Weathering the Storm: How Hurricane Repair Contractors Handle Restoration Projects

First, how long hurricane damage restoration takes on your property depends on multiple factors, such as the hurricane’s classification, speed and power, the damage to your property, and whether or not you took preventative measures like using water-resistant materials or elevating your home above the flood level. For instance, restoration efforts for storms similar to Ike, Katrina, and Sandy took an average of 14 months. 

Although the completion time will vary and they may encounter unusual challenges, hurricane repair contractors will usually follow the next scheme to restore your property:

1. Safety assessment

Before starting any hurricane recovery efforts, your contractor will check for potential hazards to human health and integrity, such as gas leaks, unstable or compromised structures, and downed power lines. If significant damage could risk their workers’ safety, they will secure the area and call emergency responders to assist them.

2. Water clean up

The first stages of the hurricane restoration process are the most time-sensitive ones. Since hurricanes can wreak significant damage on buildings, from flooding to blowing out entire roofs, affecting your property’s structure and belongings, commercial contractors must clean up debris and assess the damages as soon as the disaster has passed. 

Flooding can damage your appliances and electrical systems, especially exposed outlets and switches. This increases the risk of short circuits and electrical fires. Hence, no one should plug or turn on the appliances after removing the water. Experienced hurricane repair contractors like TRM will avoid this beginner’s mistake, which may look simple but could wreak more havoc on your property. 

They also have access to industrial-grade dehumidifiers, water, and sump pumps to remove all the water and humidity after the flooding and dry and remove moisture from risky surfaces such as wood and plaster. These hurricane recovery efforts will ensure every corner of your property is dry. 

Once water cleanup is done, they can focus and coordinate with the electrical experts to inspect all your appliances and electrical systems to determine if they’re safe to use or if you’ll need to repair or replace them.

3. Disinfecting 

Hurricane repair contractors will clean and disinfect all the affected areas on your property. Hurricane effects, such as storm surges and sewage backups, often introduce polluted water. Hence, the restoration team will usually use proper safety equipment, such as industrial masks, to avoid the potential transmission of waterborne diseases such as hepatitis A or salmonellosis.

These companies will use commercial-grade disinfectants and tools, beyond chlorine and scrubs, to ensure your property is sanitized and safe to inhabit again.

4. Make a restoration plan and start repairing.

Depending on the damages, you and your contractor should discuss the repair priorities and what is needed and contact any subcontractors required to carry out the hurricane restoration. This stage will include all necessary repairs, from replacing roof shingles to strengthening foundations and bearing walls or rebuilding if the damage is severe. 

At this point, you can consider the following to ensure your property stands better the hurricane havoc in the future:

– Prioritize the most used rooms: Assess how much time you spend in your rooms, what functions they have in your property, and which are urgent. For example, bathrooms and kitchens are usually the most used areas. While you can sleep virtually anywhere, going to the toilet is less accessible, so that should be one of the first areas to complete. 
– Elevate your property: Although almost total damages can be stressful, they can also be an opportunity to lift walls and foundations above the water level, ensuring columns are the only thing underwater. Hence, elevating your property is crucial if you live in coastal areas such as Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Palm Beach, or Jupiter to prevent eventual flooding damage. 

Elevating your property above the flood level can protect your house from flooding and reduce the extent of hurricane damage restoration. It can also reduce insurance costs, optimize lifespan, and increase market value.

– Upgrade to water and moisture-resistant materials: Sometimes, water damage doesn’t compromise your property’s structural safety, but it can cause great harm to your belongings and finishes. Floods can soak your furniture, equipment, and appliances, which will rapidly decay. Hurricane repair contractors can help you select more resilient materials to prevent water damage.

They will not only give you suggestions based on your aesthetic preferences and budget needs, but they can also plan and coordinate material purchases and deliveries to start your hurricane restoration project.
For instance, replacing drywall with cement or magnum oxide boards in the lowest parts of your property or using plywood, fiberboard, or laminate phenolic products in cabinetry can help you prevent the havoc of hurricane water damage. 

– Provide access to electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems: The building industry has made it a standard practice to cover the interior systems behind layers of drywall, tape, plaster, and paint to achieve a clean and visually pleasing home or office.

However, repairers need to tear apart the walls and flooring. Experts recommend providing access to plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems as much as feasible without compromising safety and integrity. Hurricane repair contractors can help you design these systems, ensuring they’re easily reachable but protected from curious hands. 

5. Finishings

The last stage in the contractor’s hurricane recovery efforts mainly aims to restore or improve your property to its original condition or to improve it if you wish. At this stage, the restoration team will paint the walls, install fixtures and carpentry finishes, coordinate the delivery of your furniture and appliance replacements, and clean everything up to polish the final result.