by: Jerry Turner
President and CEO
For more information click here: www.advancedbio-treatment.com/urine-feces-cleanup.php
A gentleman moved into a beautiful two story house, with a garage built underneath, in Decatur, Georgia (GA), a suburb of Atlanta in the Dekalb / Fulton county area. He was a meticulous man, especially, in prearranging his suicide. He placed all insurance policies, will, and important documents on the kitchen table in order to take the burden off of his distant family. Then he went upstairs and hung himself in the bathroom of his newly purchased and immaculate home. There was only one problem. He forgot to tell his family where he was. So, his body hung there decomposing for four months, causing a horrible odor. After the body was removed, it was discovered the gentleman had purged roughly 100 pounds of fluid. His blood and body fluid had saturated the once pristine bathroom, seeping through the tile, under the cabinets and through the wood flooring; then leaked into the ceiling below and down the walls into the second floor. During this time it contaminated a leather couch, carpeting, subflooring and padding, and through the ceiling of the next floor. The fluid eventually dripped onto the car in the garage, ran off both sides of the hood into two streams on the concrete, where they flowed toward the lower corner, pooling together as they left the garage. The home eventually foreclosed and was repurchased, leaving the new owners with a painfully expensive burden.
An unattended death is a messy situation and needs experienced personnel to locate and remove all contamination. Not only did this situation affect multiple rooms with a wide array of surfaces and numerous types of absorbent and porous material, but each room had to be treated differently in order to extract the odor. The decomposition aroma was so powerful that it circulated throughout the house; impregnating walls, fabrics, carpeting and furniture. Because body fluid most always soaks into unseen cracks, crevices and hard to reach areas, leaving an overpowering and ghastly scent, the odor will then have to be dealt with even after the source has been removed. The longer the delay in clean up the more powerful and persistent the odor. So, when dealing with odor removal from an unattended death, look for these criteria in an expert odor clean up company as they will truly understand the complexity of the job.
1. A part of an industry organization
2. Fully understands the scope of odor damage
3. Experienced and perceptive in odor removal
Differentiating between companies that say they can properly remove human decomposition and its subsequent odor can be difficult. Many companies will only mask the smell instead of eliminating the odor. An extremely easy way to find out if a company is actually proficient in odor removal is if it is accredited by, or associated with, a professional industry organization like the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration (IICRC). This type of organization develops best practices in scent restoration as well as continuously trains members in odor removal techniques and technology. It is a very dependable way to find a company worth hiring. Nevertheless, there are other indicators that should also help a person in selecting a legitimate odor removal company.
Be extremely careful with unattended death cleanup companies that give flat rate estimates. A Flat or standard price is usually given in haste by an unskilled company. Common sense tells us that an individual or firm will never fully understand the whole picture unless he or she is able to see all of the damage. In essence, it’s just like judging a book by its cover; it could be 78 pages or 780 pages but a person will never know until he or she flips through it. Instead, search for an unattended death cleanup company that can fully comprehend the scope of contamination and odor. This company can usually give an estimate based on prior job experience and will also estimate cleaning in stages. The first stage should encompass source material removal (body fluids) and an initial odor treatment involving the application of an odor molecular modifier or oxidizer.
Unfortunately, extracting contaminated source material doesn’t always fully remove odor. Odor molecules spread with the circulation of air, insects, and cross contamination by first responders and removal staff. The odor will actually penetrate walls and ceilings, textiles, into A/C vents and even sucked into appliances, such as a refrigerator. Regrettably, most companies do not locate and properly treat these secondary odor sites or, as a matter of fact, any ancillary smells; trash receptacles, litter boxes, or spoiled food. The scope of odor penetration may actually remain hidden until a professional company can complete the first cleaning stage. At that point, it can be determined if additional work is necessary because of secondary odors.
So, when dealing with odor removal from an unattended death, look for an expert clean up company. This can be achieved through proper training and certification, experience based on hundreds of jobs, and fully understanding the stages of odor removal. These indicators should lead you in finding the most credible unattended death cleanup company for your specific situation.
For additional articles on this topic please go directly to our website: https://www.advancedbio-treatment.com/decon-cleanup-georgia.php or contact Advanced Bio-treatment at 800.706.1420 or by e-mail at info@advancedbio-treatment.com
Contact:
Jerry Turner
info@advancedbio-treatment.com
800.706.1420
www.advancedbio-treatment.com
