Why Choosing a Professional Disaster Restoration Company, like SERVPRO is Important?

5/23/2019 (Permalink)

Big and Small Steps you can take now to prepare for a residential or commercial property disaster.

Contacting SERVPRO Restoration Professionals near you is important to avoid costly secondary damages, and trust that your commercial or residential property will be restored quickly and correctly.

When a property disaster strikes your Long Island home or business it can be difficult to know what the next step is… there are so many options for what you “should” do next. It makes sense to call local Suffolk County restoration professionals, our SERVPRO of Medford staff has the experience, training and equipment to handle your cleanup, repairs and restoration needs from start to finish.  Our crews and managers have been helping local home and business owners with property damage emergency services for nearly 30 years. Our staff is well trained in dealing with the aftermath of both commercial and residential property damages following fire and smoke damage, flood and water damage, sewage and biohazard cleanup and mold remediation. Working with trusted SERVPRO restoration professionals following a fire, water, flood, sewage or mold property damage event will give you peace of mind, and a friendly, highly-qualified restoration specialist by your side.

Big and Small Steps you can take now to prepare for a disaster

Preparing in advance to handle a Brookhaven property disaster can seem a little ominous, but after helping countless local home and business owners during property damage recoveries in our community we know it can make a huge difference during and following a property emergency. Here are some key steps to take in advance that can be important to the recovery process and the overall restoration of your property.

• Know the hazards that are present in your area.
• Review your insurance policies and confirm you have adequate cover against each type of disaster you are vulnerable to. Also check your sum insured to avoid being underinsured.
• Take a household inventory and store copies in a safe location or online. Cataloging your belongings with a home inventory might sound tedious, but how easy would it be for you to recall all the contents of your home if you lost everything? Taking a home inventory can help you determine if you have enough insurance and can save you time and headaches when filing a claim following a disaster
• Prepare a disaster plan. Your plan should start with having somewhere safe to go. Think of someone who could house you and your family and talk to them about what might happen in the event of a disaster. Then talk to everyone who lives in your home about what to do if there’s an emergency and you are unable to return
• Have an evacuation plan. In some cases when you need to evacuate, there may not be a lot of time. Plan how to evacuate your home quickly and make sure everyone knows the evacuation plan. Make sure everyone has a list of emergency contact numbers they can phone
• Make sure to regularly check safety devices in your home, such as smoke alarms and fire extinguishers

Spring Cleaning Offers Perfect Opportunity to Create a Property Inventory

Spring a great time to spruce up and declutter your Long Island home or business, taking a broad look at the state of your property and check all areas of your proper for potential hazards and maintenance needs. While you’re deciding what to keep, trash and donate, it’s a great time to create or update your Suffolk County home or business inventory, review previous emergency plans and supplies and consider any revisions.

Keeping an inventory of your belongings will help you make sure you have enough coverage on your insurance policy and can put your mind at ease if something were to happen to your home or business, such as a fire, flood, or theft. In the event you experience an emergency like this, having a property inventory on hand can help make the claims process easier.

Tips to create a property inventory:

• Create your inventory online or keep a hard copy away from your home. If you create a home inventory but then it’s destroyed along with your other possessions, it won’t be of any use to you. Keeping it on a password-protected online database that you can access anywhere will ensure you don’t lose it.
• Document details like values, receipts, and date of purchase. The more information you include when documenting your items, the better. If you have receipts, appraisals, or product information for your items, be sure to document that along with the name, place of purchase and description of the item. You may even want to include the serial number for big appliances like your dishwasher or washing machine.
• Take photos or video of the items. Even if you have receipts, photos or video of the items in your home will help confirm proof of purchase when it comes to filing your claim. Taking a video can also make the inventory process easier — just video yourself going over each item in your home!
• Organize items by room. If you have damage to only one part of your home, having your list organized by room will help you determine what may be missing. Going room by room will also help you ensure you don’t miss anything — don’t forget to check spaces like closets, attics, and basements.
• Keep track of the date. Each time you update your home inventory, you should make note of the date. This way, you’ll know when you last added new items, updated values of old ones, and can plan for when you’ll need to update again.

What to include in your home inventory

When it comes to your home inventory, it’s better to over-document than to leave something off. Even smaller items, like clothes and shoes, can add up quickly. For those items that may not hold significant value, keeping a list of how many of each you have will suffice. For everything else, like high-end items, jewelry, appliances, and electronics, you’ll want to document with more detail.

How to Declutter Your Long Island Home or Business, Room by Room

Focus on one room, one space, or even one zone within a room, completing the job fully before moving on to the next space. This will also build confidence as you experience visible success at each step. 

Five easy ways to organize your chaos to reduce clutter:

• Keep: This container is for items that have crept out of their storage spaces.
• Recycle: This container is for items that need to be recycled, such as paper, plastic or glass.
• Fix/Mend: This container is for items that need further attention
• Trash: This container is for items that are simply trash
• Donate/Sell: This container is for items that you can donate to a charitable organization or another person.

You can use bins, baskets or even just cardboard boxes for this task. You can bring these bins into each room as you organize or leave them in a central place in your home while you work.

Some other things to keep in mind to have a successful seasonal purge:

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Do not set aside an ENTIRE day to organize your WHOLE house. Very few people have the energy and/or focus to spend 8 hours organizing. You’ll likely become frustrated and less efficient as the day progresses. It’s much better to spend a few hours — 2 or 3 — on one project or space. This way you’ll feel motivated to do more, not be burned out by the process.

Complete Each Task — Completely

Of course, you will need to sort things into categories (e.g., toss, recycle, donate, give to friend, put in deep storage). But here’s the crucial part: Once you have decided where something is going to go — take it there. Never keep bags for charity or boxes for friends in your home to deliver later. Do it now. Finish the process. Take the bags and boxes out to the trash or recycling immediately. If you’re donating something or giving something to a friend or family member, put the items in your car or plan a visit to drop them off.

Good Enough is Enough

Very few people have closets and drawers that resemble those in catalogues. You will ultimately be disappointed if perfection is your goal. The goal is to set up a space that works well for your needs. That is success.

We also love these great decluttering ideas:

Get Rid of One Item Each Day

Want to take your spring-cleaning a step further? Don’t just organize your things get rid of them! To make it easier to let go, choose one item to part with each day over a certain period. This will allow you discover which items in your home you use, or which items are merely collecting dust.

Host a Garage Sale

Make a little extra pocket cash by hosting a garage sale! Choose a Saturday morning – preferably on a cool Long Island day – and set up the stuff you want to get rid of with price tags, then sell away!

Tips for a Successful Garage Sale

You’ve done some spring cleaning and have a corner of the garage full of items you’re ready to Donate/Sell. If you’re considering a garage or yard sale, there are some tricks to making it worth your time and energy.

• Pick the Right Day and Time
  Saturday is the most popular day for a garage sale, but if you have a lot of items, consider adding Friday and even Thursday to make it a multi-day event. Regarding timing, start as early as 7 a.m. and go no later than 2 p.m., as most sales drop off in attendance by this time.

• Get Organized
  When it comes to garage sale organization, keep like items together. Pick out the best items of clothing and consider hanging them on a makeshift rack to help catch the eyes of customers.
  
  
• Set the Price
  It’s best if you price items individually as this will help you keep things organized. Keep prices fair and be willing to negotiate. When it comes to bigger-ticket items, know ahead of time just how low you are willing to go. Consider giving a discount for buying several similar items.

• Offer Mystery Bags
  Put those plastic grocery bags to good use and offer mystery bags. Mystery bags can work well with children’s clothing or small baby toys. Consider putting several items in a bag, such as a bag of children’s pants, and offer it for a set price. Just make sure to note the clothing size and gender if you go this route.
  
  
• Have Plenty of Change
  Stop by the bank the day before your sale to stock up on change and $1 bills. Be sure to have plenty of nickels, dimes and quarters. If you have some pricier items for sale, make sure to have some $20 bills on hand just in case.
  
  
• Have Bags and Boxes for Customers
  Keep leftover plastic grocery bags around for customers to carry their purchases. Small cardboard boxes may also come in handy for customers purchasing a set of dishes or tools.
  
  
• Group Like Items Together
  When you group like items together, the goods look more abundant and makes for a better display. Also, shoppers looking for something specific can find it faster, and they're more likely to buy multiple pieces.
• Display Big Showy Pieces Closest to the Street
  Place desirable sale merchandise at the street end of your yard or driveway, especially seasonal items and large pieces (such as furniture). Even if you're setting up most of the merchandise in the garage, it's makes the sale look bigger and better, and it gives drive-by browsers a reason to stop.
  
  
• Have an Outlet or Extension Cord Handy
  Customers expect to check electrical items. If you don't have an outside outlet, run a heavy-duty extension cord from your house or garage. Keep a light bulb on hand for testing lamps too. 
  
  
• Straighten and Rearrange the Tables
  Yard sales get hectic and shoppers make a mess of the merchandise. When you have a moment, do some straightening before the next wave of shoppers arrive.