[ag]

Hi All
We do a daily morning clean in a medical centre before the place opens up. Went in this morning and there was a big flood. An extension is being put on and the water tank had fallen off its supports during the night. So after they had seen it, I got the ninja and extracted approx. 160-200 litres of water. There are dehumidifiers in there now.
My question is that I havent got a clue how to price this sort of job?Any suggestions?
Thanks
Agnes

[vangaurd]

i ncharged 280.00 for the last flood job took me just over 2/12 hours mate

[John Kelly]

Are you supplying the dehumidifiers as well?

[ag]

hi yeah, ive rented them, so I was going to add a bit on to that, but its for the actual water take up, I havent got a clue what to charge.

[John Kelly]

You should charge a call out fee £50-80 and either an hourly rate of £30-60 or a rate per square metre £3-4.50. Add at least 20% on to the hire rate for the driers, £15 for installing and £15 for removing. Any visits during the drying process, £48. If you haven't got a moisture metre buy a cheap one at B & Q about £15, not great but better than nowt.

[lands]

Hi John,

Went out without me phone this pm so gutted I missed you. Have not bought any so will sought with you when I you back.

Have a good holiday

Cheers
Pete

[ag]

John

Thats sound, thanks very much. yeah, I was a bit unsure about an hourly rate, as there wasnt really a call out charge as I discovered it when I went into do the clean. Regarding the dehumidifiers, is it just a case of when the water stops outputting then its dry. they are concrete floors, and the water wasnt down long enough to affect the walls etc?
Cheers
Agnes

[John Kelly]

I'm afraid its not as simple as that. The dehums will always extract moisture as there is alway moisture in the air. As its a medical centre you are never going to achieve a drying chamber (a closed off area) so I wouldn't worry too much. If the slab has been put down as part of the extension then there will be a lot of construction water still in the slab anyway. I would leave them 14 days and I doubt you will have any problems.

[gwrightson]

John,
perhaps you could post correventas web add, it has some great info and diagrams regarding R/H

dew points, moisture contents etc. I It has been very helpful to me recently, but I cannot seem to find their add.

geoff

[martin19842]

hi there

we are using new mats on concrete slabs, where abouts is this you might like to have a chat,

if they are building an extension, has the new slab flooded., and if so, what is the proposed floor covering, and when were they thinking of putting it down.

force drying the slab could be the answer.

we surveyed one this morning, and start it later this week

regards

martin

[John Kelly]

http://www.corroventa.com/Eng/torkteknik.htm

Excellent site

[ag]

Hi all

Sorry Im a bit lost there on those last few posts. I think I didnt explain the situation very well. Its a medical centre, within a retail complex. An extension is going onto the back, but the wall hasnt been knocked through yet. Im not really sure how the water actually got in, as apparantly the water tank collapsed and it just pumped the water into the building. It went everywhere, the pharmacy downstairs lost all stock on bottom shelves etc.
So while there is an extension being built, you cant see it from within the medical centre at the moment.The builders were out there today pumping out water, so I dont really know the story there.
Does that make more sense?
Regards
Agnes
p.s im based in Ireland

[gwrightson]

NO


I see your from Ireland 

Geoff

[ag]

Ok, so was in there today, and some of the rooms have dried out very well, Carpet is totally dry including underlay and the concrete looks pretty dry. In another room though you can see the concrete is still wet under the carpet.
i would be of the opinion that once this all drys out then it is fine, but the owner reckons they are still going to get all the carpets replaced and all the skirting etc. He can do whatever he likes, but just for my own education - is this a bit pointless, it is all Ok to keep once its dried out right?
Cheers

[martin19842]

hi there

if the skirting is mdf, then that can and does swell, therefore needs to be replaced.

looking at the concrete slab is not a measure.

we have a job at the present time, that loos dry, but in essence is very wet.

regards

martin

[spindle]

i once asked another of the forum legends about thia type of job

for emergency flood extraction i was advised to charge £75 ph

i got paid at that rate

no questions


so i would charge that

[ag]

so can you only tell by using the moisture metres - I went into our hardware stores yesterday and no one had any - or had even heard of them. I now I cna order them from the UK but that will take a few days. Im not sure whether to take the dehumidifers out or not. Overnight they gathered about 1litre of water each.

[martin19842]

hi there

protimeter are the best, or we have found that anyway with the MMS being our chosen tool,

best part of £600- £700 if i remember correctly without looking at I disagreeet account

regarrds

martin

[doug@munters]

hi m8

as stated above by somebody the main question you want to ask is what will be put down over the slab once you are complete,carpet and underlay would be great for you as drying till it "looks" dry will probably suffice

however if there is timber/laminate/glued vinyl etc you are gonna have to be very careful especially with your limited experience,concrete is extremely difficult to dry properly and even more difficult to diagnose as "dry",scanning them with moisture meters(even the above mentioned protimeter) should only be used as a guide and compared to a known "dry datum" area(ie an area of the concrete not affected by water),concrete slabs should not be signed off with scan readings alone

The correct method for measuring dampness in a concrete slab is to lay a sealed box with concealed chamber and reading relative humidity in that chamber after a set period,there are several devices for doing this we use protimeter with "hygrosticks" attatchment

whatever you end up doing always insist on fitting of a damp proof membrane on top of concrete after drying,this will give you a degree of protection

any questions feel free to ask

[martin19842]

hi there

doug

i agree, we are involved in a case at the moment where the property flooded in feb, 2 refrigerants were put into the property for 2 weeks, then taken out and cloud nine underlay and carpet fitted,

since feb the floor has been sweating and obviosly the client isnt happy, the builders contacted us, and we have put forced air mats down, with desiccant dehum to create the environmnent, results are looking very promising.

regards

martin