What is all that water drying equipment?

10/1/2018 (Permalink)

You just called SERVPRO of West Orange. A disaster has struck you and your home or office. The crews from SERVPRO are on their way to mitigate the disaster. They show up in the big green trucks and in moments are assessing the damage to your property. Popping open the back of the truck they start to unload equipment, but what are they unloading? Why is it important? Here’s a list of the usual things you’ll see brought into a property once the team starts to work.

• Air Mover and/or Axial Fan: Professional grade air movers and axial fans produce more air movement than a standard household fan. The higher volume of air being moved increases the rate of evaporation, helping to dry the structure as quickly as possible.
• Dehumidifier: A dehumidifier removes water vapor from the air by condensing it out against refrigerated fins. The water is stored and then periodically purged from the machine by use of plastic tubing. The tubing will generally be run so that it dumps water down a drain, such as a bath tub or sink, or sometimes out a window or door. Professional dehumidifiers pull much more vapor from the air than a household dehumidifier. In this way they are generally more efficient.
• Air Scrubber: An air scrubber might be used if your loss is a result of water classified as grey or black, which means that it came from a contaminated source or through building materials. These machines remove airborne particulates by trapping them in HEPA filters. Air Scrubbers are also used in cases where a customer has a health condition that requires the air quality be monitored.
• Specialty Drying Equipment: There are a variety of different tools available to our technicians for use in specialty circumstances. For instance, a floor drying mat system allows the technician to create a vacuum system for removing moisture from hardwood floors, in order to try to dry them in place. This helps the floor dry faster, and generally gives us a better chance of saving the hardwood flooring.

There are of course many other tools you may well see if the situation requires them. The onsite SERVPRO technicians can and will explain any of the tools they use for the job. So when in doubt ask them!