The winter weather in Southern California was colder than usual this season, with a lot rain and many days down in the 50s. (Yes, we can hear people on the East Coast and the Midwest laughing at what we consider “cold,” but it’s still cold to us.)
Relief is coming, because spring officially starts next month. It’s time to help you get your home ready for spring, and we’ve got some good tips to help you.
At Jarvis Restoration, we help during all phases of structure repair for homes and businesses after they’ve sustained severe damage from storms, fires, floods, and more. We understand how important it is for our customers to have a single company they can rely on every step of the way, rather than deal with the risks and delays of turning to separate contractors.
When you have an immediate need for structure repair in Orange County, CA, one of the first services you’ll likely need is an emergency board up. What does this mean and why is it so critical after a business or home sustains damage?
Homeowners in Orange County don’t often worry about flooding damage. The threat of wildfires is far more urgent. But recent heavy rainfalls in Southern California have made the danger of flooding more obvious. Low-lying areas in Orange County were in danger of flooding during these downpours, and we don’t know how much more of this heavy rainfall is headed our way through the rest of the winter.
So now is a good time to address what to do in case your home suffers from weather related flooding damage. We understand how difficult this situation is—you’ll be overwhelmed with emotions and fears, and you’ll likely feel a need to catastrophize, believing the problem simply cannot be resolved. But it can! Take a few deep breaths and follow the right steps and you’ll eventually come out the other side of this disaster.
In our last post, we discussed general ways you can prevent house fires. The next two weeks are one of the prime seasons for accidental house fires starting—winter holidays, even in Southern California, offer too many opportunities for electrical hazards and open flames to ignite into the least cozy blaze you can ever experience! According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the top three days for home candle fires are Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
If you follow our basic safety tips for the holidays, you can relax and enjoy the festive end-of-the-year celebrations without having to worry about calling us for help with fire damage in Orange County, CA.
For homeowners in Southern California, no concern is greater than the danger of wildfires. But fire damage to homes doesn’t only come from wildfires. It can occur because of cooking accidents, electrical shorts, using wood stoves, gas leaks, and more. In 2020, fire damage was responsible for 23% of all home insurance losses.
We’ve previously written about how you can protect your home against wildfires. Today we’re going inside the house to look at preventing fires from starting indoors. This is especially important at this time of year, when holiday decorations, crackling hearth fires, and visiting guests increase the risk of fires.
When you need home restoration from water damage or fire damage in Orange County, CA, you don’t want to make any hasty choices when it comes to hiring a restoration contractor. You want trustworthy people who know the business, have extensive experience, are properly trained and equipped, deal honestly and ethically with customers, and have a history of completing jobs quickly and effectively.
The best way to tell a reputable damage restoration company is to see if they are IICRC-certified. We’ll explain what IICRC certification means and why you should always select an IICRC-certified contractor—like Jarvis Restoration—when you need vital home restoration services.
If you read this blog title and did a double-take, we can’t blame you. Anyone who visits our website looking for restoration services lives in Orange County, which experiences winter weather temperatures that occasionally drop to the upper 40s. (Brrr!) We don’t get snow or freezing temperatures, and people sometimes go to the beach to celebrate New Years. Why would we need to winterize our homes?
The reason is … we do experience seasonal changes. There’s more rainfall, frost can appear on windows in the mornings, and temperatures in the 40s affect our homes. Since Southern California buildings are constructed without winter as a major concern, they often have thermal deficiencies that lead to higher heating costs, and they can suffer from cold weather damage they aren’t well-prepped to handle.
Here are some So Cal-specific home winterizing tips:
Asbestos has been banned from use in homes for more than 30 years, and yet asbestos testing and abatement in Orange County is one of the most common services we offer, and one of the most useful for homeowners. Asbestos is a harmful carcinogen, and it has a nasty ability to just “hang around” long after its use was stopped. The problem is that asbestos is extremely good at hiding in unusual places. We recommend any home built before 1989 have asbestos testing done to ensure that any harmful amounts are removed.
Just what is the story of asbestos? How did this carcinogenic substance spread so far and wide? We’re going to briefly answer those questions today in this post—although there is much more to learn.
The fire season in Southern California used to last from July through October. Unfortunately, the season for dangerous wildfires has continued to lengthen in both directions, and some experts consider California’s fire season to be all year. It’s never a good time to let down your guard when it comes to protecting your home and family from the danger of wildfires. Always have a plan in place in case you need to evacuate and have a “go bag” prepared with all you’ll need when you do need to evacuate. (CalFire has this checklist for an emergency supply kit.)
Although your family’s safety comes first, you can also help make preparations to protect your house from wildfires. We’ll look at some below.
If you encounter water damage in your house, such as from faulty plumbing, a disconnected washer hose, or water coming in through the roof, you’ll probably feel panicked. This is understandable, but we want you to know that there is help. You don’t have to go through this alone, and eventually you’ll be able to solve the problem.
We offer extensive service for water damage in Orange County, CA. When you need us, we’ll be right there on-site to assess the damage and work on solutions. We’ll work with your insurance agent through the process.
Right now, we want to give you advice about what to do right after your house has sustained water damage.