SERVPRO of Cheatham, Robertson & Dickson Spring Safety Tips

3/16/2017 (Permalink)

Spring is often a welcome change from the cold winter months, but there are spring weather hazards that can arise.

How to be prepared for spring weather hazards

Spring is often a welcome change from the cold winter months, but there are spring weather hazards that can arise. You are not powerless to inclement weather that produces tornadoes, water events and lightning. Make sure that your family has a plan in place for these types of inclement weather to ensure everyone’s safety.

Knowing your risk is a key part of ensuring you are prepared for weather hazards that arise. Always ensure that you are checking your local weather forecast before leaving home. You can also follow weather patterns and possible threats by downloading apps such as Accuweather or Yahoo Weather.

Planning for weather hazards, such as tornado, flood or lightning strike to your home is an essential part of preparedness. Assemble an emergency kit with non-perishable food items, water and basic first aid supplies to ensure that your family is taken care of in case of emergency. Also ensure that your family has an emergency plan in case of evacuation, loss of power or fire. You can visit Ready.gov  for a free template to create your plan.

If you find yourself with damage to your home from spring weather hazards SERVPRO is here to help. From water damage to fire damage, you can count on our highly skilled project managers and staff to restore your property and ensure that it is back to normal as quickly as possible.

SERVPRO® Celebrates 6th Consecutive Year on Entrepreneur's Top 10 Franchise List

1/26/2015 (Permalink)

 Below is a recent press release regarding SERVPRO's ranking in Entreprenuer Magazine's Franchise 500 rankings:

Cleanup and restoration franchisor stands strong in the #7 position in the 2015 Franchise 500 rankings

 SERVPRO^®, a cleanup and restoration franchise company, maintains its hold on the No. 7 spot overall – out of a group of 927 franchises that qualified for inclusion in the list—in the recently announced 2015 Franchise 500 rankings* from Entrepreneur magazine. This recognition marks the sixth consecutive year Entrepreneur has included the company in its Top 10 list and the 12^th consecutive year SERVPRO has earned the top spot on the magazine’s list in its own industry—Restoration Services.

 Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 selection process** uses “objective, quantifiable measures of a franchise operation” to help would-be entrepreneurs identify franchise investment opportunities. Some of the most important factors considered by Entrepreneur in developing the list each year are “financial strength and stability, growth rate and size of the system.”

 “It’s very satisfying to represent the ongoing brand leadership of SERVPRO^® for disaster cleanup and restoration services in the Cheatham, Robertson and Dickson Counties area,” said Cody Sullins, owner of “SERVPRO^® of Cheatham, Robertson and Dickson Counties. “As a SERVPRO franchisee, we have the tools and knowledge—and the responsibility—to provide the best possible service to every customer.”

 According to Sullins, SERVPRO continues to innovate with systems, processes and training designed to deliver faster, more consistent results to their customers. In the past year, SERVPRO customers benefited from the introduction of the following advanced features:

• The company’s DryBook^™ proprietary software, which provides franchisees with tools to capture and track the steps of a restoration project according to industry best practices and standards.

• The Here to Help^® Connection, which provides homeowners with 24/7 access to real-time data, allowing them to track progress toward project completion.

• The Drying Chamber, which uses vacuum freeze-drying technology to vaporize water in water-damaged documents—a technique recommended by the Library of Congress. The process can recover and restore even the most delicate items and preserve the integrity of a variety of media including irreplaceable files, medical files, books, x-rays, photographs and more.

SERVPRO Offers Free Disaster Prep Tips Following National Preparedness Month

11/5/2014 (Permalink)

If disaster does strike, leaving fire, water or mold damage in its wake, area SERVPRO emergency restoration specialists offer an assortment of services to help local residents quickly restore damaged property.

This fall, in recognition of the annual National Preparedness Month (NPM), activities and events took place across the country to highlight the importance of emergency preparedness and to promote individual involvement in preparation for emergency response. Area franchises of the restoration company SERVPRO continue to offer free preparedness materials for NPM.

The focus of this year’s campaign: “Be Disaster Aware – Take Action To Prepare” is to encourage Americans to work together to take concrete actions toward emergency preparedness. SERVPRO often sees the benefits of emergency preparedness.

SERVPRO suggests residents throughout the country begin to prepare for a natural or man-made disaster by taking the following steps to lessen the impact on their families and their communities if disaster strikes.

Prepare an Emergency Supply Kit – Families should plan for 3 days of supplies, including water (a gallon per person per day is recommended) and non-perishable foods. Basic tools (wrench, pliers, can opener, matches), fire extinguisher, flashlight and radio with extra batteries, a first aid kit, extra clothing and hygiene items, garbage bags and duct tape, copies of important documents (insurance policies, ID, bank accounts), cash and local maps should also be included.

Establish a Family Emergency Plan – An out-of-town contact should be noted as a centralized, emergency communications facilitator in case a disaster strikes. That person’s number should be included in emergency contacts on each family members cell phone. If that person cannot be reached with a call, texting should be tried. 

Stay Informed – Most communities have established emergency procedures and participate in activities planned to communicate those procedures. Checklists and other disaster preparedness tools are available from SERVPRO or at ready.gov.

While it’s common for individuals to insure their homes, cars and possessions, and even to prepare living wills to protect their families in the event of some unthinkable accident, only 36 percent believed there was a high likelihood of a natural disaster ever happening in their community, according to a Citizen Corps National Survey. And yet disasters can and do happen every day. In fact, FEMA has recorded more declared disasters to date this year alone, up from last year.

If disaster does strike, leaving fire, water or mold damage in its wake, area SERVPRO emergency restoration specialists offer an assortment of services to help local residents quickly restore damaged property.

Property Restoration Can Be a Messy Business

10/7/2014 (Permalink)

Below is a recent press release regarding our efficiency and proprietary technology:

Local disaster recovery specialist offers insight into the complexities of dealing with disaster.

When disaster strikes, property owners need to make a lot of decisions quickly and under pressure. Effective disaster remediation involves a lot of moving parts: remediation specialists, insurance companies, local codes, state codes, documentation and more—and all of this has to happen in an atmosphere charged with emotion and stress. 

Cody Sullins of SERVPRO® of Cheatham, Robertson & Dickson Counties says, “Efficiency is key when you are dealing with disaster remediation; it saves our customers money and it makes our work more effective. SERVPRO is an industry leader in work efficiency technology—continually innovating to help both our customers and our business control costs.” 

SERVPRO’s proprietary DryBook™ tool is one example of the company’s focus on efficiency and cost control. Remediation projects must be managed to both industry and insurance company standards, and Sullins says tools like DryBook™ help SERVPRO Franchise technicians track and document progress on restoration, cleanup and repair services. “The DryBook™ tool helps us deliver on every detail of every water damage job, every time,” says Sullins. 

To help avoid regulatory headaches and paperwork pitfalls, Sullins suggests property owners consider the following criteria when choosing a remediation company to deal with the aftermath of a disaster. 

1. Industry standards: Does your remediation company deliver a product that meets the standards set by

• The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Cleaning (IICRC)?

• Most major insurance companies, including cycle times and deadline requirements?

2. Recordkeeping: Does your remediation company have a system in place to ensure accurate, complete and convenient benchmarking of each step of the remediation process, including

• Capturing and updating data, including job diary notes, electronically real-time on the jobsite, with simultaneous updates saved at the central office?

• Using e-signatures to help eliminate lost paperwork and the need to scan documents?

• Providing a complete record of the damage and remediation efforts in images, with descriptions, start-to-finish?

3. Equipment selection: Does your contractor have the ability, on-the-spot, to

• Identify the right equipment for the job, based on the damage description?

• Validate the use of each piece of equipment, automatically, as part of the remediation records?

National Preparedness Month: Disaster Preparedness Checklist

9/29/2014 (Permalink)

September is National Preparedness Month

Would you be prepared if a disaster strikes?

Below is our Disaster Preparedness Checkist. Make sure to have these items ready, so that you are prepared in the event of a disaster. 

• A gallon of water per person per day.
• Supply of non-perishable packaged or canned food and a manual can opener.
• Change of clothing, rain gear and sturdy shoes.
• Blanket or sleeping bags.
• First aid kit and prescription medications.
• Battery-powered radio, flashlight and plenty of extra batteries.
• Credit cards, cash and an extra set of car keys.
• List of family physicians.
• Special items for infants, elderly or disabled family members.

Please visit the American Red Cross for more information