It’s important to understand what mitigation is and how it can help you preserve your home or business after a fire or flood. If mitigation isn’t done properly, your insurance claim could end up being double, triple, or even more than what it originally would have been. Mitigation reduces the risk of secondary damage to a property or building, which can come from several sources. If water or sewage leaked in or flooded the home, there could be mold or mildew spreading.
Failure to act quickly enough to intervene can result in more damage to your home or property that could have been avoided with mitigation. Mitigation can include plugging holes, cleaning, disinfecting, boarding up broken windows to keep out animals and the elements, and utilizing roof tarps. More examples of mitigation are the removal of debris, water, moisture, and reinforcing weakened structures to keep them from collapsing.
If this is not done within 24 hours of the damages being incurred, the mitigation efforts will be less effective. The longer you wait to mitigate the damages, the lower the value of the process as secondary damages set in, and restoration becomes no longer an option. Without mitigation, you may end up spending hundreds, if not thousands, more on replacing damaged items, rather than cleaning and repairing them.
Restoration, unlike mitigation, focuses on repair or replace damaged items to pre-disaster condition. This includes removing destroyed components, cleaning, and disinfecting salvageable items, thoroughly drying the space, and rebuilding structural functionality. This process is vital and must be completed promptly. Depending on the significance of the damage, this process can take weeks or months.
Many people believe that it would be cheaper to take care of mitigation and restoration on their own instead of hiring a professional company to handle the process. Some amateurs have the know-how to effectively mitigate and restore their property. However, a mistake in this process can be more costly and time-consuming in the long run.
The process of mitigating and restoring damages can also be dangerous. It is safer to hire professionals who have been trained for this work instead of risking your health and well-being trying to do it yourself. A professional team can assess the damage for you and give you an estimate of how much it will cost to restore it.
Many factors influence the cost of these services. For example, water damage caused by uncontaminated water is less costly to repair than if the water had toxins or sewage in it. The length of time the property was exposed to flood or fire also impacts the cost of restoration because damages tend to be more extensive. You’ll also need to consider how accessible the damaged area is, as this can drive up the price of restoration as well.