In Terry Schmidt’s line of work, there are a number of tools reserved for the trade and for the trade only. A contractor uses tools that artists and home-improvement buffs use as well, like hammers, saws, screwdrivers, and wood buffers. But at Schmidt’s Triton Emergency Restoration & Cleaning Services, Inc., many of the tools used are only beneficial for property restoration in Gainesville.
Tools like truck cranes and dehumidification, psychometric drying processes are not the province of the layman. A dehumidifier is used to dry the air and help the evaporation of water-logged surfaces and objects, like carpets. To stunt any development in mold growth and to get odor under control, an intelligent network of fans is used. “Say there was a lot of water or flood damage,” Schmidt explains. “It’s important to control the amount of water in the building or structure, to control the humidity, so that mold growth doesn’t occur.” Mold growth usually occurs within 48 to 72 hours of the flooding.
Schmidt says that structures are built more solidly these days. That’s good in terms of longevity in a property, and buying into a decent investment. But that makes Gainesville property restoration that much harder: The key to prohibiting mold growth is ventilation. After flooding, however, if a home does not naturally ventilate too well, then the danger of harmful air inside the building rises. “Houses have a tendency to allow harmful air compounds a quicker pace of development,” Schmidt says.
Why is mold remediation so important in the first place? Some people are allergic to mold, and their reaction can be unpleasant or violent (the sneezing, the coughing, the achy heads, the stuffed sinuses). But bad air quality can be more dangerous—it can ignite asthma. What’s worse, says Schmidt, is that people these days, especially more kids, seem to be prone to allergic reactions. “People aren’t as immune as they used to be,” Schmidt says. In that case, Gainesville property restoration certainly becomes a must. Parents do not want kids with asthma to be stuck in a house that has mold.
That’s the water side. There’s another side to Gainesville property restoration, Fire. After a fire, smoke odors and stains are unsightly, they ruin the air, and they could fill the air with harmful chemicals. Schmidt’s crew breaks out special air purification systems, using natural cleaning agents to eliminate smoke odor and get rid of the soot attached to walls and ceilings. Schmidt honestly surmises that the fire-response restoration is not about health the way mold remediation is. The fire-response cleaning is more about restoring a living space after it’s been scarred by fire visually and with all the smells attached to burning and smoke.
Schmidt’s job is to use tools nobody else uses to help people in ways nobody else can. It’s no simple task. Everyone deserves to live in a decent home free of smoke odors and mold. That’s the dictum at the heart of Schmidt’s work.