Did you Know? Faster to any Disaster

11/3/2016 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Van Fleet

Did you know?!

SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa provides 24-hour emergency service and is dedicated to being faster to any-sized disaster in Tuscaloosa, AL. We can respond immediately to your emergency and have the expertise to handle your restoration or cleaning needs.

 SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa offers both residential emergency service and commercial emergency services!  SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa also offers the Emergency Ready Program to assist you in a water emergency. SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa is here for you 24 hours a day with our after hours answering service to get a First Responder in touch with you as soon as possible. SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa works weekends for emergencies. We are here for you 24/7 365 days a year! 

24-Hour Emergency Service

Faster to Any-Sized Disaster

Highly Trained Restoration Technicians

A Trusted Leader in the Restoration Industry

Locally Owned and Operated

Advanced Restoration and Cleaning Equipment

Have Questions? Call Us Today – (205) 339-5022

How much will this cost?

11/1/2016 (Permalink)

Payment after a Fire or Water Damage

It is the question everyone asks “How much is this going to cost?”

 SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa does it’s best to give their customers and exact quote for the restoration services we provide. SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa utilizes Xactware to determine restoration pricing. Xactwares is an independent, third-party company that researches and reports on industry pricing. As stated on the Xactware website, “22 of the top 25 22 of the top 25 property insurance companies in the U.S. and 10 of the top 10 Canadian insurers use Xactware property insurance claims tools.”

 The Xactware software is set-up to determine the costs for every phase of the home from a simple remodel or rebuild of a structure to preserving and repairing a home. SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa uses Xactware as does many insurance adjusters to ensure that the quote we give you is as accurate as can be to the industry standards. Xactware uses pricing information from general contractors, subcontractors, insurance carriers, insurance adjusters, and a host of other industry professionals as we research and report on the average market price for each price-list item. Xactware goes to great lengths to ensure that no one party or industry segment has any undue influence on the pricing data that we research and report on.

Vacation Planning? Prepare Your Home!

6/23/2016 (Permalink)

Going on vacation should be relaxing and worry-free which is why it is important to make sure your house is secure before you leave for your trip. Be SERVPRO ready so you don’t come back to damages in your home. Here are some tips for preparing your home provided by SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa:

Make Arrangements with an Emergency Contact

• Choose a close friend or neighbor you trust as your emergency contact and provide them with all of your itinerary information in case they need to contact you.


• A timer on lights will give the impression someone is home. 


• Leave written directions for alarm codes, doors, or other information needed to properly care for your home.


• Make sure your mail is collected; burglars often look for homes with overflowing mail. 


• The Post office can suspend your mail and deliver the day you get back. Here is a link to the US Post Office
  

Take plumbing and electric precautions

• Prevent leaks and floods from damaging your home by shutting off gas and water at the meter, supply tank or appliances.


• Turn off the water valves to washing machines, sinks, and the dishwasher.


• Unplug electronics to cut down on any possible shortages which could potentially cause a disastrous fire.


• Check your smoke detectors to ensure they are working properly.


• Adjust your thermostat for the season in the winter 55-60 in the summer 75-80 should help control usage. 

 Right before you leave

• Notify your security company that you are leaving town.


• Take out the kitchen trash and other trash that could get smelly.


• Go on one last walk through of your home to secure windows, blinds, fences, doors, and plugs. This will ensure all entries are safe from hazardous obstructions.

If you come back from vacation and encounter damage within your home, call SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa 205-339-5022. We clean up mold, fire or water damage to your home or business in the Tuscaloosa and surrounding areas.

Professional Damage Restoration

5/4/2016 (Permalink)

According to the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification) there are a couple of reasons to choose a professional over doing it yourself. Below are a few reasons:

1. The process of fire and water restoration is very involved when it is performed properly.
2. With quick reaction time and the appropriate skill set, a technician can help to prevent further damage and repair that which has already been done
3. The process and equipment used during fire and water restoration will vary from case to case, since different materials require their own unique care. 
4. For fire damage, general cleaning is done to remove ash and soot from ceiling to floor. 
5. The quick remediation of the problem is important for more than repairs, it is also a health consideration
6. Choose a company for fire and water restoration with the appropriate licenses and proof that they have the proper insurance.
7. Whether the work to be done is in a commercial or residential location, technicians with experience and certification should perform the damage recovery.

Restore vs. Replace

3/29/2016 (Permalink)

At SERVPRO we are in the business of restoration rather than replacement - this provides the benefits of not only lower costs but also a smaller ecological footprint. On a more personal level, restoration vs. replacement provides home owners peace of mind, in the event of a loss, that they will be able to make the most of any insurance payments they receive. 

Why do we focus on restoration?

In addition to preserving original structures and items, a drive towards restoration can better satisfy a complete return to normalcy when catastrophe occurs. Insurance policies often have limits that cap the amount of a claim - restoration allows for minimizing the costs of returning a structure to its pre-loss condition.

SERVPRO works seamlessly with insurance companies nationwide, providing them with restoration budgets that not only meet their stringent guidelines, but provide the homeowner with the best possible outcome.

You have a choice when it comes to who to trust with your home after a fire or flood. Choose SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa and let us help you make it… “Like it never even happened.”

We can be reached 24/7 at (205) 339-5022.    

Are you Prepared for a Power Outage?

12/21/2015 (Permalink)

Ready Kit

You may need to survive on your own after an emergency. This means having your own food, water and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for at least 72 hours. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours or it might take days. Depending on the nature of the disaster road conditions may prevent help from arriving in a timely manner. 

Additionally, basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones may be cut off for days or even a week, or longer. Your supplies kit should contain items to help you manage during these outages. If the power goes out keep your pipes from freezing by shutting off the valve that allows water to come into your home. Then, open any drain valves and all faucets and let them run until the pipes are empty (it's helpful to identify these valves in advance). Next, flush all toilets and pour denatured alcohol into toilets and sinks to prevent water in the traps from freezing. Do NOT use automotive antifreeze in case there's trouble with your water system; you don't want the antifreeze to contaminate your drinking water. You may, however, use nontoxic antifreeze that's made for winterizing motor homes.

Be prepared for a power outage by keeping necessary items centrally located in your home. Take the time to ensure that everyone in your family is aware of the "kit." Periodically check your kit to see that batteries operate properly. The following is a list of items that are suggested to keep on hand:

1.     Flashlights for each family member

2.     Battery-operated radio and clock

3.     Extra batteries

4.     Containers of bottled water

5.     Canned, freeze-dried or dehydrated food, powdered milk, baby supplies for infants

6.     Non-electric can opener

7.     List of important phone numbers

8.     First-aid kit 

Following a disaster, there may be power outages that could last for several days. Stock canned foods, dry mixes and other staples that do not require refrigeration, cooking, water or special preparation. Be sure to include a manual can opener and eating utensils. The following items are suggested when selecting emergency food supplies. You may already have many of these on hand.

•Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.

•Choose foods your family will eat.

•Remember any special dietary needs.

•Avoid foods that will make you thirsty.

•Choose salt-free crackers, whole grain cereals and canned foods with high liquid content.

•Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits, vegetables and a can opener

•Protein or fruit bars

•Dry cereal or granola

•Peanut butter

•Dried fruit

•Nuts

•Crackers

•Canned juices

•Non-perishable pasteurized milk

•High energy foods

•Vitamins

•Food for infants

•Comfort/stress foods

These and many other helpful tips are available at ready.gov Here is the link to winter tips for before during and after a winter storm http://www.ready.gov/winter-weather. When winter weather strikes the greater Tuscaloosa area knowing what to do until SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa arrives will make a difference. Call us directly at 205-339-5022.

Continuing Education

12/17/2015 (Permalink)

Call us today to find out when you can attend one of our CE classes in the greater Tuscaloosa area.

SERVPRO offers both credit and non-credit continuing education courses for insurance agents, insurance adjusters and Real Estate professionals. The Continuing Education courses provide the student with information to better service their customers.

Continuing Education Courses (CE) are available nearly every month at locations throughout the greater Tuscaloosa area. These programs are designed to improve the knowledge of your staff regarding emergency mitigation. 

SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa and the SERVPRO brand can offer these  CE course classes:

• Fire Damage Restoration

• Understanding Mold in the Restoration Industry

• Restorative Drying for Water Damage

• Mitigation Awareness Response Seminar

• Biohazard Cleanup

Talk to your SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa rep to learn more about the Continuing Education courses that SERVPRO is teaching. Also talk to your rep about when the next class will be offered and to register. You can also call SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa's office to find out when the next course will be offered.

Welcome!

12/17/2015 (Permalink)

Our SERVPRO team is here to help.

Hello!

We are so excited you are here! Welcome to our SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa blog! We hope you'll find this to be a valuable resource on all things fire damage, water damage, and mold alongside more general emergency preparedness.

In the coming months, we'll be posting not only about the topics above, but also property care tips and tricks for homeowners, local storm news, and we'll even begin to introduce you to some members of our staff and crew.

We can't wait to get to know you better and for you to get an inside look at what makes this place tick - our professional drive to be the best in the business, our heart to provide excellent customer service and take care of you in the moments you need it most, and our desire to create excellence in all that we do.

Thanks for stopping by and we can't wait to see you back here soon. 

And with that, from our SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! 

For Immediate Service, Call SERVPRO in Tuscaloosa, AL

12/15/2015 (Permalink)

Tuscaloosa Residents: We provide fast service day or night!

SERVPRO of Tuscaloosa provides 24-hour emergency service and is dedicated to being faster to any-sized disaster in Tuscaloosa, AL. We can respond immediately to your emergency and have the expertise to handle your restoration or cleaning needs.

Have Questions? Call Us Today – (205) 339-5022

Residential Services

Whether your Tuscaloosa home needs emergency flood damage or your upholstery cleaned, you can depend on us. Our technicians have extensive cleaning and restoration training and can make your property look its best. Learn more about our residential services:

Commercial Services

There's never a convenient time for fire or water damage to strike your Tuscaloosa commercial property. Every hour spent cleaning up is an hour of lost revenue and productivity. So when the need for professional cleaning or emergency restoration services arises, we have the training and expertise to respond promptly with highly trained technicians to get your property back to business. Learn more about our commercial services:

Our Pricing vs Insurance Pricing

2/11/2015 (Permalink)

When providing estimates - people often want to know how we come-up with the price for the restoration services we provide.  We utilize Xactware to determine our pricing for the restoration services we provide. Xactware is an independent, third-party company that researches and reports on industry pricing. Currently, 21 of the top 25 property insurance companies in the U.S. and 10 of the top 10 Canadian insurers use Xactware property insurance claims tools

Xactware uses pricing information from general contractors, subcontractors, insurance carriers, insurance adjusters, and a host of other industry professionals as we research and report on the average market price for each price-list item. Xactware goes to great lengths to ensure that no one party or industry segment has any undue influence on the pricing data that we research and report on.

In order to provide the most accurate and defensible pricing information available, Xactware takes a unique, scientific approach to researching and reporting on market pricing for the insurance repair industry. This approach is based on a proven five-phased, iterative process.

• Phase 1: Conduct market pricing research.
• Xactware currently researches and analyzes millions of market price points each year from multiple, third-party sources. These include:
• Thousands of in-field estimates that are submitted to Xactware every day (i.e. estimates actually used to settle claims)
• Market surveys of industry professionals
• Retail pricing research
• Unit-price research based on surveys with over 100,000 contractors, insurance carriers, and independent adjusters
• Pricing feedback from in-field users
• Independent pricing verification requests
• Customer-specific cost data
• Catastrophe-specific pricing research
• Additional research surveys
• Multiple third-party sources for data such as worker’s comp, federal taxes, state taxes, local taxes, and so on
• Many other research initiatives
• Phase 2: Review and verify all the market research gathered; conduct data integrity checks.
• Phase 3: Analyze all the pricing research and perform a proprietary cluster analysis on various subsets of that research to identify the mid-range market price points. This proprietary process was designed by Brigham Young University Ph.D.’s and is monitored by an econometrician. (An econometrician holds a master’s degree in statistics and a doctorate in economics.)
• Phase 4: Report on and publish market pricing research results.
• Phase 5: Evaluate and refine our pricing research and reporting methodology.

For example, the building cost data used in Xactware’s products comes from:

• Time and materials costs
• Over 40,000 providers of materials, equipment and labor
• Over 84,000 surveys each year*
• Analysis of actual damage repair estimates (transaction-based research)
• Over 3 million estimates each year*
• Over 6 million data points each month*
• Direct surveys of construction market costs
• New construction/remodeling
• General contracts and sub-contractors
• Approximately 2,000 surveys each month*

For more details - visit http://www.xactware.com/en-us/resources/pricing-data-services/methodology/