A Homeowner’s Guide to Property Restoration

Every year, there are almost 350,000 house fires that damage homes all throughout the country. Additionally, studies have shown that about one out of every 50 American homes sustains water damage caused by flooding or another factor each year.

If your home was affected by fire damage, smoke damage, or water damage recently, you’ll need to do something about it ASAP. It’ll be important for you to work to save your home by taking the right steps when it comes to property restoration.

Restoring a property isn’t going to be easy. The restoration process can be long and arduous in many cases. It might even cause you to question your own sanity at some points!

But you can get property restoration done by taking the right approach to it. Check out our homeowner‘s guide to property restoration below.

Document All the Damage Done to Your Home

In the immediate aftermath of a fire or flood in your home, you might be tempted to begin cleaning things up right away. But before doing this, you should also be sure to document all of the damage that was done.

You’re more than likely going to have to file an insurance claim to get your home insurance company to pay for fire restoration or water damage restoration. And they aren’t going to do this if you can’t provide them with some evidence of what happened.

The sooner that you’re able to send over photos of the damage done to your home, the sooner the property restoration process can get underway.

Check Out the Structural Integrity of Your Home

Oftentimes, you will be able to fix up a home following a fire or flood and restore it to its previous condition. But if you had a particularly bad fire or flood in your home, it might not be possible to do property restoration.

With this in mind, you should always hire a company to come in to test the structural integrity of your home. If your house isn’t structurally sound, you won’t want to spend a single penny trying to restore it.

Arrange to Have Your Home Cleaned Up From Top to Bottom

If a home inspector comes out to your home and tells you that it’s OK to begin restoring it, you can officially get the property restoration process started. But prior to making repairs in your home, you’ll want to have it cleaned from top to bottom.

A fire can leave a lot of soot behind that could pose all kinds of health problems if you aren’t careful. A flood, meanwhile, can cause mold and mildew to grow in your home, which can also lead to health issues.

You’ll need to obtain the services of either a fire restoration company or a water damage restoration company to handle the clean up of your home. They’ll eliminate any soot from it if you had a fire or get rid of any mold or mildew if you had a flood.

Make Repairs to the Damaged Parts of Your Home

There will be a lot of things that you’ll need to remove from your home and throw out following a fire or a flood. From your flooring to your furniture, you’ll need to toss quite a few things and replace them entirely.

But it’s worth noting that there will be a bunch of repairs that you’ll be able to make while doing property restoration. For example, you can usually salvage some of the drywall in your ceiling following a fire or a flood. You might also be able to save things like molding.

Rather than replacing these things, you should either work to repair them yourself or bring a contractor on board who can do it for you. You should be able to save yourself a nice chunk of change by salvaging whatever you can after a fire or flood.

Replace Anything in Your Home That Cannot Be Repaired

As we alluded to a moment ago, there are going to be some things in your home that you simply can’t salvage. Something like windows might fall into this category.

During a fire, some of the windows in a home will usually break and sometimes even melt. They’re going to need to be replaced during property restoration as opposed to being repaired.

You’ll want to reach out to a local Renewal by Andersen dealer and have them show you some of the windows that they have in stock. You should be able to replace these windows in no time with their help.

Aim to Avoid Fire, Smoke, and Water Damage in the Future

People obviously don’t plan to have fires and floods that ravage their homes. These things just happen and put them in a precarious position.

But you might be able to reduce your chances of having a fire or a flood in your home by taking some simple steps. When you work to maintain your home, it could make it less likely that a fire or flood will take place.

Again, there is no guarantee that you won’t ever have to deal with another fire or flood in your home. But you can do some things around your house to cut your chances of having to do property restoration for a second time.

Property Restoration Will Take Time But You Will Get Through It

Pulling off a property restoration project isn’t something that you’re going to be able to do in a day, a week, or sometimes even a month. It’ll take you time to work your way through the property restoration process.

But you can make it through a property restoration project by taking each of the steps listed here. They’ll help you get your home back sooner than you would be able to otherwise.

Search for more helpful home improvement tips by checking out the other articles posted on our blog.