Restoring your home after a hurricane

John Tovar of ServiceMaster Restore offers advice in regards to restoring your home after it's been devastated by a hurricane or other disasters.

Transcript

00:00Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton brought damage to homes and destruction

00:04to whole communities in several states. Here with tips on what to do when you have weather

00:10related property damage is John Tovar, Group President of ServiceMaster Restoration. Thanks

00:16real much for joining us today. Thanks for having me, Bernie and Ariel. A pleasure to be here.

00:22Well, for those whose homes are recently flood or wind damaged,

00:25what is the first step and how do you begin the cleanup and repair process?

00:32Great question. I think what's first and most important is safety first. These are emotionally

00:37charged events. Anybody who's been through severe weather or part of a weather disaster,

00:43you can have this urge to get and restore your property and secure your valuables,

00:47but at the end of the day, emotion can't take over. Goods can be replaced and lives

00:52certainly cannot. But once you actually get there, what you're going to want to watch out for,

00:56you're going to want to watch out for downed power lines. You're going to want to watch out

00:59for fallen tree limbs in particular. Water intrusions can create additional damage inside

01:05of a home that can be hard to see and understand. The next step is really going to be to remove the

01:10water and really the damaged building materials and wet goods. Bacteria and mold can spread very

01:17quickly. Mold can start to form within 48 hours and bacterium can double really every 24 hours.

01:26What's important here is to get the water and the wet goods out as early as possible. As you do that,

01:33you'll be prepared to start to engage in the next steps.

01:37How do professionals determine if restoration is possible?

01:41For some homes, when is a repair more costly than replacement?

01:46You're going to want to get a professional assessment. Our goal obviously is to put the

01:51home back exactly how it was before the property loss. We'll use professional tools and technology

01:59to help us assess the damage. That'll include moisture measurements, not just for the drywall,

02:06but also for the atmosphere. It's important, as I said, because of mold and bacteria,

02:12to understand what exactly needs to be done. When you use industry-approved tools and technology,

02:18we'll be able to create a professional estimate and assessment of what repair versus replacement

02:23looks like in your particular situation. After Helene and Milton, what locations

02:30are ServiceMaster Pros responding and how are they helping their communities?

02:35We've deployed from all across the country. We're a franchise network. We've had over 100

02:41businesses, over 1,000 personnel, and nearly 20,000 pieces of equipment from really all over

02:46the country get in their trucks and drive out to Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.

02:52I, myself, was up in Asheville and saw the damage firsthand. I think it's really where

02:58the great franchises of ServiceMaster are at their best, is helping communities in time of need

03:03and helping good folks get back on their feet.

03:06John Tovar, Group Master of ServiceMaster Repair and Restoration,

03:11thanks so much for joining us today. Great information, and I know firsthand,

03:16always get the water out first. That is so important, and that's an important tip.

03:21Thanks for joining us today, sir.

03:23Thank you both. My pleasure.