Prepare now to avoid frozen faucets and pipes later….

It’s that time of year!  Time to to disconnect your garden hoses from the faucets. If you don’t they could freeze and cause the faucet to crack which could mean extensive water damage.  We hope that doesn’t happen to you but if it does we are here to help!    We respond 24 hours a day to water damage.  Anchorage 562-7410 or Mat Su Valley 373-7410.  We work with all insurance companies.   Fast Response…Guaranteed Results!

Tips to prevent Water Damage in your home

Here’s some tips to prevent a big water damage in your home.  It can save you $$$ and a big inconvenience of having drying equipment and crews in your home for days.

Replace old water heaters. Water heaters do damage when they get too old and the tank rusts and bursts, allowing water to pour into adjacent rooms. On average, water heaters last 10 to 12 years. Don’t wait for them to fail; replace your tank once a decade. Today’s energy-efficient systems will also be cheaper to operate.

Switch to stainless steel hoses: Consider replacing standard rubber or plastic hoses with stainless steel-braided or mesh hoses. Worn out hoses with kinks, cracks or bulges need to be replaced immediately.

Don’t leave dishwashers and washing machines running if you leave the house. If something breaks while a home owner is away, what could have been a small mop-up job often turns into a thousand-gallon mess best left to professionals.

Consider water alarms: Home owners can install water alarms for a quick alert when an appliance isn’t working right. Hooking up the system to an appliance is usually as simple as hooking up a hose to an outdoor faucet.

Frozen pipes? Flooded carpet?

Below zero temps can freeze and literally pop & burst pipes.  If you find this happening and water gushing everywhere….  The most important thing to do right away is to stop the source of water.  Does everyone in your  home know where the main water shut off valve is?  If not take the time to show everyone.    This can save a homeowner thousands of dollars in damage by stopping the water as quick as possible.

The next step is to remove the water from your flooded home.  A wet vac is NOT going to take hundreds of gallons of water out of wet carpet and flooring.  You need to call a professional restoration expert and have the water removed as quick as possible.  Most restoration companies have crews on call 24 hours a day.  If the one you call can’t get to your home immediately you should call another one.  Time is of the essence and we know by getting to the flooded house fast we can save the homeowner money & shorter length of time dealing with this disaster in their home so they can get back to their regular life.     We serve Anchorage and the Mat Su Valley and do everything from intial dry out, monitoring, content cleaning  & if needed reconstruction.

“Great experience if you can call having your house flooded a great experience.”

Testimonial from a client after we took care of their flooded vacation home.

Dishwasher floods kitchen

Here’s what some clients had to say about TCM Restoration when they dried out and repaired their kitchen when it had flooded from their dishwasher.

Leaking Dishwasher Caused Water Damage in Kitchen

Here’s what our clients had to say about TCM Restoration & Cleaning after we took care of their water damage that happened in their kitchen from a leaky dishwasher.

 

Watch what this customer had to say about what our crew did!!

Maintaining Free Flowing Drains

Plugged up or backed up drains can lead to serious water damage issues in your home.

Here are some simple tips to keep drains throughout your home flowing freely:

• Use strainers in all your sinks.
• Kitchen clogs are generally a buildup of vegetable scraps and congealed fats.  Avoid pouring grease down a kitchen sink.
• Bathroom drains tend to clog with soap scum and hair.  Use a hair trap (available in hardware stores) in bathtub sinks and drains.  These simple devices also capture soap, skin, oils and other residues that buildup in the drain.
• Periodically clean or replace the drain/plug mechanism in your bathtub and sinks.
• Once a week, pour a gallon of boiling water down the kitchen drain- half at a time to break up the grease.

Just a few quick tips to prevent water damage

A study done by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety showed  that more than half of claims in their study were linked to washing machine rubber hose failures.  Life expectancy for rubber hoses is 3-5 years.

Easy Solution: Inspect  hoses annually and replace every 5 years.

Additional tips:

* Avoid overloading washing machine

* If property will be unoccupied for a long period of time, turn off water supply to the machine.

* Keep 4 inches between the water connection & the back of the washer.

Also make sure everyone at home knows where the water shut off valve is and how to use it.  In a water damage emergency this can save lots of damage and expense to the homeowner.

Water Damage Tips- What to do and What NOT to do

If you have a water damage in your home safety should be your primary focus.

• Is it safe to stay in the house?
• Electrical and anything that could cause you to slip & fall should be a concern.
• Wet materials can be very heavy!  Ceilings can collapse with excess water weight so no one should be standing under them.

What to do after a Water Damage

• Remove excess water by mopping
• Wipe excess water from wood furniture and table tops
• Remove wet furniture & prop couch and chair cushions to dry
• Place wood blocks between wood furniture legs and wet carpeting
• Remove any colored rugs from wet carpeting.  (Some can bleed color and permanently stain carpet)
• Remove any art work or pictures from walls to a safe dry place.  Humidity in the room can cause unnecessary damage.
• Gather loose items from floor
• Call a water damage professional.  We are on call for any emergency 24/7.  If you live in the Anchorage or Mat-Su Valley we can help you out anytime of day.

What NOT to do after a Water Damage

• Don’t leave wet fabrics in place.  Hang furs & any leather items.
• Don’t leave any magazines, newspapers, books or colored items onto wet floor or carpet.
• DO NOT use your vacuum to remove excess water
• DO NOT turn on TV or any other electrical item
• DO NOT turn on lights or ceiling fan if ceiling is wet.   (Keep out of rooms if ceiling is sagging!  Very dangerous!!)