For Emergency Services in the Upper Cumberland, Call SERVPRO

8/26/2016 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of Cookeville/Carthage/Smithville/Woodbury provides 24-hour emergency service and is dedicated to being faster to any-sized disaster in Putnam, Smith, Dekalb, Cannon, White and Cumberland Counties. We can respond immediately to your emergency and have the expertise to handle your restoration or cleaning needs.

• 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 24/7 – 931.528.9292

Residential Services

Whether your Cookeville 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:

• Water Damage Restoration
• Fire Damage Restoration
• Mold Remediation
• Storm Damage Restoration
• Cleaning Services
• Building/Reconstruction Services

Commercial Services

There's never a convenient time for fire or Water damage to strike your Cookeville commercial property. Every hour spent cleaning up is an hour of lost revenue and productivity. So when the need arises for professional cleaning or emergency restoration services 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: 

• Commercial Water Damage Restoration
• Commercial Fire Damage Restoration

Us vs. Mom and Pop

2/10/2016 (Permalink)

I was out the other day, trying to get some creative juices flowing. My friend and I start a conversation about what all SERVPRO of Cookeville does, loud enough for people around us to hear. All of a sudden a guy chimes in with, "You can't compete with mom and pop shops in this area." Then proceeds to list all of the reasons why. It really got me thinking….

 There has been a lot of buzz lately about shopping local and supporting small business. The argument for it is pretty compelling. Strictly based on economics, for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $73 remains in the local economy and only $27 leaves. Compare that to the same $100 spent at a non-locally owned business, where $43 remains in the local economy and $57 leaves. Non-profits receive 250% more from small businesses than large ones.

 SERVPRO is becoming a well known brand. Most people have seen the commercials on TV. To some this give off a very large business/corporation vibe. Although we have a corporate office, all of the franchises are independently owned and operated. This means that we are a small business. All of our employees live in the area we service. We personally buy locally, and our business buys as much as possible locally. Our kids go to school in this area, and because of that, we help with fundraisers and sponsorships. Our local economy and infrastructure are important to our business. To be proactive and involved with this, we are active members of our Chamber of Commerce. We want other small business in our area to succeed, so we are active in local business networking groups.

 If you are in any kind of business, or if you are not and have common sense, you know that customer service matters. I like going to the small boutique on our square because they know my name, size, and style. I feel like it’s a personal interaction more than a business transaction. We treat our customers the same. I run into customers from last year at the coffee shop and catch up with them. They know that they can call us at 2am, and sometimes they do. I love when we get a call that starts with, "I know you don't remember me, but you did some work on my house…" We do remember them and it makes them feel like more than an invoice. And we do work honestly. We're not going to try to upsell you on a product you don't need  

We are a small business and hiring us has all of the benefits of hiring other small businesses, but there is one HUGE difference. Do you know who mom and pop shops call when they have too large a job? They call us. When mom and pop shops are out of equipment, they are out of equipment. Done. We have the resources of another 1,699 franchise, plus our corporate office. If every building in downtown on Main Street floods, we can handle it. When I called our corporate office to see if they could give me a number of just the vehicles in the system, they said there too many to keep a list. That's a pretty big difference.

So to finish my story, the reply that the over opiniated guy got was, " We are a small business with huge resources." And that pretty much sums it up. 

The Worst Advice We've Heard in the Restoration Industry

1/31/2016 (Permalink)

The Internet is a great thing. Without it we wouldn't have Facebook or Netflix and I wouldn't know how to waste 80% of my time. On the other hand we've all seen the Abraham Lincoln quote, "Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" and the State Farm French model commercial. Most of this stuff is just silly and not doing any damage other than dumbing down a small percentage of our society. It's 2016 and just last week there was a Twitter feud between B.O.B. and Neil deGrasse Tyson over the earth being flat. (Dope tracks were dropped and everything. It was a mess.)  

 But what happens when you have water damage in your home and go to the Internet for advice? There's too many websites and YouTube channels claiming to be professionals that aren't. If you follow bad remediation advice it could lead to secondary damage, cost thousands of dollars to properly fix, and result in your insurance claim being denied.  

Here's some advice we've heard that you should avoid:

Yes, do. You will want to know what your insurance policy covers and what your options are. If it's not covered under your policy, they can at least give you a list of trusted vendors they've worked with before. If it is covered, you will want to see if it's in your best interest to file a claim. Depending on the total cost of remediation and mitigation, specifically how close it is to your deductible, your agent might advise against it.

While on the surface this seems like it would work, it doesn't. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. The heat is going to make the water evaporate, but without ventilation the moisture will stay in the air. Mold needs moisture and warm temperature to grow, so doing this makes a perfect breeding ground.

Trust me, if this were true, we could save a lot of money going to the dollar store to buy box fans instead of our air movers and blowers. While we do use fans in the drying process, our's are much more powerful. Household fans are not equipped to remove enough moisture or deliver enough air movement to help prevent further damage.

This sentence just wasn't finished. Bleach kills mold it comes in contact with. If you have mold in your bathtub, on the tile, or another non-porous surface, bleach is the way to go. On drywall or wood, not so much. Bleach cannot penetrate these materials, so only the mold growing on the surface is killed.

Surprisingly enough, we heard this from an adjuster we were working for. It simply isn't true. Fires are extremely complex to clean up after and many factors go into how you should do it. What kind of smoke residue is left behind is determined by what was burning and the oxygen content of the fire. The residue and surface you are cleaning determines the chemicals that are used to remove the damage. While soap and water can be used, unless it is a very small fire, it is almost never enough to thoroughly clean.

Don't be that guy. After a water damage, it takes 48-72 hours for mold to grow. It takes only minutes for permanent discoloration after soot settles. Water, fire and mold damages shouldn't be treated like a DIY project. Hiring a professional can save you time and lots of money in the end. And we won't have to change our slogan to "We Repair what Your Husband Fixed."