Before

After

Cleaning Up This Flooded St Lucie West Dining Room

During a severe weather event impacting the city, the homeowner here inadvertently left a window open to their dining room. The torrential rainfall flowed into the structure through this pathway, and considerable recovery and cleanup would be needed. Our professionals were called out to help begin mitigation strategies fast. 

Water Mitigation Services Begin Quickly

A fast reaction time to active emergencies is a critical element in flood restoration and water cleanup. With this rainwater infiltration of the house, clearing any standing surface water in the dining room would precede the known controlled demolition visible in the Before Photo. Our SERVPRO of Port St Lucie NE team has extensive experience with:

- Water damage remediation

- Water removal services

- Water damage repairs

- Mold remediation

- Flood restoration

Removing Laminate Flooring 

Because it is not our intention to replace over restoring, the decision to use controlled demolition tactics on the damaged flooring was not made without consideration. With the material pulled, as is visible in the Before Photo, We could better access those materials that could still be salvaged, like the subflooring. 

Assessing the Condition of the Subflooring

With the decision to remove the laminate plank flooring visible when our SERVPRO of Port St Lucie NE team arrived, the next step was to assess how badly impacted the underlying subflooring was. Several moisture detection tools help our team with tracking moisture migration, and a few of these would be used in the recovery process for this house, including: 

- Surface moisture meters

- Hygrometers

- Thermal imagery (infrared)

Thorough Drying Solutions

With a plywood base under the removed laminate flooring, the wood cellulose absorbed excessive water. Just removing the plank flooring of this room was not enough to eliminate the damage that the flooding caused. Drying underlying materials like plywood would be more time-consuming, though ultimately less invasive and costly as a full-scale replacement. Air movers and low grain refrigerant dehumidifiers were first in this process. However, taping down polypropylene sheeting with ducts connected to dehumidifiers is another focused method for moisture elimination where water gets trapped in wood elements. 

Antimicrobial Treatments for Exposed Surfaces

There is no mistaking the likelihood of mold and microbial threats when water saturates subflooring and other porous materials. Damp materials like the subflooring became a centerpiece in combating active mold colonization for the home. Preventing the development and spread of microbial threats meant keeping air circulating in the damage zone and treating exposed surfaces with mold inhibitors and antimicrobial products. While no active mold was discovered after removing the flooring and drying the space, biocides prevent habitable hosts for potential colonies. 

Reinstalling Flooring in the Dining Room

The After Photo shows the finished product of how the floor appears after the drying of the subflooring and the reinstallation of the new plank. As a full-service contractor with a general contractor license (CBC1261730), we can perform this in-house to save time and money. This restoration project kept costs and the recovery time within the designated parameters by the home insurance company to keep the customer from paying out of pocket.