You worked so hard to build your business. Made tough decisions, spent countless sleepless nights and dodged countless pitfalls. Don’t let these efforts go in vain with the catastrophic water damage issues.
Water damage within buildings and offices are the most costly damage that any property owner can ever experience. In fact, your property is 10 times for likely to suffer from water damage issues than fire damage.
But luckily water damages in Asheville, NC are preventable. With proper planning and following some guidelines, you can prevent your property from severe water damage.
Make a plan
To protect all your important possessions, make an emergency plan. This plan includes:
- Evacuation routes: Know important routes to get out of the area of flooding.
- Emergency kit ready with instructions: This kit should include flashlight, radio, insurance document copies, important contact numbers, emergency drills or staff, etc.
- Backup plan for important files, data, and contact information offsite: Ensure you have copies of important documents that can be accessed easily offsite.
Inspect the leak source
Unnoticed leaks can cause much severe damage just like caused by a storm of a flood. The Leaks can come from a number of sources:
- Leaky pipes
- HVAC problems
- Building foundation
- Damaged windows
- Malfunctioning sump pumps
The longer these sources remain undetected, the severe damage they will cause. Therefore, it is essential to identify the source of the leak and take measures to repair it.
Mitigate the damage immediately when the leakage is discovered
As soon as the leakage is discovered, immediate action is necessary to mitigate the issues of water damage. These actions include turning off the power supply, shutting off the source of power supply where the leakage is coming from, covering equipment that can be badly affected by flooding.
After all these safety steps, remove all wet items and pump all water out. Keep phone numbers of management team, Cleanup Company, Water Restoration Company readily available in case of emergency.
Flood monitoring
You might think that if your business is not located near large water bodies, then you are not prone to flood damage. However, flooding is not only limited to just for those who live in coastal areas.
Plumbing failures, water main breaks, overflowing rivers, sewer backup can also cause water damage. Therefore, having flood monitoring systems and sensors in the basement area of your property can help to protect your business from sewer backup and naturally occurring flooding conditions.
Prevent your piping
Pipes of old buildings are more prone to failure. And this piping failure can cause intense water damage problems. Therefore, proper maintenance and testing of these pipes are essential to assure that they work in proper condition.
If you find any leakage in these old pipes, then it’s better to replace them then to face the challenges of water damage.
Get it insurance covered
Usually, property insurance does not provide protection against flood and water damage. So, check your insurance policy. Also, know the important insurance you can claim if your business is affected by water damage.
Building and content insurance covers your business against any accidental damage caused by the flood.
Business interruption insurance can help in case your business has to be re-homed for some months to dry out the place. It covers loss of income due to water damage.
Contact your insurance provider if your business is not insurance covered.