Project #7: Pro Bono Mold Abatement

Company: Master Restoration, Clearwater, FL

The Job: Master Restoration was called out to an elderly couple’s home who had been dealing with a mold issue.

The Challenges: We were referred by a plumbing company that recognized the severity of the mold problem. They informed us that the couple’s water softener had been leaking into a bedroom for some time. By the time they noticed, the mold had already rendered much of the house uninhabitable.

Upon our meeting with the couple, we discovered they did not have insurance to fix the problem. They didn’t have family that could help them out or the money to fix it themselves.

The Solution: Without hesitation, Master Restoration began looking for alternative ideas to help them.

After insisting the couple find alternate means of housing, the entire staff began calling around seeing if local businesses would be willing to donate materials and labor in order to help this couple. We knew if we could get some help from our community then we could do the mold abatement at no cost to the homeowners. The biggest break-through came when Home Depot offered to donate most of the materials needed to repair the home. Half a dozen local contractors pitched in and performed different services at zero cost.

As shown in the pictures, we were able to help this couple completely recover from a severe mold infestation with the help of the community. 

Project #8: The Sand Fire: Tackling Smoke Damage at a Home & Winery

Company: DALLASWHITE Property Restoration, Las Vegas, NV

The Job: “The Sand Fire”, wildfire erupted in Amador County, CA on July 25, 2014. The wildfire had raged on for five days eventually reaching our client’s 209 acre; vineyard, orchard, winery and home. Astoundingly, the 2,000 plus firefighters were able to put out the blaze before it completely engulfed our client’s property.

Even though the owners felt blessed not to have lost everything, the wildfire had caused more than $1 million in damage to their property. The damage extended over 20 acres causing severe smoke and fire retardant damage to the home and winery.

The Challenges: The winery is located in a remote mountainous area an hour and a half east of Sacramento. Because of its location, it was a challenge to supply the large quantity of laborers and materials needed to mitigate the damage to the property.

Other challenges included creating special scaffolding to clean the retardant off of the three story high metal roof. However, the largest challenge was the short time DALLASWHITE was given to complete the mitigation, cleaning and restoration of the property. Adding to this challenge, the winery stayed in production and the owners resided in the home.

It was estimated that the winery would experience significant downtime and would risk revenue loss if it missed part of the grape crushing season. However, with an efficient and dedicated team, DALLASWHITE was able to clean and mitigate the damage 24 hours prior to the sauvignon blanc grapes arrival. Due to DALLASWHITE’S efficiency, we were able to save the insurance company approximately $1 million in business interruption expenses.

The Solution: With less than three weeks to complete the job, DALLASWHITE met our client’s deadline.

Brian Whiteway, President and CEO of DALLASWHITE Property Restoration, believes that having a great team is what makes a successful business. “Everyone on our team truly cares about what they are doing,” says Whiteway. “Many of our clients have experienced significant losses and it takes certain people, with the right care and quality, to go in and virtually hold their hand and walk them through the process of restoration. DALLASWHITE’S team possesses that care and quality.”

Project #9: Massive Los Angeles Fire Heavily Damages County Health Department

Company: Fiberlock (& Paul Davis)

The Job: This project is the fire damage restoration of the Los Angeles County Health Department building that was damaged during the downtown Los Angeles fire of 2014. The fire took place on December 4, 2014 when the 1.3 million square feet Da Vinci apartment complex, still under construction, was engulfed in flames damaging two nearby buildings, one of which being the LA County Health Dept. The fire was so large, it took up almost an entire city block and radiated so much heat that it melted nearby interstate signs and shattered the windows of neighboring buildings resulting in water and fire damage in those buildings as well.

Paul Davis National was hired as the contractor to perform the restoration.

The project took place in March of 2015 using Fiberlock’s RECON product line. The sub painter was DCA Painting from Compton, CA. RECON Heavy Duty and Extreme Duty Cleaners were used to eliminate any stained surfaces. RECON Extreme Duty Odor Counteractant was used for all surface areas and in the HVAC for odors. RECON Smoke Odor Sealer white was used as a sealer on all surfaces including the HVAC system.

The Challenges:

- The entire building needed to be deodorized due to the massive amount of smoke that consumed it
- The HVAC system needed to be cleaned
- The building needed to be fireproofed
- Required a product that was low odor and fast drying because the building need to be ready for occupancy in six months, alcohol solvents are too irritating and take too long to dry
- Solvent alcohol products would damage fireproofing
- Fireproofing needs penetrating application to bear the weight of full sealer coat, only a water based miscible product would work
- UL rated fireproofing system requires low flame spread and smoke development Class A to not violate UL rating, water based does not violate this

The Solution:

- RECON Extreme Duty Odor Counteractant is a highly concentrated liquid odor counteractant formulated specifically for the treatment of surfaces after fire, water, or smoke damage. This product chemically neutralizes the source of malodors and imparts a pleasant, long-lasting fragrance.
- RECON Extreme Duty Cleaner is one of the most powerful products available anywhere and is a very high pH butyl cleaner for cleaning and removing the worst deposits in fire, smoke, and water damage restoration applications,
- RECON Smoke Odor Sealer is a revolutionary solvent free smoke odor sealant and stain blocker designed to encapsulate malodors on multiple surfaces and block tough staining. RECON SOS with OdorLock technology is water based, low VOC, low odor, and is not flammable.
- The drying time for RECON Smoke Odor Sealer is 30 minutes to touch, and 4 hours to recoat. Using this time efficient product, the project was not only completed in the 6 month given time frame, but finished two months early, allowing the LA County Health Department to reoccupy their workplace ahead of schedule.
- The RECON SOS and Odor Counteractant eliminated the possibility of replacing the entire HVAC system, saving the LA County Health Department from the expensive replacement costs.