Contents Restoration Services
When water damage, fire damage or storm damage wreaks havoc on your home, it impacts more than the structural elements of the property. These disasters can also damage many of your personal belongings. Often, damage to sentimental items such as cherished family heirlooms, old photographs, valuable jewelry or paintings, and souvenirs from vacations can be the most devastating aspects of a disaster, as these possessions are often more important to you than the walls, floors and other structural elements of your home. Electronics equipment and other gear used for your favorite hobbies can also be damaged, and these can often be expensive to replace.
Fortunately, many of the personal belongings damaged during a water, fire or storm disaster can often be restored through a process called contents restoration. At FLEET Response, many of our local companies across the country provide contents restoration as part of their comprehensive disaster restoration services. Our local companies understand how important your personal belongings are to you. They’re much more than things you own – they’re priceless memories, expressions of love from those you care about, and items you use to enjoy the activities you’re most passionate about. Our local teams approach the contents restoration process with the seriousness and sensitivity this important task deserves, and they’ll work hard to restore these cherished items to their pre-loss condition.
Our technicians are fully licensed and certified in their local areas, and they have extensive experience performing contents restoration after a disaster. Our local companies use specialized equipment and the most advanced techniques for this important part of their services. This allows our teams to save many items that you may think were beyond repair. Before throwing out your valuable possessions after a disaster, talk to your local FLEET Response restoration company to see whether these items can be salvaged. You may be surprised at what we’re able to accomplish with our contents restoration services.
Commercial Contents Restoration
Contents restoration is just as important in commercial restoration work as it is when restoring a home after a disaster. While the items at your business may not contain the same level of sentimental value as the personal possessions in a home, the devastation can be just as great. When equipment is damaged, it may prevent your employees from doing their jobs, and replacing this gear can often be quite expensive. If your inventory is damaged, it can significantly impact your revenue and profitability. Our local companies can help restore many of these items, mitigating the impact this disaster has on your company’s bottom line.
Our local companies provide comprehensive commercial contents restoration services in addition to the residential services they offer. Our teams have helped many businesses in their local areas minimize their losses after water damage, fire damage or storm damage. While the items they’re cleaning and salvaging are different, many of the same processes are used to ensure our local companies can restore as much of your equipment and inventory as possible.
What Is Contents Restoration?
Contents restoration is a specialized service performed by restoration companies to clean and restore items that have been damaged by water, smoke, fire, soot or mold growth. During contents restoration, advanced technology and cleaning techniques are used to return items to their pre-damaged condition.
At FLEET Response, the certified technicians at our local companies will carefully assess your damaged items to determine whether they can be saved and identify the proper technique to use. In many instances, contents restoration can restore many items which initially appeared to be unsalvageable by the property owner.
Why Do I Need Professional Contents Restoration Services?
Restoring your possessions after disaster strikes your home or business is a sophisticated process that requires proven methods and specialized equipment. Failure to use the right processes or equipment can result in additional damage to your possessions and in some instances, potentially render them unsalvageable. Professional contents restoration services by a licensed restoration company are critical to ensure this process is handled properly and your items are restored to their pre-damage condition.
You’ll experience a variety of benefits when you have the contents restoration process handled by a professional restoration company:
- Professional Expertise – Damage restoration experts know how to determine the right approach to restore each item, and they will use the advanced techniques and equipment necessary to deliver the best possible results.
- Peace of Mind – Professional restoration companies provide comprehensive contents restoration services that handle the entire process, eliminating hassles and providing peace of mind that every step will be completed properly.
- Cost Effective – Restoring items is generally less expensive than replacing them.
- Preservation of Sentimental Items – Professional contents restoration can often salvage irreplaceable sentimental items that would otherwise be lost.
What Types of Items Can Be Restored Through Contents Restoration Services?
Contents restoration services can effectively restore a wide range of items impacted by water damage, fire damage, smoke damage or mold. There are essentially two categories of items that can be restored with contents restoration – hard contents and soft contents.
Hard contents include items such as:
- Furniture
- Electronics
- Dishes
- Books
- Photos
- Artwork
- Collectibles
- Documents
- VHS and DVD media
Soft contents include items such as:
- Clothing
- Upholstery
- Drapes and rugs
- Linens
- Stuffed toys
The specialized techniques used as part of the contents restoration process typically depend on a variety of factors, including whether soft items or hard items are being restored and the type of damage (smoke, fire, water, mold, etc.).
Contents restoration of Sentimental Items
At FLEET Response, our local companies understand that the value of each item being restored often goes beyond their monetary value. In many instances items which don’t cost a lot of money may actually be priceless due to their sentimental value, while other high-dollar items can easily be replaced if they’re unable to be salvaged.
Our local teams recognize the emotional value of sentimental items, and they prioritize the restoration of these possessions as part of our contents restoration process. They accomplish this by taking the following steps when handling anything you deem sentimental:
- Specialized Handling and Packaging – Your sentimental items will be carefully packed and transported using protective measures designed to prevent additional damage during transit.
- Customized Cleaning Techniques – Our local teams will customize the cleaning approach for your sentimental items based on the type of item and extent of the damage. For example, advanced ultrasonic cleaning or air scrubbing techniques may be used for delicate items such as photos, artwork or antiques to ensure the cleaning process doesn’t damage the item.
- Controlled Environment – Your sentimental items will be cleaned in a location where temperature, humidity and air quality can be controlled to prevent additional damage or degradation of the materials.
- Quality Assurance – After cleaning your sentimental possessions, our local teams will thoroughly inspect each item to ensure it meets our lofty quality standards before we return them to you.
Key Components of the Contents Restoration Process
The certified technicians at our local companies all use a meticulous contents restoration process that adheres to industry best practices to ensure the best possible results. This process includes the following components:
- Inventory and assessment of damaged items
- Pack-out
- Cleaning and deodorization
- Storage and return of items
Inventory and Assessment of Damaged Items
Our local teams will go through your property and take a detailed inventory of every item that has been damaged. They’ll take photos and record notes about the damage to each item to provide important documentation that is necessary for your insurance claim. As part of this inventory process, our local companies will assess each item to determine whether they can be salvaged through contents restoration. Then, our local teams will log each item into our system using barcodes so that it can be tracked throughout the contents restoration process.
Pack-Out
After all items have been inventoried and evaluated, our local teams will carefully wrap and pack each item and transport them to our contents restoration facility. In some instances, items may need to be pre-treated prior to packing. If any items require immediate restoration to avoid irreparable damage, our local companies put these aside so that they can be fast-tracked through the contents restoration process.
Cleaning and Deodorization
Once your possessions arrive at our facility, our local teams will sort each item by category to ensure the proper cleaning methods are used. Based on the type of item and extent of damage, the following specialized cleaning methods may be used to restore your possessions:
- High pressure air washing
- Ultrasonic cleaning
- Down-draft bulk soil removal
- Specialized cleaning chemicals
- HEPA vacuuming
- Specialized decontamination chamber
Once your items are cleaned, they will undergo a deodorization and drying process that may include one or more of the following:
- Ozone treatment for odor removal
- Thermal fogging to eliminate residual smells
- Drying in climate-controlled chambers
Storage and Return of Items
It’s common for the restoration work at your property to take longer than the contents restoration process. In these situations, our local companies will store your cleaned items in their secure facilities until all restoration work is complete. Once your home or business has been restored to its original condition, your items will be delivered and unpacked by our local teams.
