Strong winds, heavy rain, and major snowfalls can cause major destruction to your business property. When this happens, you may not be able to get back to work without some major cleanup efforts.
The faster you can accomplish this cleanup, the sooner you can resume business as usual. Although you may be tempted to simply have your employees perform the cleanup, there are good reasons to hire storm damage restoration professionals to handle these efforts.
Get a Professional Inspection Before Entering a Damaged Structure
When a storm damages a structure, the level of damage can be deceptive. Major damage can look minor – and vice versa. That’s why it’s important to stay out of a damaged structure until it’s been inspected by someone with the professional training and judgment to determine the true level of damage and whether the structure is safe and stable or not.
Emergency response storm damage restoration services are a great choice to handle this task. They can arrive at your business quickly to provide an initial inspection of the site to determine whether it is safe to enter or not.
Reasons to Let Professionals Handle Cleanup and Repairs
Storm damage restoration professionals can do more than the initial inspection of your property. They have the skills, training, and tools to perform the entire restoration process, from beginning to end. There are many reasons to turn this over to them.
Safety
As storm forecasts and warnings have improved, the number of people injured and killed during major storms has decreased significantly. However, many people are still injured and even killed during storm cleanup. Some of the common causes of serious injuries during storm cleanup include:
- Falling tree limbs
- Falls in damaged buildings
- Exposure to toxic materials
- Contact with power lines
- Misuse of heavy machinery
- Stepping on nails or sharp debris
- Strains from lifting heavy items
Studies show that untrained individuals experience a higher proportion of injuries during storm cleanup than restoration professionals. When your employees get injured, they can’t do their job, and you will have to pay more for workers compensation insurance.
Effectiveness
You hired your staff for a particular job, which, most likely, wasn’t storm cleanup and repairs. No matter how good your staff is at their job, they are likely not as qualified at cleaning up and performing repairs after a storm.
Having unskilled workers perform any job makes it more likely that there will be mistakes. These mistakes may lead to repeating repairs in the future, additional costs, or, potentially, even serious risks like fires or the collapse of roofs and/or floors.
Instead of having your employees perform the cleanup and repair after a storm, let storm damage restoration professionals handle it. They know how to perform the repairs right.
Efficiency
Another problem with having workers perform a job that they’re not trained or skilled at is that it can take them longer. The longer cleanup and repairs take, the longer it will be before your business can reopen.
Emergency response storm damage restoration companies can operate quickly because they are prepared to do this type of work. They have time-saving tools to help them work faster and have learned how to work efficiently thanks to their training and experience on numerous other restoration jobs.
Plus, while your employees may only work the traditional eight-hour workday five days a week, emergency response storm damage teams can respond 24/7. You won’t have to wait until Monday at 8 am to start the cleanup process: they will arrive as soon as possible after your call. This means they can get your business back up and running as quickly as possible after a storm.
Cost
Business owners may think that having their employees perform emergency cleanup and repair work after a storm will save them money. After all, these people are already on the payroll. Why pay them a wage to do nothing while someone else does the cleanup?
However, this approach is likely to be more expensive for businesses because of additional costs like:
- Lost time for employees due to cleanup-related injuries
- Increased workers’ compensation insurance
- Ineffective and incorrect repairs after storm damage
- Loss of insurance coverage for repairs
- Potential requirement to have repairs redone
- Delayed reopening because of slower work
You might not want to pay someone else for emergency cleanup and repairs when you are paying otherwise idle workers. However, if your employees are injured during cleanup, they will get paid through workers’ compensation, and they won’t be able to do their job. In addition, your workers’ compensation rates may go up once your insurer learns that you sometimes ask employees to do more dangerous work outside their job descriptions.
Ineffective and incorrect repairs can cost you additional money as they may not work properly, may have to be redone, and may even lead to additional property damage. Your insurance company likely won’t cover the cost of repairs performed by unqualified employees. You may even endanger your general insurance coverage. Your insurance company may not want to ensure your property if repairs are performed by people who aren’t licensed to perform them. To reinstate coverage, you might have to pay someone to inspect and/or correct repairs.
Time is money, so when you delay your reopening because your employees are less efficient than commercial restoration services, you are costing yourself money.
It may seem more expensive at first, but these potential costs mean that the smart and likely less expensive decision is to get storm damage restoration done by dedicated professionals.
Choose Burke's Restoration for Storm Damage Restoration in the greater Post Falls & Spokane Metro Area
When your business suffers damage from a major storm, the storm damage restoration professionals at Burke's Restoration can quickly get your business back up and running. We offer 24/7 emergency response services after a storm, so we can be on-site at any time of day or night. Our restoration professionals will show up ready to work so they can get started right away.
We’ve been the leading restoration provider in the area since 2012, and we are prepared to handle every stage of the restoration process, from initial cleanup to the finishing details. Our meticulous process uses the techniques and technology at the leading edge of industry best practices.
In addition, we can coordinate with your insurance company. This means you can focus on dealing with your employees, customers, and other stakeholders. We know what documentation your insurance company needs to pay your claim, so we fully document the initial damage and all repairs so your insurer has all the information they need to pay your claim promptly to the limits of your coverage.
To learn how Burke’s Damage Restoration Experts can help you get your business back on its feet after a major storm in the greater Post Falls & Spokane Metro Area, please contact us at 208-664-6433 today.