
www.latterblum.com

Riverstone Residential Group
www.riverstoneres.com

For information on a pre planned response for
your home or business - contact us today.

United Fire & Water
7575 Jefferson Hwy #136
Baton Rouge LA 70806
1.888.657.7779 office
1.225.771.9880 cell

khussey@unitedfw.com
www.unitedfw.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW8w-nhxa0I