Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned – a defensive cleaning program

5/18/2020 (Permalink)

Our defensive cleaning program gives your business a way forward by providing your employees and customers ongoing safety and assuredness.

Let us help you get back to business

As our communities re-open, we’re all moving back toward a new kind of normal. The expectations of visitors, customers, and employees who come into our establishments have evolved, and staying safe and well is a top concern. The global COVID-19 pandemic has changed what it means to be clean, and we’ve developed a program to help your business meet the new higher standard of clean that is now expected.

Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned is a defensive cleaning program we’re offering to businesses and commercial locations to address the current COVID-19 pandemic. This proactive viral pathogen cleaning program goes well beyond janitorial or carpet cleaning. By choosing Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, you, your employees, your customers, and your community can rest assured that you’ve selected a higher cleaning standard – you are Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned.

Extensive training and specialized products

As the #1 choice in cleanup and restoration*, we stand on more than 50 years of experience and expertise to help your business become Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned.  Beyond fire & water, SERVPRO professionals are trained and experienced in biohazard decontamination and chemical spills – always adhering to the cleaning and decontamination standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local authorities. 

From formulating and creating our proprietary cleaning products, like SERVPROXIDE, at our headquarters in Gallatin, TN, to taking the utmost care while disinfecting, we will ensure you and your business are set up to inspire consumer confidence as the economy continues to reopen.

3 C’s – Consult, Clean, and Certify

When the stakes are this high, you want a partner who has developed an industry leading, proprietary training program, cleaning solutions, and remediation processes over decades. We’ve cleaned up some of the most challenging biohazards imaginable. Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned reflects our unique experiences and capabilities. The program is grounded with our unique 3 C’s: Consult, Clean, and Certify.

• Consult – Every business is different, which is why you’ll be assigned a Cleaning Protocol Consultant who understands your business and will create a cleaning program to meet your specific needs. This program will be developed based on your business type, size of space, amount of high frequency touchpoints, foot traffic and congestion points.
• Clean – Based on your specific business needs, your location will undergo a thorough, deep clean, using exclusive cleaning products, according to protocols set forth by the CDC. Our employees have years of experience, and we will go beyond the scope of work that regular janitorial staff perform. Cleanup procedures generally include cleaning of porous and non-porous surfaces, disinfecting of non-porous surfaces, cleaning and disinfecting of equipment, tools, and/or supplies used for cleanup process, and disposal of hazardous materials.  In the event of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 event, we will be there cleaning within 24 hours to ensure you get back to business as quickly as possible. 
• Certify - Once your business location has been Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, you will gain access to proprietary signage, digital emblems, and other collateral that communicates that you’ve selected a higher standard of clean available to help protect your employees and customers. And because we add the day, month, and year to that proprietary stamp of clean, your guests will know that not only did you choose Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned, but that your location is being cleaned regularly at this standard.

Call today for a Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned consultation

We’re Here to Help – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – until life is back to normal in the communities we all call home.

Call SERVPRO of Central Chester County today at  610-524-0211 for your Certified: SERVPRO Cleaned consultation.

Does Bleach Kill Mold?

2/18/2020 (Permalink)

Clorox Bleach is a very well known bleach and has several uses through out a household. Listed below are some facts about the bleach to better understand its uses. 

• Clorox Bleach is more useful for killing bacteria and viruses than for killing molds, parasites, and spores. The bleach kills the kinds of microorganisms found in sewer water, but it is not as lethal to any kind of microbe that travels through air.
• Clorox Bleach doesn't kill mold effectively at temperatures below 52 degrees F. Some species of mold, however, continue to grow even when the temperature is slightly below freezing.
• By the time you have black, inky blobs of mold, it's too late for Clorox. The active chemical in bleach does not break up the bio-film that glues mold into patches.
• Mixing Clorox with contaminated water greatly reduces its effectiveness for disinfecting walls, floors, and household surfaces. Any kind of formerly living matter in water can bind to Clorox so it can't disinfect anything else. It's important to mix Clorox with clean water.
• Clorox is more effective for disinfecting indoor surfaces than for disinfecting outdoor surfaces. Sunlight breaks down the active chemical that kills bacteria, viruses, and mold

Smoke Webs?

11/21/2019 (Permalink)

Furnace puff backs can be one of the most heavily involved types of jobs that we perform here at SERVPRO. Smoke and soot can find its way into all the nooks and crannies of your home, stain fabrics, painted surfaces, and embeds itself into your carpets and flooring.

One common misconception however is that is reveals the deficiencies in your home cleaning.  One of the cardinal features of a puffback is “webs” in the corners of your walls, ceilings, and doorways. Customers often think that they are cobwebs that have been blackened by the soot but in reality they are actually carbon chains formed from the soot. Since a puffback is a sudden burst of soot from your furnace it puts a lot of soot (carbon) into the air in a short time frame. This carbon then collides with one another to form chains that happen to look like cobwebs.

Smoke and soot cleaning should always be done by a professional to minimize the damage and fully remove the smoke and soot. Incorrect cleaning methods could possibly result in smearing, streaking, and having to paint or replace items. SERVPRO of Central Chester County uses specialized cleaning agents and equipment to get your home back up and running as soon as possible with minimal disturbance to the homeowner.

If you do have a puffback or other smoke/soot issue, call SERVPRO of Central Chester County at 610-640-9533.

Vehicle deodorization services

11/5/2019 (Permalink)

For many Central Chester County residents driving is a part of daily life.  We keep our cars clean and fresh but if something happens that creates a smell, it can make a short trip to the grocery store a nightmare.

The most common smells our customers ask us to remove are:

• wet musty water related smells;
• fire and smoke smells;
• gas and oil smells from spillage inside the vehicle;
• pesticide and fertilizer;
• bio-hazard related smells;

Typically wet musty smells and fire smoke smells can be resolved through upholstery cleaning and a deodorization treatment like ozone.  But the smell of gasoline is a little more tricky to remove. 

The vehicle pictured had a 5 gallon gas container spill.  The heavily contaminated fabrics were removed by a body shop and the car was towed to our facility (smell was so strong it wasn't safe to drive).  SERVPRO of Central Chester County then follows are own proprietary 10 step process to remove the odor fully.  The vehicle is then tested in several different ways to make sure the odor is 100% removed.  If their is still a smell, then entire process is repeated until the vehicle is odor free.   

The Wayne owner of the car and the body shop were very pleased with the results.

The Importance of Air Duct and Vent Cleaning

12/7/2015 (Permalink)

The Importance of Air Duct and Vent Cleaning

By Jon Nunan

Duct cleaning is one of those tasks that it's easy to forget about. Since ducts and vents are often overlooked, many homeowners might not even remember the last time they had them attended to. The fact is, however, that duct and vent cleaning may have health advantages, and might even reduce your energy bills and extend the life of your forced air system.

Vent and Duct Cleaning and Indoor Air Quality

One thing to consider when you're thinking about vent and duct cleaning is the fact that indoor air quality is decreasing.

This is due in part to the popularity of high-efficiency windows, doors, and increased insulation that reduce the amount of

air transfer between inside and outside. Though these fixtures are great when it comes to reducing energy costs and

making a room more comfortable, they are often not supplemented with any additional ventilation, causing pollutants that

enter the home to remain inside instead of leaking out through drafty windows and gaps.

The verdict still isn't in on whether or not duct and vent cleaning is going to improve indoor air quality in every situation. Though there is literature out there to support either side of the debate, we do know that in certain cases, duct cleaning is likely to find and remove harmful molds, fungus, and/or microbes from an infected system. At the very least, duct and vent cleaning is not going to do your home any harm, and there is a chance that it will actually increase the quality of your indoor air.

How Duct and Vent Cleaning Works

There are two ways of duct and vent cleaning. One system is connected into the ducting to provide suction. A high-pressure air hose is passed through the ducting to remove the particles from the interior. The other system uses a large specialized vacuum attached to a hose and a brushing system that is run through the ducting. Both systems are effective when operated by properly trained personnel.

A proper cleaning should include the following: cleaning of all registers, inside the ducting, and the interior of the heating and ventilating system.

The furnace fan must be cleaned, and if you have air conditioning or a heat pump, the coils inside the system must also be thoroughly cleaned. Finally, a disinfectant can be fogged through the cleaned system to eliminate any mold, bacteria, and dust mites that might remain.

Proper cleaning of a home should take a minimum of three to five hours, depending on the size of the house. If the home has more than one heating and cooling system, or the system is located on the roof, it can take longer. Most duct cleaning companies base their price upon square footage and/or the number of registers, systems, and levels to be cleaned and charge between $90 and $125 per hour to properly clean a duct system.

If a much lower price is offered, a consumer needs to make sure that the price includes a thorough cleaning, including registers, the inside of the ductwork, and all the fans and coils. Charging extra for cleaning fans and coils is unreasonable because those steps are mandatory for having a properly cleaned system.