Recent General Posts

Spring Cleaning - Indoor Air Quality - Air and Building Cleaning

4/5/2016 (Permalink)

Happy April Everyone!

Here we are, SPRING!!!  The start of the baseball season is here, the hockey and basketball are coming to an end, the sun sets after 7:00 pm daily, it’s a beautiful thing!

For the most part the toughest part of the year for our buildings and homes has come to an end.  We have a few cold days and nights right now, but relatively speaking, it’s not a big deal.  Snow that has blanketed Western Massachusetts over the past few days will be a distant memory within the next few, except for the few hardnosed snow banks that may resist the higher more potent sunshine and April Showers. 

The focus for you now should be Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and fresh air - cleaning up and airing out!  Opening windows on days that allow it (even if it’s slightly colder than comfortable) will allow for the turning over of the stagnant air that has been trapped in your home or office for some cleaner, fresher air.  This sounds basic, but we tend to forget basic sometimes.  This will help “purge” air that has been trapped or recycled over the cold months.  Pay special attention to basements as well with this principle.  Open windows and doors on opposite ends of the building or house, allowing for cross ventilation.  Again, this helps remove dust, mold spores, viruses, bacteria, etc. that are floating through the air.  Change your filter on your HVAC system as well, if applicable. 

Secondly, it’s time to clean your carpets, upholstery and duct work.  The trapped airborne particulates eventually land or get filtered through or recycled in any of these areas.  Removal of trapped particulates as well as soils and such that were tracked in from outside is an important process.  These areas are your buildings “air filter”, capturing and holding onto free floating radicals all winter long.  Add this to the upcoming allergens and the issue will be compounded.  Although these things don’t LOOK dirty, they need cleaning. 

SERVPRO of Hampshire County has trained personnel to assist in your cleaning needs.  Whether it’s a soot/fire damage cleaning in the Berkshires, water damage mitigation in the Pioneer Valley or a general commercial or residential carpet, upholstery or duct cleaning in and around the Hampshire County Area, SERVPRO of Hampshire County has you covered and is ready to respond to your cleaning and restoration needs.  Give us a call or drop us an email on our website, we will respond quickly to any inquiries.  Find us on Facebook now as well www.facebook.com/SERVPROHC

Welcome Spring!  Welcome Fresh and Clean – SERVPRO of Hampshire County Style! 

Indoor Air Quality Cleaning

1/29/2016 (Permalink)

Indoor Air Quality – The Season’s Fresh Air

Hello again everyone, it's been a while since I blogged and quite frankly, there hasn't been much seasonally to write about. We have finally had some cold weather in the Pioneer Valley, not much snow either, so life has been good on that front.

I hope that everyone has opened the windows and doors in their buildings a bit and PURGED the stale old air out and let new fresher air in. There are a few things that you should be looking to have done at this time as well though and that is where we come into play. Duct cleaning removes the "junk" from your duct work. This gets rid of the majority of pollutants that have been pent up and wreaking havoc with our health.  

Secondly, a good thorough carpet cleaning will remove pollutants and contaminates from your carpets and leave you with a cleaner "air filter" than you had before. As the air moves and filters through your building, people track dirt in from outside and every sneeze finally “lands”, impurities get caught up in the fibers of the carpet and linger there until removed. Basic cleaning will take care of this buildup and again, help cut down on indoor pollution levels.  A simple hot water extraction, precondition and rinse or any of our six methods of carpet cleaning will assist in improving indoor air quality.  You don’t need empowered water or enhance cleaning solutions to get this done.  There is no magic wand, just simple cleaning.

It's really all about comfort and health when it comes to IAQ, the less "crud" in the environment, the better you will feel in the long run AND the better things will look as well.

SERVPRO of Hampshire County can help any of you out there that want to make sure that your IAQ is at its best possible.

Call us today to schedule a carpet or duct cleaning. Mention this blog and receive a sanitizer application or protectant application to your carpet cleaning at no additional charge. How can you beat that?

I will catch up to you all again next week!  Here’s to a Healthy Indoor Air Quality and a Cleaner Week in Western Massachusetts! 

Western Mass Water Damage and Fire Damage Information

12/4/2015 (Permalink)

We are now at the cusp of the darkest days of the year astronomically.  Coincidentally these, along with the coldest days of the year run hand in hand with increased fire damage and water damage potential.  Whether from ice dams, frozen pipes, space heaters or candles, flooded basements, kitchens, bathrooms as well as a soot covered home or fire damaged portions thereof, the size of the damage is irrelevant when deeming any such event a “disaster”. 

Caution must be taken when using candles, heaters, electric blankets, etc.  Making sure that you do not overload circuits and do not leave these items unattended when in use is key.  Statistically, this is the peek fire season.  There are just too many opportunities.  Thus far we have been blessed with some mild temperatures, but how long do we really expect that to last?  Aren’t we all just waiting for the foot of winter to drop?

How many of us experienced water intrusion from ice dams last winter?  Have we recovered from that yet or rectified the issue that caused it in the first place?  I was asked this week what can be done to prevent this from occurring again this year.  I will explain ice dams in next week’s blog. 

I said this last week, and will say it again this week, stay alert and smart over the next month.  Should you have an incident involving water damage or fire damage, or are just looking for a pre-holiday carpet cleaning, keep SERVPRO of Hampshire County in mind.  We not only clean up disasters of any size, we clean just about anything of any size.  Call us for a quote on any last minute cleaning you may have.

Until next week……

Happy Thanksgiving

11/25/2015 (Permalink)

From the Berkshires to Pioneer Valley, here's wishing everyone the happiest of Thanksgivings.  We are thankful for our customers, clients and employees here at SERVPRO of Hampshire County.  Every flooded basement, water damage, smoke damage, mold remediation and general cleaning that we were called to do, we are thankful for the trust placed in us to get the job done.  Thank you all!

TGFM

11/16/2015 (Permalink)

Thank Goodness for Monday (TGFM)!!! 

Without Monday, Tuesday would take on an entirely different role.  Without Monday, would we look at the weekend the same way?

There is always a brighter side to view any scenario that comes along.  Similar to viewing Monday, the way you view an event like a puff back, soot damage, flooded basement, water damage or any other “disaster” that enters your home or business.  Knowing that there are reputable companies out there like SERVPRO of Hampshire County.  Our staff, each and every team member, is trained and retrained continuously to perform to industry standards as well as how to assist a client or customer at one of their worst possible moments.  Whether it’s a carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, duct cleaning, or a fire damage, water damage or mold damage event, make sure you choose a company that is trained to do the work as well as educate you through the process(es).  TRAINING, a vital aspect of the SERVPRO System and SERVPRO of Hampshire County.

Up next…..what else should you look for when choosing a contractor.  

Happy Monday, Happy Tuesday!  It’s a bright start to the week in Western Massachusetts!  The week is off to a great start if you look at it with the right mindset!

Introduction to our Water Damage, Fire Damage, Cleaning Blog

11/11/2015 (Permalink)

Hello and Welcome to our first official blog on our site!

The weather is slowly transitioning to the cold side and it's time to begin thinking of your home maintenance.  SERVPRO of Hampshire County is here to help you, whether with advice or cleanup and restoration services, we are here.  We service Hampshire County located smack dab in the center of Western Massachusetts, a stones throw outside of Springfield and Holyoke.  We are in our 20th year in business, providing everything from carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, duct cleaning, general cleaning to Fire Damage, Water Damage, Mold Remediation, cleanup and restoration.  Our scope of work is not limited, we provide cleaning services to the residential, commercial and industrial arenas. Area businesses can contact us 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  Live operators answer, we respond to emergency calls in minutes.  This is a service we have truly mastered and are aces at.  Come back and visit this blog from time to time for advice, information and maybe a little fun.  If there are any topics, tips or information you would like to know about, feel free to email us and ask.  Thanks for stopping by, and for your time spent here today!  We hope to get to know you better.