Important information for flood victims
More flood cases are expected in the UK this winter, localised and flash flooding can cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage, not to mention inconvenience, there is a new trend surfacing relating to how insurers deal with flood damage cases. Traditionally, insurance companies would employ the services of a National company with specialist equipment, designed to remove flood water and dry a property afterwards.
More and more flood victims are simply being sent a cheque to cover losses, at first the payment can seem generous, but will the way that you spend this cheque ensure that your property is dried effectively before repair work can begin? Property owners will often turn to a building company, entrusting them with the overall task. This can be a big mistake, as builders simply do not have the equipment to do a extraction ~ dry out on a building, resorting to basic machine and equipment hire from the local hire shop.
Over the years, we have dealt with many floods, particularly in the Eastbourne area, as many shops and offices in the town centre sit just above the Bourne Spring, the water level regularly rises, causing hundreds of pounds of damage.
We use a Truck Mounted system called a Hydramaster, rapid water removal from carpets and soft furnishings can be easily achieved, followed by turbo drying and de-humidification lastly. On one job last year, we removed 1500 litres of water from a customers property in one visit! Cleaning the carpets and soft furnishings last of all.
If your insurers settle a claim in this way, call us first on 01323 520044 0r 01273 634177.
Not so sunny Eastbourne
I was rudely awoken last Thursday as lightening flickered across the sky and torrential rain tried to beat its way into our bedroom, in August I expected to have our windows open and sunscreen sitting next to the front door, but not this year.
I came downstairs as the phone rang, ‘hi, its Lakeland in Eastbourne here, please come as quickly as possible, our shop floor and carpets have been flooded’.
After rushing my breakfast, I made my way into town, this was going to be first test for our new Hydramaster Truck mounted system, I had already experienced the breathtaking results when using it for straightforward carpet cleaning, a flood was going to be a real test.
Sunny Eastbourne wasn’t so sunny when I arrived at the store, puddles of rain sat on the main shop floor, a look of panic was evident on the faces of staff members as they hopelessly threatened the invading water with mops and buckets.
I brought our hard floor wand in with our recovery pipes, the Hydramaster coughed slightly as I switched her on, the pipes shook as the offending water made its way to my recovery tank in the van, within two hours all of the water was gone, the shop had a delay in opening, but at least their doors were open for business.
This job would have easily taken five or six hours using an electric machine, thank goodness for our truck mount!
Interestingly, several areas of Eastbourne are affected by rising tides and water levels because of the Bourne Spring. The spring runs through many parts of our town, causing flooding problems from the Goffs, Terminus Road and Grove Road, many years ago, the spring fed a sheep dipping pond that was situated just outside Eastbourne library.