When your property suffers fire, water, or weather damage, the structure is not the only thing that is affected. Your personal property, such as furniture, clothes, and documents, also suffer damage. For instance, they may become water-saturated or soaked with the smell of smoke. Content restoration is what returns your personal property to its pre-damaged state.
In this article, we will explain everything you need to know about the content restoration process. We will break down the cleaning techniques that content damage restoration experts use to make your personal property look as good as new.
What is Content Restoration?
Content restoration is the process of cleaning and repairing damaged personal property items to return them to their previous conditions. This damage may come from water, fire, weather, or even vandalism. Any form of personal property can benefit from some content restoration. For instance, let’s say your appliance stopped working after a burst pipe flooded your home. Content restoration can repair this appliance.
The restoration process also extends to important documents, soft leather goods such as shoes and bags, and even paintings. As long as the personal item is salvageable, a reputable restoration company can bring it back to life.
What is the Content Restoration Process?
Content restoration is not a one-and-done process because it involves several stages, from cleaning to repairing. This ensures that your personal property doesn’t retain foul smells or hidden damage. This is how we carry out the content restoration process:
- Initial Evaluation
Expert content restorators will visit the scene of the damage to assess and evaluate the items. This evaluation helps them determine any items that may be past restoration. For example, many plastic items melt under heat. If there is a fire, plastic items may melt and bind to other items. Such personal property cannot be restored.
While evaluating the items, the experts will also create an inventory. This inventory documents all damaged items, the extent of damage, and whether or not they are salvageable. The experts will take detailed pictures and videos of the items, and you may also use this inventory as proof of damage under your insurance claim.
- Packout
This is the process of packaging and transporting the damaged items to a restoration center. Depending on the cause of damage, some items may be contaminated. For example, if a sewer backup floods your home, it will contaminate your personal property. It is unsafe for you to handle these items; therefore, the restoration company will pack them out.
Damaged items are often prone to even more damage. Therefore, they must be handled with care. The restoration experts specially wrap these items and even pre-treat some before loading them up for transportation.
- Cleaning and Sorting
Once at the restoration center, the experts will sort through the items. This may begin as a broad categorisation, such as electronics, furniture, and utensils. Sorting damaged items is crucial because they will likely require different cleaning strategies. For instance, clothing and electronics cannot undergo the same cleaning process.
Some of the cleaning processes utilized during this stage include:
- Ultrasonic Cleaning
Ultrasonic cleaners use sound waves to clean objects, and they are commonly used for items such as jewellery and eyewear. The items are placed inside a cleaning solution, and the ultrasonic cleaner generates bubbles that push dirt out. This is especially useful for items that can’t be easily taken apart.
- High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) Cleaning
HEPA vacuums get rid of dirt and dust particles from surfaces such as furniture and carpets. They are more efficient than regular vacuum cleaners because they are designed to suck up every last particle of dirt. They are also great at vacuuming tiny airborne particles.
- Pressure Washing
Pressure washing uses high-pressure power washers to remove all forms of dirt and grime. Content restoration specialists often wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling pressure washers. This helps avoid common accidents and injuries.
- Restoration and Deodorization
After cleaning the damaged items, the experts will get to work repairing them. This may involve replacing damaged electronic parts or sewing damaged clothing. They may also fix and repaint cracked, chipped and torn items.
The content restoration experts will then deodorize the items after repair and restoration. This is usually done in an ozone chamber, which helps remove unpleasant odors from water saturation, fire, or smoke. The ozone chamber does this by destroying the particulates causing the smell.
- Delivery
The restoration experts will reassess the items to ensure they are fully restored. After confirmation, the items will be wrapped and packaged before being shipped to you. The restoration experts may require you to sign a letter of satisfaction afterwards. Ensure you thoroughly examine all the items before signing this letter. This will help you avoid legal battles with the restoration company if you are later unsatisfied with their work.
How Much Does Content Restoration Cost?
Content restoration, like other forms of restoration, does not have a set cost. Many factors affect and influence the cost. For example, restoring expensive and sensitive items like antique paintings or jewellery will cost more. Additionally, the extent of damage influences the cost of content restoration.
Before hiring a content restoration company, request an invoice to confirm whether their prices align with your budget. This invoice should be transparent and not include any ambiguous or hidden fees.
How Long Does Content Restoration Take?
The content restoration process takes between a few days and up to about two weeks. However, this depends on the number of damaged items and how badly they are damaged. For instance, if you have a few smoke-damaged clothes to restore, the process will only take a few days. However, if your clothes, furniture, and appliances need restoration, you may have to wait up to a week or more.
Conclusion
Content damage restoration is crucial to returning to normalcy after experiencing property loss and damage. It gives your personal property a second life, restoring it to its previous undamaged state. Content restoration specialists take great care of your items, from deodorisation to specialised cleaning techniques.
Try not to rush the experts during the content restoration process. It may take days or weeks before your property is ready to serve you again. However, ensure you assess all items to ensure they are up to standard before signing a letter of satisfaction.
On-Call Restoration should be your trusted damage restoration partner. We treat your property like it is ours, ensuring it is restored to the highest possible standard. Send us a message today to enjoy our expertise.
