Nursing Home Flood

A local nursing home suffered a burst pipe in the Cossh room in the centre of the building, the water feed pipe to the sink had burst overnight allowing water to escape for several hours going unnoticed, causing major water damage to 15 main communal areas within the home. We were
contacted by a nursing home group, whom we’ve worked closely with for many years, for our help and expertise in drying the affected areas which made up half the nursing home. The only areas not affected were residents’ bedrooms.

Following our inspection and some in-depth intrusive works we discovered high readings of moisture trapped between the insulation and the subfloor. As this happened during the height of the pandemic the nursing home put us on hold before any drying could commence so that the residents could enjoy Christmas with their families as the previous Christmas had been cancelled and no families could visit the nursing homes.

With Christmas celebrated and approval given on our recommendations we were able to pressure dry the floors in these affected areas in 2 phases to ensure the Nursing home could stay open and functional during the restoration of the property.

Phase 1 consisted of drying of the Back Corridor, COSHH Room, Main Corridor, Main Restaurant, Main Entrance, Kitchen, Office for Kitchen Area and Storage Rooms.

Phase 2 consisted of drying of Meter Room, Back Corridor Hallway, Toilet & Shower area, Care Staff Corridor and Staff Room, Locker Room, Study, Laundry Room, Hair Salon, and Lounge.

We had to dry in 2 phases due to the lounge and study having to be converted into a temporary
restaurant area for the residents, whilst we dried the kitchen and restaurant in the 1st phase. With use of our pressure drying machines, we opted for a positive and negative pressure drying system, this would reduce the GPK readings to an acceptable level to handover back to the flooring contractor. The flooring contractor then attended the same day to remove floor coverings and replace so the kitchen and restaurant could be moved back to their original areas, which enabled us to continue with phase 2 and dry the lounge / study. The laundry room, hairdressers and communal corridors were accessible at all times to residents. So even with all this going on the residents could still get their hair done. The push-pull system allowed us to push dry desiccated air into the layered construction and pull through with a negative pressure system.

It would have been impossible to find all the residents of the very large nursing home somewhere else to stay during the height of the covid pandemic, should they have to close to get the property dry. With us working closely with various parties involved we were able to keep the nursing home fully operational whilst complying with all health and safety regulations and frequent contact with the health and safety manager. Due to logistical complications and the nature of the works completed we were exhilarated to find out we exceeded our clients expectations.