Water Damage Case Study

This is a water damage case study where Metrolina Restorations utilizes Matterport technology to evaluate and develop an execution plan for a customer struggling from unnatural flood damage. 

It’s not uncommon for our team at Metrolina Restoration to get a call about extreme flood damage. 

Flood damage is most common in the summer when violent storms like tornados and tropical systems like hurricanes are at their peak. In fact, the NFIP (National flood insurance program) cites that over the course of a 30-year-mortgage, there is a 1 in 4 chance a house is affected by flood damage. This is especially troubling for residents in particularly high-risk areas. If you live in a high-risk area, be sure to refer to our other blogs about preventing water damage. 

Generally speaking, there are two types of flood damage: Natural and unnatural.  

Natural flood damage comes from strong storms, torrential rain, breakage of dams, and any event that results in overflowing bodies of water.  

Unnatural flood damage stems from things like bathtubs overflowing, leaky pipe system in the drywall, overflowing gutters causing a roof collapse, etc.  

In this case study, a customer was encountered with unnatural flood damage caused by a faucet in the upstairs master bathroom sink that had blown off, flooded the property overnight as the resident slept, and was unnoticed the following morning. When our team received the call, we used our Matterport software to assess the damage accurately and take corrective action.  

Matterport is a revolutionary software that utilizes 3D photography to capture, share and collaborate on buildings and homes that are built.  

Matterport has changed the way the industry looks at insurance claims and the restoration process after a disaster.  

The Matterport software helped Metrolina Restoration with this case study in three ways: 

1) With their unique 3D modeling, we were able to evaluate and plan the restoration procedure in advance. We did this by looking at every room, assessing the damage and creating an action plan from the data provided to us.  

2) It helped our team study the affected properties from various angles and produce a budget that fits the client’s needs. With 3D modeling of the house and damage, it allowed for our team to get an inside perspective at the causation and scale of the damage that had been affecting the home.

3) Matterport made insurance claims for this project easier. Insurance companies go through the 3D model of the affected property and approve claims in no time.

With everything that Matterport assists with, Metrolina Restoration proudly implements this technology to offer premium services.

From our end, we were able to tell that the faucet of the sink blew off in the master bathroom which resulted in flooding overnight from the second level into the crawlspace. While our team did not know the initial cause of the faucet blowing off, the path of the water was very well known.  

The water had started at the second level, leaking from the sink flowing, traveling down to the first floor and ultimately making its way into the crawl space where the build of water began.  

Water damage at this magnitude happens very quickly so it’s important that you address the problem before it’s too late. Our team wrote an article called Water Damage Timeline where we describe just how quickly water damage can travel and begin damaging your property from the first minute to the first month if you have not addressed it. 

After knowing how fast and to what magnitude water damage can affect, you can only imagine what had been done before our team was even called.  

By the time our team arrived, most of the ceiling and drywall had already collapsed. The flooring on the first level was laminate and had to be removed and replaced.  

Depending on the size of the job, the types of problems that our team encounter will vary. In general though, when it comes to jobs that focus on water damage, our team usually comes across problems along the lines of:

• Safety 
• Salvageable material  
• Causation assessment 
• Dry out procedure 

With this particular job, our team was met with the hurdle of safety precautions, salvaging of household materials (ex: Flooring and vanities), and 3D modeling (Causation assessment).

We break safety concerns into two categories:

• Physical health
• Illness

In cases of extreme water damage, it’s not uncommon to be met with safety concerns. More particularly concerns in regards to physical health and illness.  

When referring to physical health, our team must be cautious of debris that may lie underneath water that could lead to injuries such as gashes, rips, or even broken bones.

If job site injuries occur and are not mitigated, they could lead to infection of the wound which comes with its own set of problems.

To prevent injuries, our team puts on safety equipment such as:

• Gloves
• Goggles
• Safety vests (if necessary)

The additional benefit to these types of safety equipment is that it is light weight which allows our team to freely move and ensures quality of work. 

For this particular project, our team wore heavy duty gloves and goggles to protect our hands and eyes from chemical exposure, objects, and hazardous water.  

In terms of illness that could occur, this is in regards to mold build up.

Mold is a fungus that grows by digesting organic matter and spread by releasing spores in order to reproduce.

Mold build up has to happen under the right conditions, the conditions being wet puddles of water under high humidity.

There are over 10 different types of molds, and most of which aren’t harmful to you, but there are some types of molds that are extremely harmful to you in the short term and in the long term.

We can’t predict whether or not the mold present in a house is going to be harmful or not, for this reason, it’s important for our team to take safety precautions prior to entering a house to protect ourselves from any types of molds that may be harmful.

Black Mold can affect you in the short term and in the long term. In the short term, black mold can cause you to have migraines and persistent headaches.

In the long term, Mold can cause respiratory problems by attacking your lungs, depression, fatigue, nausea, and even skin rashes.

To prevent our team from getting any illnesses that may be mold related, we wear protective equipment as prevention. 

Protective equipment gives our team the ability to complete our job effectively, while also considering the health of our staff. 

For this project, our team wore a light weight hazmat suit and a face mask to make sure any bare skin was protected as well as lungs and respiratory system from the possibility of black mold being present upon the duration of the project.

When our team considers the scope of work of a project, it’s important to organize materials that are salvageable and non-salvageable.

Our team organizes materials through removal of all non-salvageable materials and moving all contents that are not materials to our climate control center until the house returns to pre-loss conditions.

When determining what’s salvageable and what’s not, our team takes three factors into consideration:

• What is the current state of the material in question
• Are you able to use the material
• Can you use the material for a similar purpose 

For this water damage case study, our team was able to salvage the upstairs carpet.

Assessing the cause of flood damage is no easy fleet but it’s a task that our team encounters regularly.

The severity of the water damage done to this property was immense, to combat this, our team was not able to access certain areas of the house pre-scan where water had done a lot of damage (namely the master bathroom and living room) so we relied on our Matterport software to assess the causation of the flooding, which allowed us to accurately quote and execute a plan of attack for water and material removal.

Here are some pictures our matter port software gathered: 

What makes our team so effective and the best at what we do is the solutions we provide when faced with unique challenges such as this project.  

For this water damage case study we first started packing all of the contents within the house.

Contents within the house included:

• Loose belongings
• Photos
• Picture frames
• Side tables

We then moved them over to our climate control center where they were stored until the property returned to pre loss condition.   

Once we transported loose content over to our climate control center, we organized all of the materials into two categories:

• Salvageable
• Non-salvageable.

For this project, the sink and carpet were salvageable, so we removed all of the non-salvageable materials such as: 

• Drywall
• Floor
• And ceiling

After we removed all of the non-salvageable materials, we moved into our dry-out phase. This is where we place professional grade drying equipment in affected areas of the property for drying.

In this case, we placed drying equipment in the following areas:

• In the master bathroom and master bedroom
• Just outside of the guest bedroom
• The upstairs corridor
• At the front of the living room
• And the kitchen. 

Once the dry out equipment was placed, our IICRC certified technicians maintain the property and equipment until the property is certified and approved for the next steps.  

Following the dry out phase, we then moved into replacing the salvageable materials. We started by taking the upstairs carpet and placing the padding underneath. Once the padding was put back in place, the carpet was stretched back to its original position and ready for a professional clean.  

Following post dry out in this water damage case study, our team made several changes to the house. 

Firstly, our team needed to remove the hardwood flooring on both levels. 

Our team removed the hardwood flooring during the removing of unsalvageable material process.

When our team first arrived on the scene, the floor, drywall, and ceiling had completely collapsed. 

If you want more information on how to repair hardwood flooring after water damage has occurred, we actually wrote an entire on this subject on our website!

The second thing you may notice post dry – out is the sink had been removed. Removing the source of the water damage is always necessary during the removal process so as to eliminate the opportunity for any other damage to occur during the restoration procedure.  

With the removal of the hardwood floor and sink, we also had to replace the drywall on the first floor.

After our team removed the materials, the carpet went back to normal!

Additionally, our team removed walls in the kitchen and living room restoring these areas back to normal!

From the project above, water damage of this severity can happen overnight and the causation can seem so subtle.

It’s not uncommon for the Metrolina Restoration team to receive a call responding to instances similar to this case.  

You can’t prevent all water damage, but you can prevent most instances.

What led toOur team recommends following the tips found in our article titled 10 Ways To Prevent Water Damage to inform yourself of ways to minimize the risk of this happening to your house.