Although it has been a few years, many people still remember Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of the flooding in New Orleans. Not only did many homes get wiped out by flood waters, there were also a lot of circumstances where the homes might have been saved if they were cleaned right after the flood dissipated. Instead, because there were so many homes involved, many homes ended up being condemned.
Today, FEMA and other agencies claim to have a better handle on how to clean up a disaster. The nice thing about that is that if you add in the dynamic that private companies like DKI Services are bringing to the table, you end up with a much more formidable disaster relief effort.
What DKI Services has managed to do is to create a North American disaster relief network that features some of the top contractors in different metro areas ready to help put homes and businesses back together after there is a problem.
So if your home or business has been hit by a natural disaster, here are some of the things that you can do to have your home restored:
Onboard a contractor asap:
With companies that offer nationwide contractors that are ready to fly into your area to help you put your home back together, the only thing that would be holding back from getting started would be the insurance company and perhaps the health authority.
While you are looking at contractors, in addition to having the skills and experience that you are looking for, they should also have the ability to have the geographic reach that you need. You will find quite a few contracting companies that offer ‘national’ services, but it pays to check to ensure that they are actually national that ‘includes your local area’.
Set a timeline:
It may sound strange, but if you have flood or water damage from a catastrophe, you need to have your insurance company approve repairs for you as soon as possible because it only takes about 12 hours for mold to start growing on top of the water that has entered your home. Once mold starts growing, costs can go up by quite a bit.
So timeline your insurance people and the damage in your home so that you know when specific things need to be accomplished. It can be a hassle to get an ok for no mold and then find out that you do have mold and have to go back and ask for another approval.
Not a bad time to remodel:
If you have approval from the insurance company to do disaster restoration at your home, consider the possibilities before embarking on a strict replacement and repair program. In other words, if you always wanted your home to look differently and you have just been granted fiscal authority to go out and repair it, it makes sense to work with your contractor to see how you can create something fresh and new in place of what your home used to have.
Bringing your home back after a disaster can be a traumatic, hectic experience. At the same time, if you are committed to living in the space that you always have, it can be an opportunity to upgrade and make your home even better than it already was.