Recent General Posts
How to secure your property after vandalism
10/7/2019 (Permalink)
When life happens and you need help please call SERVPRO® of North Shasta, Trinity & Greater Tehama Counties @ 530-222-0200
How do you get your property secured after it's been vandalized or burglarized?
What do you do after your business has been vandalized or burglarized and law enforcement has come and gone? How do you get your business up and running quickly? SERVPRO of North Shasta is here to help with a variety of services.
Broken windows? Busted door? Arson damage? SERVPRO® can help! Please call 24/7 at 530-222-0200
After your business has been vandalized or burglarized it is normal to feel violated and angry. At the same time, you must figure out how you are going to get your building repaired and business up and running. You could have broken glass, damaged door jams, even blood. SERVPRO® is here to help at any time day or night. We can provide board up service, disinfect the crime scene, as well as larger repairs. If you have been a victim of arson, we can also provide you with temporary storage with written and photographed inventory list of your belongings and offer soot and order removal of your items.
SERVPRO® of North Shasta, Trinity & Greater Tehama Counties would like to share some facts about vandalism to help keep you safe.
*Most criminals can burglarize a building in under 10 minutes
*Burglary and vandalism cost US businesses over 800 million dollars in property loss.
*Criminals used forcible entry nearly 60% of the time.
*On average one vandalism incident can cost business almost $3,500.
We want to help you prevent damages and loss of business. Vandals bring property damage and cause fear of crime, your customers may worry about their safety, taking their business elsewhere. Some businesses can respond to vandalism and crime by reducing office hours potentially losing sales. Let SERVPRO® help you keep your business up and running. Our staff is available to help you 24/7, call 530-222-0200.
Emergency Board Up Shasta County
9/24/2019 (Permalink)
For Emergency Board Up Services contact us today!
530-222-0200
The North State is filled with tremendous natural beauty and incredible community strength. With that beauty can come powerful devastation in the forms of snow, fire and wind storms creating huge amounts of damages throughout the town. (We may even experience a newer type of storm, a transient storm, with it coming great effects of vandalism to our homes and businesses.) After these storms pass, our community always unites to help each other as much as possible.
SERVPRO of North Shasta, Trinity & Greater Tehama Counties is here to help secure your property to make sure your home and its contents remain safe no matter what kind of storm that created this disaster.
SERVPRO Emergency Board Up Services:
Fast response 24/7/365
Our 1-4-8 service response guideline.
1- Within one hour from notice of loss SERVPRO will contact to arrange service
4- Within four hours of loss notification SERVPRO will be on-site to start board-up services.
8- Within eight hours, a verbal briefing of the scope will be communicated to you by our SERVPRO Professionals
*Securing a property to avoid additional damages we use plywood and lag bolts to secure your property from further damages like wind and rain. This method also gives protection from burglars.
No more need for signs like “you loot we shoot” when you have SERVPRO board up your property.
We can provide emergency water extraction with portable or truck-mounted extraction units to perform effective water removal.
- The technical term is Pathogenic Contaminated Waste Water Removal. In some cases, contaminated flood waters can make its way into your property, that’s where we come in and mitigate the water damages.
- Emergency board up of windows and doors
- Board up services diminish the chance of theft and any secondary damages from outdoor elements.
Board ups are most effective if they take place as soon as possible because a home can become contaminated with floodwaters, fire carcinogens or other debris that can cause secondary damages. Board ups are also necessary for your insurance. Most insurance policies require board-ups for liability purposes, insurance companies don’t want unauthorized individuals having access to your property for theft and/or injury reasons. You need to board up your home or business please contact SERVPRO of North Shasta, Trinity & Greater Tehama Counties to assist you any time of day or night.
530-222-0200
Shasta County, CA - Choosing a Disaster Restoration Provider
8/22/2017 (Permalink)
Disaster Restoration Provider - The Right Choice
Making sure you are getting a fair and low price is important, but not as important as making sure you get a business that is reputable. Remember that cost savings can disappear quickly after a business does shoddy work, accidents or other issues occur. Most importantly, when the insurance is paying the bill it’s very important that you are getting a fair price and your insurance company recognizes the value of the contractor doing the work and agrees to pay the bills.
Putting price aside, when evaluating restoration providers, the 3 most important factors are explored and why you should consider.
#3- Certifications
When dealing with cleaning and restoration work, there are tons of technical aspects that must be handled correctly. You need to make sure your provider’s employees have the required skills that are necessary for the types of disasters you are likely to face. The Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) establishes the standards and certifications for remediation of dry, mold, fire and smoke damage. A good restoration provider will have many staff members with one or more IICRC certifications. If your building is LEED certified or your organization deals with hazardous materials or sterile environments, specialized skill sets are even more important.
Tip: To get a good idea of sense of commitment to quality, ask prospective restoration providers about their training philosophy and programs, in addition to what types of certifications they have in house.
#2- Experience and Customer Service
If you have been lucky enough not to have to deal with a disaster, then you would not just how confusing and sometimes overwhelming it is to deal with the recovery and insurance claims process can be. By choosing to work with an experienced and reputable provider it can help reduce stress and confusion in a couple of ways.
One, a good provider can help you better understand and prepare for disasters you’re likely to face in your area, making sure you get clear answers to questions about the disaster recovery planning process.
(Here at SERVPRO of North Shasta we can make you a personalized Emergency Response Plan.)
Two, their experienced insights can be invaluable for making educated decisions that keep the claim’s process moving along smoothly.
Tip: Make sure to find providers with extensive insurance restoration-related work rather than just the work itself.
#1- Safety
Unlike construction job sites, restoration job sites often present unique challenges for the owners and the restoration providers. As an example, at a restoration site it may be possible to keep parts of the building occupied while specific areas or features of the building are being restored. In these situations, ensuring the safety of the occupants is critical to limiting potential liabilities. That could mean anything from properly securing electrical cords so they don’t create tripping hazards to figuring out how to protect occupants from falling debris.
Tip: Find a restoration company that emphasizes safety with a good safety program.
Going the Extra Mile
SERVPRO of North Shasta, Trinity, and Greater Tehama Counties employs professionals with a vast array of remediation as well as certifications from IICRC and SERVPRO Inc for Water, Fire/Smoke, Mold, and BIO. Safety is our number one priority always. We provide safety training to all of our staff on a continuous basis. If you are looking for a restoration provider, need a personalized Emergency Response Plan, or just a question about a disaster, we would love to hear from you.
Top 3 Criteria for Choosing A Restoration Provider
6/9/2017 (Permalink)
Be Prepared
Too many times the selection of a disaster restoration provider is based on price.
Making sure you are getting a fair and low price is important, but not as important as making sure you get a business that is reputable. Remember that cost savings can disappear quickly after a business does shoddy work, accidents or other issues occur. Most importantly, when the insurance is paying the bill it’s very important that you are getting a fair price and your insurance company recognizes the value of the contractor doing the work and agrees to pay the bills.
Putting price aside, when evaluating restoration providers, the 3 most important factors are explored and why you should consider.
#3- Certifications
When dealing with cleaning and restoration work, there are tons of technical aspects that must be handled correctly. You need to make sure your provider’s employees have the required skills that are necessary for the types of disasters you are likely to face. The Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) establishes the standards and certifications for remediation of dry, mold, fire and smoke damage. A good restoration provider will have many staff members with one or more IICRC certifications. If your building is LEED certified or your organization deals with hazardous materials or sterile environments, specialized skill sets are even more important.
Tip: To get a good idea of sense of commitment to quality, ask prospective restoration providers about their training philosophy and programs, in addition to what types of certifications they have in house.
#2- Experience and Customer Service
If you have been lucky enough not to have to deal with a disaster, then you would not just how confusing and sometimes overwhelming it is to deal with the recovery and insurance claims process can be. By choosing to work with an experienced and reputable provider it can help reduce stress and confusion in a couple of ways.
One, a good provider can help you better understand and prepare for disasters you’re likely to face in your area, making sure you get clear answers to questions about the disaster recovery planning process.
(Here at SERVPRO of North Shasta we can make you a personalized Emergency Response Plan.)
Two, their experienced insights can be invaluable for making educated decisions that keep the claim’s process moving along smoothly.
Tip: Make sure to find providers with extensive insurance restoration-related work rather than just the work itself.
#1- Safety
Unlike construction job sites, restoration job sites often present unique challenges for the owners and the restoration providers. As an example, at a restoration site it may be possible to keep parts of the building occupied while specific areas or features of the building are being restored. In these situations, ensuring the safety of the occupants is critical to limiting potential liabilities. That could mean anything from properly securing electrical cords so they don’t create tripping hazards to figuring out how to protect occupants from falling debris.
Tip: Find a restoration company that emphasizes safety with a good safety program.
Going the Extra Mile
SERVPRO of North Shasta, Trinity, and Greater Tehama Counties employs professionals with a vast array of remediation as well as certifications from IICRC and SERVPRO Inc for Water, Fire/Smoke, Mold, and BIO. Safety is our number one priority always. We provide safety training to all of our staff on a continuous basis. If you are looking for a restoration provider, need a personalized Emergency Response Plan, or just a question about a disaster, we would love to hear from you.
Four Tips Too a Smoother Insurance Claim
6/9/2017 (Permalink)
Hopefully your claim will be smooth and approved!
Four Tips Too a Smoother Insurance Claim
Have you read up on your current insurance policy?
If you answered no, we understand. It’s not the easiest reading, but when a natural disaster occurs, knowing a few key things about your insurance can make your life easier with the recovery time and costs.
Here are four tips to a help make your insurance claim smoother:
1.Understand Your Insurance Policy
It is important for you or someone attached to the insurance has a solid understanding of all current insurance policies. This is crucial because once the loss occurs, everything that happens from an insurance perspective is dictated by the policy and nothing else matters. To put it another way, insurance is about the contract, not about feelings.
To keep you in your home or your business operating, you need to get the claims process moving. Make sure you have a good understanding of what repairs need to be done and what your policy covers. If not, you might be paying for unexpected expenses and/or run into costly delays. As an example, most insurance companies have a policy that puts the responsibility of securing the loss to prevent further damage on the owner. If you are unaware of this policy and more damage occurs, you may end up having to cover the bill yourself. This scenario is not uncommon. As an example, if wind damages your roof and you do not cover the roof before it rains; all water damage could end up being your responsibility to pay for.
- Keep Detailed, Organized Records
Make sure to have your records gathered in one place and that some else knows where to find them; this way when disaster happens whether you are around or not they can be found. As a result, the claim can continue to move forward; getting you the much-needed insurance checks sooner.
Insurance companies pay claims base on details that you give them. It’s important to remember that for insurance adjusters, details are everything. Gather as much information as you can from contractors that come and do estimates, the more you are informed the better.
- Assign a Single Point of Contact, When possible
Sometimes it is not always possible, but ideally you want a limited number of contacts for contractors and your insurance company to deal with. Most of the time your insurance company will be working directly with the contracted party doing the work, so it is important to have a limited number for them to have to contact to get approvals from and send updates to. By having a limited number of Point of Contacts you will lessen the amount of confusion and miscommunications on both sides helping you to keep things move faster. Make sure you speak with your insurance company and see if your Point of Contact will be able to respond for you on all parts of the claim and if not know what parts of the claim you will have to handle.
4.Find Your Service Providers Ahead of Time
This last tip is very important because when a loss occurs, you may need to act quickly. As stated in the “Understand Your Policy” section it is your obligation to secure your property after a disaster. Knowing who to call ahead of time will make things less stressful and can potentially save you money in the long run. Not sure who to call? You can always contact your Insurance Agent and ask them who their preferred contractors are in this area. Never forget, you get to choose who you work with not your insurance. SERVPRO Of North Shasta, Trinity, and Greater Tehama Counties is always here 24/7 and 365 days of the year for all you Water, Fire, Mold, and Trauma Losses!
Tips on Handling an Auto Accident Safely
8/4/2016 (Permalink)
Freezing temperatures, gusts of wind, patches of ice – winter can be a horrible time to be on the road. And, an even worse time to get into a car accident.
But, with reduced visibility, slick roads and maybe even a reckless driver or two, accidents are bound to happen. So, what should you do if you experience one? Follow these five guidelines to help you stay safe while you wait for help to arrive after a car accident in winter:
Respond calmly. Your first instinct following any car accident may be to jump out of the car and give the other driver(s) a piece of your mind. But, given traffic and road conditions, it may not be safe for you to get out of your vehicle at all (and, it’s never safe to act aggressively toward others). So, stay in your car, take a deep breath, turn on your hazard lights and check yourself and others for injuries. Keep in mind that, if you’re in shock, you may not notice your own injuries at first. If needed, call 911 to request medical and traffic assistance.
Get off the road. If a minor accident leaves your car operable and no one involved requires emergency first aid, make clearing the roadway your next priority. Have all vehicles pull well off the road to reduce the chances of causing another accident. Just proceed with caution, especially if visibility is low. Other drivers on the road need extra time to react to slow-moving vehicles.
If you can’t get off the road, stay in your car. Walking around the roadway is extremely dangerous if other cars are around, particularly with stormy weather and slick roads making it difficult for drivers to respond to unexpected hazards. So, stay in your car and fasten your seatbelt, in case another collision occurs. Wait there for assistance and instructions from emergency personnel. Or, if your car isn’t safe to be in, seek other protection.
Stay visible, stay warm, stay put. Put up warning triangles and road flares, if you have them. Otherwise, tie a bright piece of cloth on your antenna or door handle so your vehicle is visible to others. If you’re running the engine to stay warm (make sure your tailpipe isn’t clogged with mud or snow or you risk being exposed to carbon monoxide), also turn on your running lights. Your vehicle emergency kit, stocked with blankets, extra clothing and more, will come in handy until emergency responders arrive. Because staying put is typically safer than heading out to seek help – you risk getting lost. And, leaving the scene of a serious accident can result in monetary fines.
Collect pertinent details and report the accident. After any accident, it’s important to exchange insurance information with the other driver(s), jot down notes about what happened and even snap a few photos – just be sure not to put yourself in harm’s way in order to do so. Then contact your insurance carrier to file a claim and your roadside assistance service to request help.
And, what if you come across an accident involving others? So long as they aren’t in immediate danger, your best bet is likely calling 911 and letting the appropriate local authorities respond. Pulling over to help could cause additional problems, such as distracting other drivers and causing an accident yourself.
Remember, winter driving can be as unpredictable as the weather. So, keep your phone charged and your gas tank full, and slow down so you have extra time to respond – you need it when the roads are slick!
Storm and flood damage require specialized restoration techniques and equipment. When a storm hits your Redding home, you need the company with storm damage experience and expertise. SERVPRO of North Shasta, Trinity & Greater Tehama Counties can respond immediately to storm and flooding conditions.
Do You Have Flood or Storm Damage?Call Us Today (530) 222-0200
Safety Tips for Driving in Heavy Rain and Flood Conditions
8/4/2016 (Permalink)
It’s just rain — how much impact can it really have on your driving?
The answer: a lot. You’re likely to experience lower visibility, reduced traction and increased difficulty in handling your car both during and after a rainstorm. Add flooding to the mix and suddenly things get much more challenging – and dangerous.
In fact, more than half of flood-related drownings are due to people driving into floodwaters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So, never, ever do it. As little as 12 inches of rushing water can carry away a small car, and 24 inches can carry away most any vehicle, according to the National Weather Service, which emphasizes “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” when it comes to both walking and driving into floodwaters.
So, what about when the roads are wet but passable? From the rainy northwest, the California Department of Transportation (CDOT) offers these tips for a safer approach to wet weather driving:
Turn on your lights. Rain (and the spray from other vehicles) can significantly lower visibility. Make it easier for other drivers to see you.
Slow down. It’s easy to lose control and hydroplane on wet roads, especially at speeds of about 35 mph or higher. Hydroplaning occurs when your front tires ride on a film of water instead of actually being in contact with the road. If it happens, CDOT recommends taking the following measures: “Ease off the gas, gently apply the brakes and steer straight ahead.” You’re also at risk of splashing water into the engine and stalling it when you drive at high speeds.
Give people more room, and don’t use cruise control. You won’t be able to stop as quickly when the roads are wet — cars need two to three times more stopping distance.
Expect things to be slick, especially if it hasn’t rained for a while. When a fresh rain mixes with engine oil and grease on the road, the combination can produce exceptionally slippery surfaces.
Make sure tires have proper inflation and adequate tread. Both over- and under-inflated tires are dangerous even in normal conditions. As for checking the tread, use the penny test: Insert a penny into the tread with Lincoln’s head upside down. If you see his entire head, it’s time for new tires.
Keep up with general car maintenance. Make sure your wipers are functioning and that you replace the blades regularly. Also check your defroster, especially if you don’t use it often.
Remember, driving safely in inclement weather requires caution and patience. Give yourself more time to get where you’re going. If conditions are truly unsafe, pull over to a safe place (or stay home if you can). And, finally, don’t be caught with inadequate insurance coverage, either. Wet conditions make accidents more likely, so before you head out into the storm, make sure you have the coverage you want.
Storm and flood damage require specialized restoration techniques and equipment. When a storm hits your Redding home, you need the company with storm damage experience and expertise. SERVPRO of North Shasta, Trinity & Greater Tehama Counties can respond immediately to storm and flooding conditions.
Do You Have Flood or Storm Damage?Call Us Today (530) 222-0200
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