SERVPRO of Northeast Wichita Uses Industry Leading Tools to Help our Customers

5/6/2021 (Permalink)

In this photo we see a thermal camera, protimeter, thermal hygrometer, dry sponge and borescope.

Often times water damages from broken pipes or flooding and fire damages are a lot more extensive then they initially look. We have 20 years of experience helping homes and businesses in Wichita with their restoration needs and the tools we utilize during our inspections give us so much more information than the naked eye. Utilizing these tools we create a restoration plan at the beginning of the process which is critical to making sure the entire restoration and rebuilding process is comprehensive and effective. 

Different types of damages require different kinds of tools lets take a look at the tools we utilize for two major types of damage we handle here at SERVPRO of Northeast Wichita which are water damage and fire damage.

• Water Damage
  • Thermal Camera: This is a great tool used in many industries. We use a variety of models but they all help us identify wet materials and possible sources of water intrusion. Water and wet materials will show up as darker on the camera which is especially useful when water damage starts on an upper level and leaks into lower ones.
  • Protimeter: This tool is how we physically measure the moisture in materials. This tells us the actual level of moisture content as a percentage. This is useful because we come and check the drying process everyday so when we see the moisture content drop between checks we know our drying plan is working.
  • Thermal Hygrometer: This device takes temperature, humidity and other atmospheric readings and we use it everyday in water damage work. It is important to know the atmospheric conditions because they determine whether or not we are achieving optimum drying conditions.
  • Hydrosensor: This tool is basically a pole with two spikes in the bottom which trigger a beeping noise and light when they are pressed into a wet material such as carpet or pad. This tool is great for identifying the boundaries of water in flooring materials.
  • Borescope: This device allows us to see behind walls! It is essentially a camera on an adjustable pole which transmits images to a display we can look at. We simply drill a hole and run the camera into the wall to see what is going on behind it.
• Fire Damage
  • Dry Sponge: It is easy to spot the areas that are heavily affected with soot after a fire. What is more difficult is identifying areas which have light to even medium levels of soot. That is why we use dry sponging to spot check and identify the extent of soot and smoke damage. This is important because those light to medium soot levels may not look bad but they will cause odor down the road.
  • Custom made cleaning products: SERVPRO uses cleaning products made specifically for SERVPRO franchises across the US and the work we do. We utilize these products to test clean during the inspection process to make sure we have a process which will work for the entire project.
  • HEPA Quality Air filtration machines help trap hazardous particulates and reduce bad odors.
  • Many of the same tools used in water damage restoration are used in fire damage since often there is water damage from putting the fire out.

One tool we use in almost all our work is the human nose. Odor can tell us a lot from how long a water damage may have been sitting or suggesting the possible presence of microbial growth due to a musty odor. If you have a fire or water related odors causing you a problem, give us a call for an inspection at (316) 684 – 6700.