Water damage creates conditions that are amenable to mold development. Mold will develop in idle water in under 48 hours. Not only that but mold spores float throughout the air, potentially damaging inhabitants’ immune and respiratory systems. There are a few indicators of mold, and knowing what they are will help determine if offering mold remediation services is necessary. Ěý Ěý

Mold has a distinctive look and smell, both can be used to identify and subsequently eradicate mold. Toxic molds are often round, fuzzy, and green, black or red. They also have a musty, pungent smell that resembles rain and meat. While doing water mitigation, if you notice any of these specific indicators, mold remediation will be required to safeguard the quality of life for all occupants. Clients may believe that once the visible mold is eradicated, the mold is gone, but this is not true. Sometimes the organism has penetrated porous materials like drywall, carpet, or wood, and simple scrubbing won’t suffice. Educating clients dealing with water damage on the health implications and growth patterns of mold will convenience them to proceed with all mold remediation services. Ěý Ěý Ěý Ěý Ěý

Since most building materials are porous, they absorb excess water through cracks and pores. If flooded water isn’t removed quickly, it can create defects in the foundation of a home and over time weaken the entire structure of a home. Most homeowners don’t notice foundational cracks until they’re visible throughout the walls of their homes. Excess water can saturate the floors of a home and cause foundation support issues, increasing the likelihood of structural instability, and putting the home at risk of collapsing. Additional signs of structural damage include gaps in windows and doors. These gaps are the result of a home’s foundation shifting. If you notice any of these indications while removing water, recommend foundation repair services to the homeowner. Ěý

Water can seep into the ceiling and walls of any water-damaged home. This can cause faulty connections, corrode exposed wires, and cause electrical fires. Water combined with electricity is a dangerous, perhaps lethal combination. Clients poking around in the wrong place or flipping the wrong switch could have dire results. When mitigating water from a home, if you notice electrical damage offering additional services will be required to return the home to normal. Affected electrical systems in a water-damaged home should be thoroughly inspected to prevent any incidents. Ěý Ěý

Restoration companies like handle water mitigation and restoration to better serve their clients. Companies need to provide multiple services therefore if clients dealing with water damage have mold, structural or electrical damage, the hired water mitigation pros can help their clients recover from water damage faster. Ěý

The post When Should You Offer Additional Services After Water Mitigation? appeared first on Cleanfax.

Recently, I published an article entitled Success on Water Losses. It gave a comprehensive look at using the ANSI/IICRC S500 Ěý(S500) and concluded by urging the use of this important tool.

Since then some have asked for more information on how to better interpret this technical standard and reference guide. This article will discuss some ways to properly use it and a few key words of wisdom.

Important Definitions of the S500

Each S500 that the publishes includes a page in the front of each that discusses Important Definitions that are used. These definitions provide a level of importance for procedures and practices outlined in the standard and reference guide.

We will begin by discussing these Important Definitions and then we will look at some examples of how they are used in the S500 to differentiate importance.

There are five key definitions listed below that are on page nine of the ANSI/IICRC S500 Fourth Edition. First, we must understand their meanings before applying them to practices and procedures. The second step is to apply them in real life. Examples are given after each key definition.

• Shall: When the term “shall” is used in this document, it means the practice or procedure is mandatory due to natural law or regulatory requirement, including occupational, public health, and other relevant laws, rules, or regulations, and is, therefore, a component of the accepted “standard of care” to be followed.
  • Example: “The OSHA Standard on Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) found in 29 CFR 1910.147, delineates steps restorers shall take to prevent accidents associated with hazardous energy.” This statement uses “shall” to provide the restorer with an OSHA requirement found in the 29 CFR 1910 that must be followed due to occupational laws. [8.12]
• Should: When the term “should” is used in this document, it means that the practice or procedure is a component of the accepted “standard of care” to be followed, while not mandatory by regulatory requirements.
  • Example: “Following the implementation of an initial calculation, the restorer should consider other factors that may require adjustments… After the initial installation, appropriate adjustments (e.g., increase, decrease, reposition) in dehumidification equipment capacity should be made based on psychometric readings.” [13.5.6.2] While the initial equipment calculations are where many restorers stop, this statement says restorers “‘should’ consider other factors” and “equipment capacity ‘should’ be made based” on the psychometric readings taken. This directs the restorer to place the proper amount of equipment based on the readings taken and not just the formula.
• Recommend(ed): When the term “recommend(ed)” is used in this document, it means that the practice or procedure is advised or suggested but is not a component of the accepted “standard of care” to be followed.
  • Example: “It is recommended that the restorer record reading at the same locations until drying goals have been met and documented.” [13.5.7] While the restorer could take readings wherever they wish, the standard “recommends” the suggested approach would be to record readings at the same locations.
• May: When the term “may” is used in this document, it signifies permission expressed by the document, and means that a referenced practice or procedure is permissible within the limits of this document, but is not a component of the accepted “standard of care” to be followed.
  • Example: “Restorers may also consider a continuous use of outdoor air while dehumidification systems are deployed, when conditions are appropriate.” [13.5.5.1.3] Using “may” in this statement says the practice or procedure of “consider a continuous use of outdoor air” is permitted but not a component of the “standard of care.”
• Can: When the term “can” is used in this document, it signifies an ability or possibility open to a user of the document, and it means that a referenced practice or procedure is possible or capable of application, but is not a component of the accepted “standard of care” to be followed.
  • Example: “Restorers can use the installed HVAC system as a resource, provided contaminants will not be spread or the drying effort will not be negatively impacted.” [13.5.5.2] This statement using “can” says that this practice is possible or capable of being used, but also not a component of the accepted “standard of care.”

Knowledge leads to success

As you can see, the S500’s Important Definitions are important for restorers to understand as they follow the . Lack of knowledge of the intent of the standard can lead not only incomplete drying, but also potential legal liability to the restoration business.

By taking the time to review the principles presented, the application of the Important Definitions, and training your water restoration team, the ANSI/IICRC S500 can become an to produce success on water losses.

Dan Mesenburg has been in the cleaning and restoration industry for over 22 years. He is an IICRC board director, IICRC approved instructor, and WRT technical advisory committee chair. He and his wife own a ServiceMaster Restore franchise, and he serves as the regional training manager for a ServiceMaster distributor in the Midwest.

The post Words of Wisdom on the S500 appeared first on Cleanfax.

When performing water damage restoration, we greatly rely on moisture meters to tell us important information about the status of the drying process.

When we start the job, we measure the conditions of the loss. Can we consider an open drying system? Which type of dehumidifier would be best? And as the job progresses, we wonder if we are making true progress or if drying has stopped. We might wonder if our equipment is even working properly at all.

The human body can sense moisture and temperature, certainly, but not to the degree of sensitivity required to map out a water loss or to determine whether drying is occurring. We rely on sensitive equipment — such as moisture meters — to give us the truth about an environment before we can proceed with any sort of assurance.

One can put a hand over a stove that is on and say, “Yes, it’s hot all right!” But we can’t determine if it is 450 or 460 degrees Fahrenheit. The difference of just 10 degrees can make all the difference in the world in a drying situation. And without properly calibrated meters, we may be missing that crucial difference.

Mistreatment mishaps

If moisture meters are so important to us, then why do we treat them like a regular claw hammer?Ěý Why do we let people throw them on the floor of the vehicle, leave them in the front dash on a hot summer day, or let them sit in the van overnight and freeze in the winter?

Meters are sensitive electrical devices, even more so than your smartphone or tablet. Mistreatment of any kind can cause your meters to go out of calibration.

This brings up the question: Why is frequent moisture meter calibration important? Before answering this question, let’s look at something all of us have experienced.

How you care for your meters affects their dependability | Image courtesy of Protimeter

Why moisture meter calibration?

Most of us try to maintain an appropriate physical weight. Yet all of us are different, considering our own height, bone structure, muscle mass, etc.

A “good” weight varies considerably from person to person. But many of us get on the scale at home to see “where we are” and then get weighed at another place such as a doctor office, and, excluding clothing, our weight is different, sometimes by many pounds.

What is the difference? Is it the amount of gravitational attraction between you and the earth? Not quite. The difference is one scale is giving you an accurate weight (a scale that is in calibration) and the other scale is giving you an incorrect weight (a scale that is out of calibration).

So how does this correlate to you on a drying job? Let’s look at a couple of examples of what an incorrect reading could and would do to your decision making and, thus, what could and would happen to the job.

Starting a job

You arrive at a water loss and use your thermo-hygrometer to determine initial conditions. You feel with your skin that indoor conditions are warm, really warm, but your meter gives you a temperature of 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

A reading of 84 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity would lead you to choose a low-grain refrigerant (LGR) as the type of dehumidifier to set up. But what if your meter is wrong and the actual temperature is 96 degrees Fahrenheit? Many LGRs do not work properly (if at all) in very high-temperature environments. In this situation, making sure the dehumidifier is designed for high-temperature work would be required. If the dehumidifier you have is not a high-temperature machine, then using air conditioning to lower the temperature down into the dehumidifier’s best operating temperature range would be required.

Thus, your out-of-calibration meter will lead you to make an incorrect drying decision and critically delay the drying process.

During a job

You are on day three of a drying job. You arrive to do the daily monitoring, and the affected area feels… sort of OK. Your meter tells you the air is dry, about 20 percent relative humidity (RH). The temperature in the affected area is 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

Many of the materials are still showing quite a bit of moisture, which you determined using non-penetrating and penetrating moisture meters, so the job is not done… and maybe not making any real progress. With the information from our thermo-hygrometer, we know the affected area is at about 25 grains per pound (gpp), which is dry air. The process-out air from your dehumidifier is measuring about the same, 25 gpp, so there is virtually no grain depression; the air from the dehumidifier and in the affected area is dry, so the materials should be drying.

Checking the accuracy of a meter is important, and a test block with an expected moisture value can be used |Image courtesy Lignomat

What is wrong? Perhaps your readings. What if the RH is really 50 percent, and thus you have 65 gpp in the environment and are only getting 65 gpp process-out air from the dehumidifier? Your thermo-hygrometer has given you a wrong reading on humidity, meaning drying is not really occurring at the rate it should be, which you also noticed from your moisture mapping that showed materials that were not drying.

But what if, as I have seen on many jobs, true detailed moisture maps are not being generated, and all we have is the record of drying conditions? The air in the affected area is dry, the air coming out of the dehumidifier is dry.Ěý And the affected area is not drying. What do you think the end result of this job is going to be? Not very good at all.

These are just two examples of what can and will go wrong if your meters are not providing accurate information.

Optimal operation

The world of meters offers many brands and models. Each brand and model has specific instructions on how the meter should be handled and how often it should be calibrated. You need your meters operating properly — all the time.

Ensure that technicians are treating their assigned equipment — including those precious meters — with the respect and care they’d use if they had purchased it themselves, and hold them accountable if their negligence of that equipment results in damage, loss, or theft. Always keep your owner’s manual handy and check it when you have a concern, or contact your local distributor if you’ve lost your manual.

Remember, moisture meter calibration is important. It’s like a tune-up, and ensures it is working correctly. Contact your manufacturer for details on calibration.

If your meters provide inaccurate information, you will make mistakes in the field that can be very costly — much more than the cost or inconvenience of ensuring your meter is in proper working condition.

Richard Driscoll has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Clarkson College of Technology, an MBA from the University of Dayton, and is currently working on his doctorate. He is a professor at Webster University where he provides graduate and undergraduate level lectures. He is an Certified Master Restorer, Master Textile Cleaner, and approved instructor. He also is the author and instructor for Restoration Sciences Academy’s MR-110 and MR-210 microbial remediation classes and MR-211 trauma scene clean-up class. He can be reached atĚýrmd490@earthlink.net.

The post The Calibration Conundrum appeared first on Cleanfax.

Too often companies schedule a job, and before they arrive onsite, the client calls back to say their insurance agent said to use its preferred company. Client retention in the restoration industry can be difficult. I got tired of losing jobs I had spent good marketing money to attract, so I started approaching every lead differently. I started treating every lead like someone was going to try to steal it from me — because, actually, someone was going to try to do just that!

Below I’ll lay out how I almost completely eliminated this profit killer. Of course, you will need to approach each client differently because each client is different. If you follow these steps closely and adapt with each client, you will get great results.

1 | Better calls

It starts on the phone call. I realized that when my clients talked to any other person before my crews arrived, my chances of losing the job increased significantly. Read my call conversion article in the December 2017 issue of Cleanfax for a more in-depth explanation.

Essentially, the best practices for restoration phone calls boil down to these points:

• Calm clients down quickly and build trust.
• Ask the right first question.
• Make customers feel safe.
• Get your crews on site.
• End the call assured the clients won’t call anyone else.

2| Better answers

Use this response when a client asks if they should call their insurance company or agent:

“Mrs. [client name], what I recommend is that we get out and do a free, thorough inspection with our infrared camera and moisture meters. The last thing we want is for you to get a claim on your record if it is not worth filing a claim. Now, if it is worth a claim, [use technician’s name] will start getting the water out to avoid additional damages and be right there with you, so that you can hand him the phone if your insurance company has any questions.”

3 | Visual close

Free, thorough inspections that are different from the rest make a big impression. I call it the “double visual close.” Walk through with clients, showing them the screen on your infrared camera; then verify the exact same area with a moisture meter. Research shows that around 65 percent of people make decisions based on what they see. Plus, people now days love technology.

4 | Audio Close

This involves using a hydrosensor or other tool that beeps when it detects moisture. Certain moisture meters will beep when moisture is found. Research show that about 35 percent of people make decisions based on what they hear. Just think about it. What do you do when you hear an alarm, smoke detector, carbon monoxide alarm, truck backing up, oven timer beeping, or fire truck or police car siren? We are programmed to act when we here certain types of sound. Many times, it means “danger” or “do something now.” Plus, often the person who is making the beeping noise is seen as an expert and someone to pay attention to.

Let the tools and meters do the selling. Don’t underestimate the power of a beeping sound.

5 |A sense of urgency

You need to redirect a client’s focus from coverage and finances to extracting water and avoiding additional damage. I’m not saying you want to trick the client. Absolutely not! Many clients will not make a complete decision with the first person they talk to. Here’s an example:

Client: I want to wait until I know there is coverage.

You: What I suggest is that we at least get the water out right now and set up the drying equipment to avoid any additional damages, costs, or bad smells. [Bring up smell!) I will take photos with my tablet and document everything for your adjuster. We can just take a deposit today of [amount] that can go towards your deductible if you decide to file a claim or towards a self-pay price. [You don’t have to ask for a deposit; that is up to you.]

6 | The no-excuse close

After step 5, if the client still says no, they are just the type of person that will not commit no matter what without insurance approval.

If and only if I am positive the job will be covered or that the client will pay me the self-pay price — or it is a big enough job to take the risk — I use the following closing tactic on this type of non-committal client. You say:

“I just do not want to leave and have you with additional cost and damages. What I suggest is that we get the water out right now and set up the drying equipment, and I will not charge you anything. I will take photos with my tablet and document everything for your adjuster. If tomorrow you find out there is no coverage and decide you want me to pull the equipment, I will at no charge. Or at that point, if you would like, we can work out a self-pay price. Now, if you find there is coverage, we are already drying your home. We will have everything documented properly, and your insurance company will be happy that you didn’t just leave it sit wet overnight.”

I have closed so many clients with this no-excuse close. Only a few times has the client asked me to pick up equipment.

Why this works:

• You’re not forcing the client to make a fast financial decision.
• You show your main concern is to get the water out and start the drying — not getting paid.
• When your client calls the insurance agent, the water is already out, and you have equipment running.
• The client will be on your side if the insurance company tries to kick you off.
• Most adjusters do not want to deal with two mitigation companies.

7 | First onsite

Give the client your business card with your cell phone, and be onsite with your documents and photos before the adjuster arrives. You’re professional, the client loves you, and you have correctly set up your equipment. The adjuster will almost never kick you off the job when you are standing next to a happy client with the equipment running.

Gregg Sargent is the president and owner of . He has more than 18 years of experience in the carpet cleaning and restoration industries after building and selling his successful company. He has more than 21 years converting cold leads into profitable jobs and was named the Worldwide Franchise Marketer of the Year and Worldwide Entrepreneur of the Year. He can be reached at 720-277-7113 or

The post 7 Steps to Near-Perfect Water Damage Client Retention appeared first on Cleanfax.

Whether you are engaged in light restoration, such as flooding in a basement, or your expertise is full-scale structural drying, anyone involved in restoration has something in common: You must be able to locate all the water and pinpoint all areas it has penetrated and affected.

To do that, you need proper tools so your search is as accurate as possible.

When assessing a water loss and looking for moisture, you have two main categories of tools available: Moisture meters and thermal imaging (camera) technology.

It seems the disaster restoration industry agrees with the importance of utilizing moisture meter and thermal imaging technology. According to respondents to the Cleanfax 2017 Restoration Benchmarking Survey Report, over the next year, 41 percent said they plan to purchase moisture detection tools, and 37 percent said they plan to purchase thermal imaging tools. That’s a sizable segment of the industry.

While this article has some technical information, its purpose is to help the industry see the need to consider both technologies so that business owners can ensure their companies are providing high-quality restoration services to those they serve in their marketplace.

Training

Having trained technicians on staff who can use both technologies is obviously important.

Without training on and understanding of how to use and interpret the results, costly mistakes can be made. Jobs not completed satisfactorily mean company revenue is affected, client complaints arise, and issues with insurance companies are sure to follow.

Then there are errors in judgment due to lack of training that can lead to situations that are harmful to the health of occupants. For instance, although a job may be considered dry — and, indeed, may seem dry — it may not be totally dry, although the interpretation of moisture meter technology may have indicated otherwise. This generally happens when a technician is not properly trained, although there are other reasons as well, some of which are out of the control of the restoration contractor. Yet no company wants to be liable for issues that are caused by lack of training.

Of the two technologies, it can be argued that thermal imaging is most likely to be misunderstood and misinterpreted.

That’s the viewpoint of Brandon Burton, the technical director for Legend Brands. He says, “The rapid growth in the popularity of thermal imagers has increased the use of these devices by under-trained technicians. The nuances of thermography are critically important to understand how to ensure images are properly interpreted.”

For instance, Burton says, it is true that moisture can be indicated by a thermal imaging camera at a lower temperature due to evaporative cooling of the wet surface. However, that’s only if the water is evaporating. If there is a higher temperature on the opposite side of the wall, water will create thermal bridging. This would create a lower R-value, which is the capacity of insulating material to resist heat flow. When that happens, a higher temperature will be visible.

“That’s precisely why the training is so critical,” Burton adds. “Most believe that ‘cold is wet.’ There are, however, several reasons for temperature anomalies throughout. Deciphering the anomalies requires a complete understanding of not only the camera, but also all of the thermal properties and conditions present in the space that are at play.”

Complementary technologies

It’s important to note that thermal imaging cameras and moisture meters provide different types of information.

“While this is common knowledge, the camera measures temperature and the moisture meter measures or detects moisture in the material,” says Paul Laurenzi, vice-president of sales and marketing with Delmhorst Instrument Co.

“The camera is a great tool to survey a large area quickly and non-invasively to determine the likelihood of elevated moisture levels in the water-damaged area,” Laurenzi adds. “A lower temperature level could mean there is excess moisture in that area but is not a guarantee.”

This is why his company always recommends using a moisture meter in conjunction with a thermal imaging camera. Laurenzi explains, “The moisture meter will verify if material in question actually has elevated moisture levels.”

“When assessing a drying job, using a thermal imaging camera can help restorers locate potentially affected areas. Then the moisture meter comes into play when looking at the depth of water infiltration in affected materials,” according to Grete Heimerdinger, co-owner of Lignomat USA and the technical director for the moisture meter division since 1982.

And with the dramatic reduction in instrument cost, thermal imaging cameras are quickly becoming a staple in water restoration, Burton points out. He adds, “At minimum, they should be used on any and all large or complex loss scenarios, where water migration tracking can be quite complicated. This is where the technology can provide the greatest benefit in both risk management and labor cost reduction.”

“Reliable and accurate meters are necessary to produce comparable moisture measurements. That means, if you measure a spot today or in a week, you will get the same values if the moisture has not changed,” Heimerdinger says. “Or, if you assess a job, higher values always mean higher moisture levels.”

And what can happen if a restoration contractor relied on just one technology such as thermal imaging?

“Contractors who just simply use thermal imagers without moisture meters are putting themselves at risk. Although a great tool, imagers can mistake gaps in insulation, HVAC ductwork, and pipes as the presence of moisture,” believes Tom Rochenski, the national sales manager for Protimeter.

These, in fact, could give false-positive readings and trick the technician into thinking the wall has moisture in it and then make the incorrect decision to tear it out. A moisture meter would confirm a false-positive reading or back up the readings from the imager that water is present, Rochenski says, resulting in proper restoration procedures.

Choosing your meters

“Although a job may be considered dry — and, indeed, may seem dry — it may not be totally dry.”
Image courtesy of Lignomat

There are many options for the restoration professional to consider when shopping for the best moisture meters.

“Although the contractor knows the wall is wet, they do not know how deep the water has penetrated,” according to Rochenski. “Moisture meters with non-invasive capabilities can penetrate up to close to an inch behind the wall. Also, with accessories like deep wall probes we can find moisture in insulation and wall cavities.”

“We always recommend the use of a pin-type moisture meter and not solely relying on either thermal imaging or scan moisture readings to make drying decisions. Without having moisture content in percent readings with a pin-type meter, it’s virtually impossible to know for sure the extent of the water damage,” believes Laurenzi.

Some restoration contractors may wonder if their meters are as accurate as they think. Or hope. Keeping them in good working condition and calibrated is important.

“In order to produce comparable moisture values, moisture meters need to be accurate and reliable,” Heimerdinger said. “I think having no meter in the restoration business is no excuse. When you are working on fixing moisture problems, you need a moisture meter.”

Real-world scenarios

All contractors know, in the real world, each job is different and has specific challenges.

Richard Driscoll, a restoration expert with 24 years of experience and an instructor of water damage restoration, mold remediation, and trauma scene cleaning, suggests considering the following scenario:

“You are doing a small flood in a bathroom with a ceramic tile floor. Is the ceramic tile wet? Probably not, as ceramic tile does not absorb water, which is why we install ceramic tile in bathrooms and kitchens. But is the decking under the ceramic tile wet? The only way to determine is to use your meters, most often a non-penetrating meter.”

His point? You never know for sure about surfaces underneath without testing.

Then he wonders about removing building material, when perhaps it’s not required.

“Let’s say you are doing a water damage in a kitchen. Has the water migrated under the floor cabinets? One way to determine this is to remove the toe kick. Is that really true? Removing the toe kick, which was never designed to be removed, almost always means it is ruined. And doing this to determine if the floor under the cabinets is wet? What if you discover the floor is not wet? How do you explain the damage you caused to find nothing?

“A better approach is to go into the bottom shelf of the cabinet, drill two small holes, and use a hammer probe with long pins that go through the holes and then drive the pins into the subfloor under the cabinet.”

The use of moisture meters, whichever type you decide to choose and purchase, is key to successful restoration.

“To be competitive in restoration jobs, cost should be minimized,” Heimerdinger states. “It is always easy to rip everything out and replace with new materials. However, that is the most expensive job. To reduce cost and still do the job right, the proper equipment is needed when assessing the damage and following through with the repair.”

Sometimes, restoration contractors can get into the habit of assuming water has gone into areas where perhaps it hasn’t.

“The error I see all the time in the field is technicians removing baseboard on a water loss,” Driscoll said. “Why do they do that? Has it become standard practice to just tear off baseboards without testing for moisture first?”

Jeff Cross is the executive editor of Cleanfax and is a trainer and consultant, with more than 25 years of industry experience. He can be reached at JeffCross@ĚěĂŔ´ŤĂ˝.com.

The post Moisture Hunting and the Modern Restorer appeared first on Cleanfax.

This article explores the new language, and provides practical guidance on how to apply these changes in your restoration company.

Overview

Air filtration devices, or AFDs, are often used in the restoration industry to help control aerosolized soils at different stages of structural restoration. Their importance and benefit vary depending on several factors, including the cleanliness of the space, the sensitivity of occupants to airborne irritants and other contaminants and the methods used during the restoration process itself.

In this article, we will discuss how the ANSI/IICRC S500 2015 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Water Damage Restoration (S500-2015) addresses the use of AFDs and how it differs from similar language in the previous 2006 edition of the document.

We will further explore how these changes may impact your restoration processes.

What changed?

There are 27 references to AFDs in the new S500-2015. Of those, only three exist within the standard section of the document. The rest are contained within the reference guide. Although the number of times the term appears in the standard section is quite small, it’s important to note that in the previous edition (S500-2006) the term appeared six times within the standard.

This decrease is due to one specific section of the standard: Section 13.5.6.1 in the S500-2015, Controlling Airflow (formerly 12.1.20 in the S500-2006). Here, a paragraph referring to aerosolized soils and contaminants in the presence of airflow has been omitted from the standard section in the 2015 document.

Similar language still exists in the S500-2015; however, it is only contained within the reference guide. The word “should” (a trigger word indicating standard of care language) does appear in the paragraph. The paragraph opens with an important health and safety concern:

“Airmoving devices inherently tend to aerosolize soils and particulates present in the environment. As water evaporates from surfaces and materials such as carpet, more particles often become aerosolized, creating possible health, safety, comfort and cleanliness issues.”

The concern is straightforward: blowing air around a space can make particles airborne. But instead of leaving it at that, the S500-2015 incorporates a clear call to action:

“Restorers should perform a preliminary cleaning of materials and surfaces (e.g., carpet, hard surface floors, exposed subfloors) to reduce the amount of soil or particulates that can become aerosolized, before activating airmoving devices. Where preliminary cleaning cannot sufficiently remove soil or particulates, or there are high-risk occupants, restorers can install one or more air filtration devices (AFDs)….”

The key word here is, of course, “should,” a word defined by the S500-2015 as “… a component of the accepted ‘standard of care’ to be followed…” In short, restorers should clean surfaces before using airmovers, and when that doesn’t alleviate concern, you can use air filtration devices.

How the change impacts the process

It is important to identify potential health and safety concerns, including those associated with indoor air quality, during and after the restoration process. Where concerns are present, it is equally important to (a) document the concern and (b) implement controls to address the concern.

The language states plainly that surfaces should be cleaned prior to airmover use, regardless of the category of loss. Initial cleaning has been a common step in restoration for some time, but not necessarily as a standard of care for all projects.

Another purpose of this change was to place a stronger emphasis on the need to document conditions that lead to the use of the device.

Other references to air filtration

In addition to the term AFD, the S500-2015 discusses filtration of air using the terms “Air Scrubber” (four instances) and “HEPA” filters (over 40 instances). These terms, however, are used primarily in reference to contents cleaning, HVAC system cleaning and processing or in the context of remediation.

As an example, in section 12.3.2 of the standard, the document states that “an in-line HEPA filter should be used” when drawing moist air out of potentially contaminated cavities in a Category 2 or 3 water loss. This language requires the use of either an inline filter or a sufficient capacity air scrubber, and that the wall drying system be installed to place the cavity under negative pressure.

Summary

Despite the fewer references to air scrubbing devices in the S500-2015, AFDs are still a significant part of the cleaning and restoration process. As with many of the practices used in the field today, understanding and documenting the purpose and benefit of their use is becoming increasingly important. Where contaminants or irritants are at risk of becoming airborne, start with a thorough cleaning. Where cleaning either isn’t practical or sufficient, an air scrubber will improve the restorer’s likelihood of providing a clean environment both during restoration and after the project is complete.

We’ll continue to explore changes in the S500-2015 in this series of articles. If you haven’t already, it’s probably time to pick up your copy of the S500-2015!

Brandon Burton is the technical director for Legend Brands and an instructor with the Restoration Sciences Academy (RSA). He teaches IICRC-approved classes in the categories of Applied Structural Drying (ASD) and Water Damage Restoration (WRT). Burton has served the restoration community for more than 20 years, including 15 as an IICRC-approved instructor, ANSI/IICRC S500 chapter chair, RIA restoration council member and in many other industry roles. You can contact him at BrandonB@RSA-HQ.com.

The post Practical Application: S500 2015 and AFDs appeared first on Cleanfax.

That question is the reason for this article.

While teaching in Australia in August 2015, I was asked about a ceramic tile floor installed over a concrete slab in which the tile had “buckled up.” The ceramic tile failed just like hardwood flooring that has been wet for an extended period of time when it swells and finally heaves up.

What caused the ceramic tile to buckle? My initial reaction was to look for causes beyond the tile or slab:

• Possibly some form of hydraulic (water) pressure under the slab had “pushed” the tiles off the floor.
• Perhaps water had migrated through the slab from underneath and caused the mastic or thinset to lose its adhesive bond.

Both of these ideas were incorrect.

Buckled water damaged tile floor #1

The home was approximately seven years old and had experienced a significant water damage. The restoration company had performed the drying correctly; however, three months later, the floor “tented.” (The term “tenting” is used by the flooring industry to refer to the edges of tile rising up.) The restorer showed me pictures of the floor where tiles had buckled up in this way.

The damage looked much like when hardwood flooring “buckles,” as initially the water damaged tile edges rose up, then eventually the tiles “popped up.”

One possible cause for the damage was moisture rising through the slab. However, the ceramic tile floor was removed (after this failure), and the underlying slab was in perfect condition: No cracks, no seams, nothing. Other possible causes of damage were: 1) Either the ceramic tile had expanded (like wood does when it gets wet), or 2) The slab had shrunk.

In all my experience, I had neither seen nor heard of anything like this happening. I was truly baffled. This situation made no sense to me, so I discounted it as a one-off situation that did not seem to have a reasonable explanation.

Buckled water damaged tile floor #2

During an October class at the Restoration Sciences Academy campus in Nashville, a student approached me about one of his drying situations. It was virtually the same water damaged tile situation as what I had been asked about in Australia. Now, a one-time event I might have been able to discount as an unexplained episode not likely to occur again, but when I was asked about the same situation twice in three months, I had to consider something was going on which I did not understand. So I headed “back to the books” to undertake some serious research.

The science of tiles

I gleaned some science and engineering knowledge: In fact, ceramic will expand when it becomes wet, even though it has been fired in a kiln. Also, concrete slabs can expand when they become wet and shrink as they dry. The science corroborates these statements.

The science is complex, but I will try to explain it in terms that make sense to us practitioners. First of all, let me dispel some myths, replacing them with real facts:

Myths:

• Ceramic tile is inert and not affected (in physical size) by water.
• Concrete slabs may absorb water, but the slab dimensions do not change.

Facts:

• Ceramic tile of any type will absorb water and, because of this absorption, expand in size.
• Once dried, ceramic tile does not shrink back to its pre-loss dimensions; it stays in the expanded state. For this reason, ceramic tile manufacturers expect the installers to include expansion joints in the middle of any floor they install.
• Concrete slabs will expand when flooded.
• Unlike ceramic tile, concrete will shrink back to its original size as it dries.

This means in a water damaged tile situation involving ceramic tile installed over a concrete slab, both the ceramic tile and the slab will expand. When dried, the slab returns to its original size, but the ceramic tiles do not shrink back to their original size. When the concrete slab subfloor shrinks and the ceramic tile flooring itself does not shrink back, the resulting stress causes either the “tenting type” failure or tiles to simply crack into pieces. Some of the engineering terms used to explain this phenomenon are:

• Absorption: The absorption of water vapor by a solid material.
• Hydration: The capture of water molecules.
• Chemisorption: The phenomenon where ceramic tiles that have free silica and/or silicates expand when dried.

Moisture expansion essentially is due to the chemical and physical adsorption of water on the amorphous phases within the tile body. The amount of expansion, as moisture enters into ceramic tiles, is affected by many variables virtually unknown to restorers. Some of these variables include:

• The actual mineral composition of the tile material. (Most tile is made from clay, but the composition of individual clays depends upon where the clay comes from.)
• The temperature at which the tile was fired.
• The amount of time the tile was fired.
• Whether the tile was fired a second or third time to anneal (strengthen) its internal structure.
• Whether the top surface is glazed and, if so, what glazing compound material was used.

While the accepted science states that ceramic tile does absorb water and can expand, this expansion does not always appear to happen. Possibly the expansion is slight enough to be invisible or undetectable by normal eye sight, which then raises this question: If ceramic tile can expand, how much can it?

The science suggests expansion can be in the order of 0.9 mm for each meter of tile length (of the installed floor). Converting this to inches: 0.25 inches of expansion occurs for each 20 feet of flooring. This may seem an insignificant amount of expansion, but, if the tile is installed with no or minimal grout line spacing, then any expansion could lead to tile tenting or buckling.

Restorers beware

What does all of this mean for restorers? Most of us were of the opinion that ceramic tile is virtually inert, does not really absorb water and, if it does, dries out with no issues. This thinking is mostly true, except when it is not.

Restorers should be aware of situations, possibly rare, in which water damaged tile absorbs water, expands and does not shrink back after drying. This expansion can, in time (usually weeks to months after the event), result in the ceramic tile either rising up or buckling.

During the inspection of a water damage, can the restorer determine if this kind of tile failure is going to happen on a drying job with ceramic tile installed over a concrete slab?

The answer is no. Too many variables exist that are unknown and cannot be determined (for example, at what temperature the tiles were fired). This phenomenon does not mean that every water loss involving ceramic tile over a concrete slab needs to be removed, as this type of failure is very rare.

However, the potential for ceramic tile failure needs to be explained to insurance adjusters. Should a water damaged tile floor failure occur a few weeks after the drying job has been completed, the restoration contractor might be held responsible. Better to explain the possibility of a tile floor failing before the actual event occurs.

REFERENCES:
* Bowman, Richard. “Tile Growth: Fact or Fantasy?” Tile Today. Issue 36, 2001.
* Barrett, Bart B., and James M. Falls. Common Perils of Ceramic Floor Tile Systems. 2012.

Richard Driscoll has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Clarkson College of Technology, an MBA from the University of Dayton and is currently working on his doctorate. He is a professor at Webster University where he provides graduate and undergraduate level lectures. He is an IICRC Certified Master Restorer, Master Textile Cleaner and an approved instructor. Driscoll has been consulted by state governments on legislation related to the cleaning and restoration industry. He also is the author and instructor for Restoration Sciences Academy’s MR-110 and MR-210 microbial remediation classes and MR-211 trauma scene clean up class. He can be reached at Richard@MayhemMishaps.com.

The post Buckled Up: Addressing the phenomenon of tented, water damaged tile appeared first on Cleanfax.

Is pay-per-click too expensive? Does it work? Am I better off hiring an SEO company? Does social media marketing generate real jobs? Can’t my “web guy” do all this?

These are common questions and are important when generating quality emergency water damage jobs. We’ll take a look at each form of digital advertising, dig into the pros and cons, and talk “best practices.”

In short: There are three ways to page one of Google’s. I’ll refer to these ways as “the big three.”

Let me give you my advertising philosophy: Do everything, and do it consistently. Just like you wouldn’t limit your diet to just one thing, you shouldn’t limit your advertising to only one effort. Doing so makes for an unhealthy strategy. Balance and consistency is key.

As a quick point of reference, here are the big three ways to Google’s first page:

1. Paid ad placement through pay-per-click via Google AdWords, also called “PPC,”
2. Local map results, often referred to as “Google Local” or “Google Places,” and now called “Google My Business,”
3. Organic or natural results, via search engine optimization (SEO), referred to as “organic results.”

In this article, we will only discuss Google products, as they control about two thirds of search-market share.

#1 PPC and Google AdWords

I’ve been involved with water damage lead generation via pay-per-click (PPC) since 2009. In 2013, I formed United Restorers. Our core competency is Google Ad- Words management for restoration companies.

Over the years, I’ve managed millions of dollars in PPC ads. Allow me to give you an insider’s view of what it is , how it works and how to succeed with your PPC effort.

What exactly is Google pay-per-click?

Google revolutionized how information is organized and displayed in searches. But with thousands of websites vying for the coveted first page, Google surpassed other search engines by offering top-of-search placement in the form of an advertisement.

What this means for us is that we can pay to ensure our company appears above other companies in the search results, and given the emergency nature of our business, being found first often means you’re called first.

There’s one key drawback to PPC: Cost. Google designed their PPC system as an auction. You and your competitors are allowed to bid on probable search terms a customer might use, such as “water damage companies.” Therefore, more competitive terms result in a higher cost per click (CPC). Because it’s no longer a secret that PPC ads generate water damage jobs, the ad space has become increasingly competitive.

There are three common PPC misconceptions:

Misconception: It’s too expensive. Most companies begin a PPC campaign ill prepared. What I mean is companies budget for the first month of PPC advertising without a budget (or plan) in place for months two, three, etc. It is imperative that a company budget for a minimum of 90 days when beginning a PPC campaign. Why? Planning for only the first month of a PPC campaign assumes:

• Your keyword (and negative keyword) list performs flawlessly,
• You have achieved page one, top-of-page placement,
• Your target areas are finely tuned and working,
• Your ad content is perfectly constructed for conversions (click-throughs to your website),
• Your website converts 100 percent of traffic.

In my experience, it is rare to achieve these goals during the first 90 days, let alone in the first month. Good Adwords management looks at data over time and makes reasonable adjustments based on that data.

Just 30 days’ worth of Adwords data is not enough time to judge an account’s success or failure. Smart Adwords users will take a conservative approach, budgeting three to six months’ worth of advertising and sticking to these budgets. In time and with a clear plan, PPC will pay off.

*Note: PPC marketers often contact you claiming to be a “Google partner” but are not affiliated with Google.

Misconception: My competitors will just click on my ads. Google has become increasingly good at identifying what they call “invalid clicks.” A few years ago, a competitor could — theoretically — click on your ad repeatedly, taking your ad offline and costing you a small fortune. While these invalid clicks would be credited back to your account within a week or so, your ads went offline because your daily budget was exhausted. This is not the case today. Google now immediately identifies more than one click on an ad. Multiple clicks don’t count against your daily budget, your ads don’t go offline and you’re not charged beyond the first click.

Misconception: I don’t look at Google ads. No one looks at Google ads. Well, my clients disagree. Granted, you may overlook a Google ad when searching for new tires for your van, but your customers, when ankle-deep in their flooded kitchen, often click on the first result they see, which is an ad.

And consider this: Nearly 65 percent of searches in our industry happen via smartphone (as of last year). If nearly two-thirds of customers are using phones to search, what do they see when they Google for help?

Try a search yourself. Do you see any organic results? Map results? No. You see ads! You have to scroll far down to see either organic or map results. Your customers see the same thing. This is why you need to be in the ad section. It is the number one of “the big three.”

Yes, PPC is expensive relative to other marketing efforts such as parking a wrapped van on the side of the road. But PPC only results in failure when it’s approached with no plan or a short-sided plan. Contact an expert, make a plan, analyze your data and make adjustments as necessary. Most importantly, be consistent!

#2 Google My Business (Maps)

After all that talk of “cost” and paying per click, let’s talk about free stuff! Google My Business is one of Google’s most helpful tools for customers and can be one of the most powerful tools in your program.

With Google My Business, you claim or register your business with Google. Your new business profile will show your web address, number, location, hours of operation and more. You even can upload photos and manage customer reviews. Think of this profile as a Google-sponsored mini-website for your company.

Most importantly, this profile can be found by customers when they search via Google search or Maps. Let’s try this: Grab your phone and search “dentists.” What do you see? Most likely 3-4 ads followed by multiple My Business listings and, finally, organic results.

Now click on one of those My Business listings, and you’ll see a new page showing information from this company’s My Business page (hours of operation, photos and reviews). It also will show organic results for this company along with every relevant local competitor.

Think like a water damage customer for a moment. What do they choose? Your My Business listing can stand out from all other listings or you can be completely overlooked.

If it seems this easy, then why do most companies fail at My Business listings? It’s all about ignorance. I don’t intend to insult anyone, so allow me to explain: You understand or you’ve heard that the three key ways you market your company online are:

• Paid ads, or PPC,
• SEO, or optimizing your site for a Google Search,
• Social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus).

But Google My Business exists in a very weird place. My Business is the offspring of a bizarre love triangle between Google Search, Google Maps and Google Plus, which is Google’s alleged alternative to Facebook. Because of the social media hybrid that is My Business, it requires a more disciplined approach than Facebook or LinkedIn.

How to master My Business

Once you’ve claimed or created and verified your My Business page with Google, don’t stop there. You need to:

• Update your hours of operation, and if you do emergency water damage, you are open on Sundays.
• Tailor your service area, and be realistic. • Upload photos of you, your crew, your vans and your job sites; be genuine.
• Encourage recent customers to leave reviews; help new ones find your My Business page for a review; address all old reviews on your My Business page.

Post regularly but not too frequently. In other words, be relevant. Don’t spam.

Don’t be a phony

In the past, companies could “fake” My Business pages, creating dozens of “locations” in a metro to artificially enlarge the company’s service area.

In fact, marketing companies and lead generators sprung up, seemingly overnight, to help in this effort. Don’t do it. And don’t believe any company that says they can create multiple My Business pages for you.

Unless you have multiple, physical company locations, with company signage bolted to the building, Google won’t allow you more than one page. A fake My Business page threatens your real My Business page with being flagged and removed by Google.

Easy to set up, free to manage and very powerful, Google My Business is your number two of “the big three.”

#3 Good, old fashioned SEO

I Googled “water damage repair companies in Los Angeles” and my search showed 1,760,000 results. So what causes Company A to show up on page one while Company pany B shows up on page 3,729?

The simple answer is good SEO.

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t publish complete statistics for Google Search, but I did find some interesting information recently. I’m going to hit you with statistics:

• 71 percent of all searches resulted in a page-one click.
• Pages two and three get less than six percent of all clicks.
• Results one through five on page one account for two thirds of all clicks.
• Results six through 10 account for nearly four percent of all clicks.

So the question shouldn’t be “Why has poor, helpless Company B been banished to the Google Badlands?” It should be “Why isn’t it at the top of page one?”

I won’t go into the nuances of what is “good SEO” versus what is “black hat.” Frankly, SEO isn’t my specialty. What I will say is your website deserves good SEO. But, simply put, here are the pros and cons of doing SEO:

Pretty easy, right? SEO is a long-term strategy. It takes a lot of work to get to page one and stay there.

Every day, I talk to restoration companies like yours. Inevitably, the “SEO question” comes up. Here are some questions I’m most often asked, along with my responses.

• My web guy does this. Why is it not working? Is your “web guy” also an SEO expert? He built your website, right? Doesn’t that make him a developer or a designer? I don’t trust my car to my gastroenterologist or my gut to my mechanic. Yes, they both “fix” things, but they have two different specialties.
• How do I get my site on page one naturally? Good SEO. Does the tagline under your company name say, “Water Damage Repair and SEO”? Stop doing SEO on your own, and hire a professional.
• Is my SEO company any good? Does your SEO company specialize in restoration? You’re part of a niche industry that require marketers who know it. Hiring a general SEO company most often results in poor results. Hiring an SEO company that knows the business like you do produces good results. Simple.

An organic search result achieved through good SEO is a trusted, relevant answer for companies wishing to achieve better rankings. Yes, good SEO takes time and requires a professional who specializes in our industry, but the payoff is big. Rounding out number three on our list: Good, old fashioned “natural” search results.

Bring it all together

There is an art to Google’s page one. But just as a single brush stroke doesn’t make a complete painting, no single marketing technique is the answer. Do everything, and do it consistently.

In order to have the most powerful effect on page one of Google, your efforts with PPC, My Business and SEO must be working together. When you Google “water damage companies” or “emergency water damage repair” do you see your website? Is your website displayed throughout “the big three?” If not, seize these opportunities! This strategy is what the most successful restoration companies in your market do.

Think of it this way: If you’re the best restorer in your market (and you are), you owe it to your customers to be found . Remember, nearly three-quarters of all Google searches result in a page-one click. If you’re not dominating page one, your customers are finding and calling your competitor.

Jonathan Grubb is the founder and president of United Restorers LLC, which creates and manages online advertising efforts for restoration companies with the aim of ensuring its clients stay at the top of Google’s first page.

The post The Big 3: Key points to getting on Google’s first page appeared first on Cleanfax.

The above infographic was taken from an archival Cleanfax article titled “How Long Does It Take Mold to Grow” by Richard Driscoll. In the article, Driscoll looks to several different studies on mold growth times. Driscoll’s goal, to try to establish whether the growth time generally considered accurate by restorers — 24-48 hours — is indeed correct.

Driscoll finds in perfect-condition lab testing microscopic mold appears at around 24 hours, though visible mold doesn’t appear until the three day mark. However, Driscoll’s review of research finds that in real-world situations the time required is much longer.

In his own experiment, , who is an expert in water damage and mold remediation, soaks untreated drywall in a trough of water and finds that it takes seven days of being soaking wet before even microscopic growth begins to appear, a much longer window than previously thought.

Driscoll also looks into experiments by others in more true-to-life environments, which show still longer periods without growth.

In the article, Driscoll writes:

Everyone who is serious about moisture and mold should read both [“Controlled Study of Mold Growth and Cleaning Procedure on Treated and Untreated Wet Gypsum Wallboard in an Indoor Environment” by Michael Krause and Dr. Michael Berry’s study prepared for the Carpet and Rug Institute) and the references cited… You will find what Krause, Berry and other papers have proven is very interesting and goes totally against what most of us have accepted about the amount of time it takes for mold to colonize.

The post Infographic timeline: How long does it take mold to grow? appeared first on Cleanfax.

We went to industry manufacturers for tips on what qualities to look for in these essential tools.

Versatility and speed

It’s easy to jump the gun and skip the most basic issue when you begin looking for moisture detection tools — your own goals and purposes.

“The first thing [the user] has to decide is if he wants a pin or pinless meter… Both are used in all industries now,” Grete Heimerdinger, product manager for , reminds those in search of a moisture meter. “A pinless meter doesn’t make any holes. In restoration you’re working with finished surfaces, so it’s very nice not to have to make a hole in the floor. But it still doesn’t give you all the information you need to access water damage enough, so then you still may have to use a pin meter.”

While pin meters can measure deeper and also measure materials with curved surfaces, it is more cumbersome and time consuming to take pin measurements, which also leave behind pinholes, Heimerdinger adds.

The greater time required of pin moisture meters can be an issue for some users, especially on large-scale jobs in which many measurements must be taken.

CEO Andrew Rynhart says, “It is important to take into consideration the amount of material being tested: When taking readings over large areas, the instant and non-destructive meters are the most practical and time saving, also allowing for substantial savings for the building or homeowner by vastly reducing the amount of destructive testing.”

However, pin meters offer precision and depth of measurement unavailable from pinless meters, which can produce false readings when testing thinner materials or when surface moisture is present.

Fortunately, there are many multipurpose tools on the market, which offer combination pin and pinless tools.

“When you’re investigating a moisture problem in different types of materials, or under the surface, you want to be able to take both intrusive and non-intrusive measurements,” according to Sam Ruback, product manager for . “You’ll want a pin and pinless combo meter with expansion probe options, so you have the flexibility to take moisture measurements in any material, even below the surface.”

Some manufacturers even produce pin and pinless combination tools with a thermohygrometer wrapped into the design as well. National Accounts Manager Jayne Canty explains, “It gives the user one tool to do more than one job at that given time. It’s just a little easier to have it all in one tool rather than reaching for multiple tools.”

It’s also important when choosing a moisture meter to be sure the meter you choose can measure all the potential types of surfaces you could face. Heimerdinger says her company is working to better calibrate numbers for a wider variety of materials other than solid wood.

Multi-function tools offer one way to speed operations, but Protimeter Global Product Manager Chris Ranwell adds fast-responding hygrometers are another hot topic.

“People don’t want to wait for a hygrometer to measure relative humidity and then go into a dry environment and have to wait for that sensor, sometimes for minutes, to come back down where it needs to be,” Canty explains. “These guys need to do things quickly, and they need to move around from different environments and not have to wait for their hygrometers to catch up with them.”

Accuracy and repeatability

When working on a massive water damage job, finishing readings as quickly as possible may be your topmost thought, but the speed at which you complete the initial measuring will mean little if your readings are inaccurate.

“Pinless moisture meters cannot measure deeper than 3/4 of an inch,” explains Heimerdinger. “When evaluating water damage in hardwood floors, an accurate moisture meter with corrections for different wood species and a low measuring range is needed.”

Getting the damage assessment right the first time saves the restorer later troubles including further damage and misquoted prices. That’s why the majority of the experts agree that proven accuracy in a moisture meter is the absolute most important feature to look for.

“The end user should firstly consider the repeatability and reproducibility of readings so that the readings acquired over time and by different operators are comparable and meaningful,” Rynhart stresses.

The need for a meter that creates highly accurate results, which can be repeated over time, becomes especially apparent in the documentation of your measurements, which, it is important to note, should be kept meticulously. Heimerdinger reminds restorers to keep records of the meter and brand, calibration settings and location for each reading so that readings can be checked against by anyone. And, she adds, calibration check blocks can be added to meters to verify the accuracy of readings.

“Accuracy, great repeatability and quality,” Ranwell confirms, are the key aspects to look for in a meter, specifically those which are “available from manufacturers with reputations for great quality and who stand behind their products.”

Durability and quality

As is the case when investing in any equipment, it is essential to find moisture equipment that will last and stand up to its rigorous implementation in the restoration industry.

“The reliability and durability of the moisture meter is important to consider,” Rynhart attests, “as users should look to make an investment in quality and peace of mind for years of trouble-free use.”

That “peace of mind” that comes with knowing your equipment won’t suddenly malfunction in the middle of important testing is essential, especially in such time-sensitive work. The last thing you should be worrying about on a job is whether your equipment can finish the project.

“Restoration in terms of durability is a pretty tough market… and durability means less down time and more profitability for the restoration contractor,” Ranwell points out. “Look for durability with an extended warranty — a minimum of two years — from the manufacturer.”

Finding a meter with a long warranty from a well-established company may mean spending a little extra money, but it also means breakage won’t be a concern since, even if something goes wrong, you’ll know you are covered.

“Sometimes you will drop your moisture meter. The work you do isn’t delicate,” says Ruback. “You want to make sure that the tool you choose is durable, drop tested and has a world-class warranty, so you can trust that your moisture meter will withstand your toughest jobs.”

Modernization of the moisture meter

Moisture detection tools, like everything else, are firmly planted in and still moving further into the digital world.

The market will continue growing digital capabilities of moisture meters with more and better integrations of digital and wireless software and mobile apps that make recording and documenting readings and images easier and more efficient.

And Ruback says to expect finding moisture issues to become easier with the rise of meters with built-in thermal imaging. “We believe [thermal imaging] is the future in moisture detection,” he asserts. “[It] just makes it so much faster and easier to pinpoint moisture, so you don’t have to waste any time guessing.”

Also, say the experts, expect moisture testing equipment to get faster and faster.

“Fast responding sensor technology” is on the rise, according to Ranwell. “How fast a hygrometer reaches equilibrium is a key benefit to consider, as time of response is crucial to timely testing.”

And Ruback concurs. He says users will see more advancements with environmental stability, as “a progressive environmental stability indicator removes response time error when you move through a site to different measurement locations, and it informs you when the relative readings have reached a steady state.”

All these improvements in moisture meters give you, the restorer, more and better options from which to choose when adding to or upgrading your equipment collection, which, in a way, makes selecting a product even more difficult.

Amanda Hosey is assistant editor for Cleanfax. She has worked in the editing and publishing field for more than five years. Hosey holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s in creative writing. She can be reached at (205) 408-3784 or ahosey@grandviewmedia.com.

The post The Meter is Running: What to look for in your next moisture meter appeared first on Cleanfax.