[clayton taylor]

I know there may not be many of you's on here that live where the floods have hit. But day in and day out I see "so called carpet cleaners" offering cheap rates ect. Areas of Lancashire have been hit really bad. We have been out the last two days and we havnt charged anybody a fee for taking out the flood water. We have been given donations which we did accept. They was so great full as we have really helped. The news doesn't show the real mess in these towns. We have done a number of jobs for people that have no insurance ect.

But I think to myself where are all these "so called carpet cleaners"?. We all go to jobs that they mess up ect. The only jobs they couldn't mess up and there is none there.

I can't tell you how many peoples life's have been destroyed and homes just wrecked. And these are towns which had floods just two weeks prior.

[Mike Halliday]

The so called carpet cleaners are still enjoying Xmas after a fruitful end to the year.

Everyone said to me that I must have made a fortune after the flood in my town in 07 but what was i supposed to do? drop all my booked in work and not answer the phone so I could do some flood work.

most carpet cleaner are not sat on thier arzes waiting for a flood to happen so they can jump in and make some money, we already are making good money doing what we do .........we don't need flood work

[clayton taylor]

No I'm not on about the good carpet cleaners out there. I'm on about the people that get cheap machines, no training and cause us issues.  They can't do a carpet cleaning job correctly but I'm sure they could help these families.

They are on Facebook crying out for business and under cutting every other carpet cleaner. I'm insure if it like this where you are but we have cases of people bring rug doctors and not taking them back and think they can clean carpets.  The only good carpet cleaners are busy. We are busy but have enough staff to send some to help and with today being Sunday we had a few could go.

I can't explain how bad they have been hit.

[Stoots]

Pretty bad up here in yorkshire.

Been rubbing my hands at these floods but where do you park? 

[wayne zabel]

I live in a badly affected area but wont be doing any flood work as I don't consider myself sufficiently trained to do flood restoration work.

It's all very well pumping some water out of a house but surely there is another aspect in what to do after this and this is surely what will be expected from you.

[CATMAN]

My advice to anyone who's thing of getting involved, don't, Free or not.

As an ex-Rainbow franchisee, in the floods of 2007 I did get involved, hundreds of miles out of town. The insurance companies gave you nothing, not even a tank of fuel.

I went on the basis of being told, as a network we would get more work, for the future. Load of tosh. The insurers believed that these flood where 1 off's. Time to squeeze the suppliers after the event. Many good companies went bust. Insurers cash settled for years.

The networks have got smaller, a lot smaller.

Remember you go to help in their time of need, you are the knight in shining armor, months down the road, you are the cash machine. You've damaged this, you've lost that,  you've stolen that, get out my house. Kurrching its cash time!!

The insurers, the EA, the government, the councils allowing building on flood plains  are now reaping the seeds they sown over the years.

I feel really sorry for everyone affected. But I feel sorry for the people who will be left to pick up the pieces, believe me at the end they will ask ( as I did) why did I bother.



 

[clayton taylor]

I understand what your saying. We do flood restoration and we don't work with insurance companies. The householder pays and then claim it back.

But with these floods we have helped people for free and the other customers have made donations. All we have done is remove the water from their houses. They was very thankful and we ask them to sign a receipt to say no damage has been caused.

Floods isn't a big money earner unless you get in with insurance companies but you will spend most of your days chasing money from them.

I believe the way it has worked out will pay off. Whilst your doing these things reporters hear about what your doing. We have been in the background of itv, been mentioned in the independent news paper and also spoke on filming for an itv documentary.

We didn't do it for this but all the community was thank full so I'm sure we will get repeat work.

Also we have a number of jobs booked in to clean stair carpets ect and even pubs.

To restore flood damage is a big job and you need to know what your doing and have the right equipment. Not doing the properly and charged will cause you issues. But I'm sure if people off to remove flood water you won't have any negative comebacks. Also people was donating more than you would charge but also some less. But in the end I don't think we have lost any money but also done a good deed and our buisness is now know well in the town that was effected.

My advise is that if you have a town that has been effected then offer a service for removing the water. Also if you ask for donation they feel that they havnt been charged and you have really helped. You can also charge for leaving a fan if you require but don't advise on results ect as if they are not gained this could cause you issues.

[JandS]

In a town lcity like York that  has been hit the worst where do you dump the flood water?
Back in the river or fields so it just floods elsewhere.

[Kev Martin]

My advice is keep well away unless you know what you are doing and you are fully qualified!  It is not about doing favours it is about doing it correctly.  Flood is a very complicated subject and it is not about just getting the water out.  It is the aftermath that is involved with correctly drying the property out and to do that, you need  to fully understand the risks involved or you may cause more damage or introduce albeit innocently other problems.

Kevin

[clayton taylor]

In a town lcity like York that  has been hit the worst where do you dump the flood water?
Back in the river or fields so it just floods elsewhere.

You have to wait till the water level in the water table has gone down. The environment agency will tell you when this is the case. And then you can pump the water into a drain in the garden/street. But they don't normally let you pump water out until there is room in the table.

[john mathers]

A friend of mine has his car and house flooded.

Would i be able to remove the flooded water (obviously when the water has receeded from outside the property) i have a steempro 2000 double vac?

How would i go about doing this.  Replies asap if poss!

[Radek Jablonski]

you will be ok, but you need some hard floor wand / squeegee, as if you use normal wand you will be scratching the floor.

I remember when I was helping my friend with sabrina little extractor 3 years ago.

Look after some industrial dehumidifiers and air movers if the flood was seriouse.

[Kev Martin]

A friend of mine has his car and house flooded.

Would i be able to remove the flooded water (obviously when the water has receeded from outside the property) i have a steempro 2000 double vac?

How would i go about doing this.  Replies asap if poss!

John

Ask for some help and advice from a professional.  It is not just about removing the water, it is where you dispose of it and correct drying out procedures afterwards.  Make sure any advice you take is from a professional like John Kelly or similar who knows what they are talking about.

Kevin

[Hilton]

A friend of mine has his car and house flooded.

Would i be able to remove the flooded water (obviously when the water has receeded from outside the property) i have a steempro 2000 double vac?

How would i go about doing this.  Replies asap if poss!

In answer to  your question, no you do not have the necessary equipment to do this kind of work.

However you can uplift the carpets,underlay, soft furnishing etc which has been damaged beyond repair, any one can do this, all you need is a Stanley knife and lots of blades.
The house then has to dry and this will take months if seriously affected.

[John Kelly]

Be very careful as this is contaminated water. Its not just out the river, its out the sewers, rats urine, dog poo, everything. If lifting carpets, grippers can innoculate straight into the bloodstream. Had a good friend who is now disabled for life due to flood work. He was near death for 48 hours and has never fully recovered. Another 2 lads ended up in intensive care just by having a break and drinking from a can. Doctors said it was probably contaminated sweat running into their mouths. You need to be wearing full PPE. Still see clowns from companies who should know better wearing trainers and t shirts.

[CleanerCarpets]

thats scary 

good advice - its not worth your health and makes you wonder how many of the poor sods clearing their own flooded house will get sick then

[Hilton]

Be very careful as this is contaminated water. Its not just out the river, its out the sewers, rats urine, dog poo, everything. If lifting carpets, grippers can innoculate straight into the bloodstream. Had a good friend who is now disabled for life due to flood work. He was near death for 48 hours and has never fully recovered. Another 2 lads ended up in intensive care just by having a break and drinking from a can. Doctors said it was probably contaminated sweat running into their mouths. You need to be wearing full PPE. Still see clowns from companies who should know better wearing trainers and t shirts.

That's a sad story but they were obviously working in conditions of extreme hazard without being aware,but it 's not the norm what percentage of people working on this type of work actually become ill ? A tiny fraction I would guess probably less than .5% the chances of this happening to you or me
are practically zero .
I would encourage anyone interested in this sort of work to get trained and get stuck in, don't be put off by the scare stories, there is great money it if worked and priced correctly.
As mentioned correct PPE  will help you avoid potential hazards but if everyone run away from it for fear of getting ill, how on earth would anything get sorted.
As a side note you mentioned drinking from a can, many years ago a family friend told me he NEVER drinks from cans having worked in a brewery he witnessed rats scurrying across the top of them and it was common knowledge within the brewery that they urinated over the cans as a result no one who worked there drank from cans at all,from any where in any form... That's always stayed with me and I never have without first giving them a good clean first but always pour into a cup or glass.....enjoy your beer tonight ,

[John Kelly]

The training will give you the skills to keep you safe. The first instance I mentioned was actualy Legionaires caught from an escape of water which had stood for 2 weeks. The other 2 were on a standard flood cleanup.

[Kev Martin]

Be very careful as this is contaminated water. Its not just out the river, its out the sewers, rats urine, dog poo, everything. If lifting carpets, grippers can innoculate straight into the bloodstream. Had a good friend who is now disabled for life due to flood work. He was near death for 48 hours and has never fully recovered. Another 2 lads ended up in intensive care just by having a break and drinking from a can. Doctors said it was probably contaminated sweat running into their mouths. You need to be wearing full PPE. Still see clowns from companies who should know better wearing trainers and t shirts.

Great post!  Hopefully it will make some clowns on here realise how dangerous it is to offer advice to newbies when they know SFA about this very complicated subject!   

[DB]

Thanks for that John....a timely reminder

My immediate neighbour was seriously ill a few years ago having contracted legionnaires decease....he's never been 100% since.

It transpires he may have contracted it from.... a golf ball contaminated after being retrieved from a waterlogged hole whilst playing a round of golf.