About Our Water Damage Restoration Services

Water damage is a common problem for homeowners during the spring and summer seasons. Whether from external causes (damaged gutters, heavy rain) or internal (pipe burst or overflowing toilet), water can quickly rack up thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home.

That's where we come in.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers professional water damage restoration services to homes and businesses all across Long Island. Our workers use professional cleaning equipment and techniques to restore your property to its previous condition.

If you suffer from water damage in your Long Island home, keep the following tips in mind:

• DON'T breathe in damp air.
• DON'T touch wet or damaged items with your bare hands.
• DO call GreenPro immediately.

In the case of water damage, it is important to act fast in order to minimize damages. The longer water collects and accumulates, the more devastating effects it can have on your home and health. Unprotected exposure to this water can cause sneezing, wheezing, headaches, and even respiratory infections.

Once the GreenPro team arrives at your property, we will conduct the following visual survey:

1. Walking around the suspected problem area(s).
2. Walking through and to the areas of concern.
3. Viewing the area with a flashlight to highlight the suspected water damaged area.
4. Taking moisture readings of the structure such as walls, floors, and/or ceiling surfaces to detect moisture intrusion.
5. Taking temperature and relative humidity readings to determine if they fall within ASHRAE recommendations.
6. Providing an estimate for remediation by industry standards.

If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, call GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for all of your water damage remediation needs at (631) 940-8100.

3 High Humidity Areas in Your Home

A little bit of humidity can cause a lot of problems. Besides making the air feel hot, sticky, and suffocating, it usually leads to mold, which negatively affects our health and the structural integrity of our homes. In order to avoid this from happening to you, it is important that you keep your humidity levels in check.

These three areas in the home in particular are especially susceptible to high humidity and the problems associated with it:

1. Bathroom: With all of the steam coming from your shower head, it's no surprise that the bathroom is a high-humidity area in most homes. Running your exhaust fan for 15 minutes after you shower can help remove this excess moisture from the air.
2. Crawl Space: If your house is built on top of a crawl space, chances are good it has a high humidity. This could be for a number of reasons, but some of the most popular causes are ground water evaporation, leaking pipes, and rainwater draining too close to the foundation of your home.
3. HVAC Ducts: During warm months, condensation occurs inside of your HVAC ducts due to the cold air being pushed through them. If these ducts are in a high-humidity area (such as a poorly-insulated attic or basement), this water will begin to collect instead of evaporate, and eventually mold will begin to grow.

Long-term humidity problems almost always lead to mold, which can affect the health of your family and home. If you spot any mold growing in your Long Island home, don't attempt to remove it yourself. Instead, give the experts at GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration a call at (631) 940-8100.

How to Prep Your A/C for Summer

Summer is coming – is your air conditioner ready?

Your cooling system has been collecting dust for the past 8+ months, but soon it will be working double time to keep you and your family comfortable. The last thing you want is for it to break down in the middle of a heat wave.

Take the time now to save yourself from problems later by following these simple tips to prep your A/C for the summertime...

Clean the air filter and condenser coils.

Your air filter should be cleaned or replaced at the start of summer and every 4-6 weeks after. This keeps your air clean and your cooling system operating efficiently. The condenser coils are responsible for releasing heat. When they are covered in dirt and debris, your energy efficiency will suffer, and your unit will eventually break down. Check your owner's manual for instructions on how to clean them.

Trim surrounding bushes and shrubbery.

Your air conditioner needs room to breathe as it operates. If you have bushes or trees covering your unit, it will be affected in the same way as if it were covered in dust. Make sure your cooling system has at least 12 inches of space on all sides in order to be safe.

Have your home's air ducts professionally cleaned.

Air ducts are an afterthought for most homeowners, but they need to be cleaned every 3-5 years. Contaminants such as dust, mold, pet dander, and pollen can accumulate in your air ducts and spread throughout your home, causing allergic reactions when you come in contact with them. Having your air ducts cleaned is important for the health of your air conditioner and your family.

Air duct cleaning requires specialized tools and experience, so it is a job best left to professionals. If you live on Long Island, contact GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

Surprising Facts About Clothes Dryers

Clothes dryers are a necessity for laundry day, but did you know they can also be a serious fire hazard? Don't believe it? Just take a look at some of these stats from the National Fire Protection Association:

• Clothes dryers are responsible for more than 15,000 fires every year – that's over 40 per day!
• One out of every 22 house fires is caused by a drying machine.
• Clothes dryers cause more residential fires every year than chimneys.
• By far, the leading cause of dryer fires was identified as "failure to clean". 

So, how can you protect yourself from becoming a victim of clothes dryer fires? Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Clean the lint screen before every load of laundry.
• Make sure your exhaust tube vents directly to the outside – never to an attic or a crawl space.
• Don't run your dryer when the house is empty, and never ever run it while everyone is asleep.
• Have your exhaust vent professionally cleaned every year.

The exhaust vent is the aluminum tube that attaches to the back of your dryer. It is responsible for venting excess heat to the outside. Lint can accumulate in this vent, and when too much collects, it can catch on fire. In addition to creating a safety hazard, lint buildup also hurts your appliance's energy efficiency and shortens its lifespan.

GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration offers professional dryer vent cleaning services to homes and business across Long Island. If you live in Nassau County or Suffolk County, contact us today for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

Spring Crawl Space Cleaning Checklist

Now is the time of the year when homeowners everywhere are focused on spring cleaning. While we all know to clean the kitchen and bathroom, one place that many people forget about is their crawl space.

Homes that do not have a basement are generally built on a crawl space - an area of limited height underneath your floor. The main purpose of a crawl space is to promote air circulation throughout your home and grant easy access to plumbing and electrical components.

This area can get very wet and dirty, and keeping up with maintenance is important to prevent mold and the problems associated with it. Here is a crawl space cleaning checklist to help you out:

• Inspect your insulation. It should be dry, undamaged, and show no signs of deterioration. 
• Check for air leaks around the vents and windows. Use a caulking gun to seal any leaks you come across.
• Check for signs of mold along the floor, walls, insulation, and wood. Clean up all mold using a speciality mold killer.
• Check for cracks in the foundation wall and make note of the size. Return in a month to check on them. If they grew bigger, there is a serious problem.

If you run into any problems while cleaning your crawl space, or you simply don’t want to do it, give a call to the experts at GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration. We offer specialty cleaning services to all of Long Island - including air duct cleaning, attic and crawl space cleaning, mold removal, and water damage restoration. If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, call us for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.

FAQs About Mold

 

Mold comes in many shapes and sizes – from a green fuzz on your bread to black slime in your shower. It is important to know some basic information about mold so that you can identify it and remove it in order to protect your home and family.

The experts at GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration answer some of your most frequently asked questions about mold...

What is mold?

Mold is a type of fungus that can grow virtually anywhere moisture is present. No one knows exactly how many different types of mold exist, but some estimate the number to be over 300,000.

What are the health effects of mold?

Mold spreads and grows by reproducing microscopic spores, which can unknowingly be inhaled by humans. When we come in contact with these spores, we can experience allergy-like side effects such as coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, headaches, and fever. Mold has also been linked to long-term respiratory problems.

What causes mold to grow?

Mold requires three things to grow: oxygen, moisture, and nutrition. Since oxygen is found (nearly) everywhere on Earth and mold can “eat” a variety of organic particles (such as dust, cellulose, and dirt), places with excess moisture are the most prone to mold growth.

Where are places that mold grows in the home?

Since moisture is necessary for mold to grow, the most common problem areas around the home are those that tend to have high moisture levels. They include:

• Bathroom – on the walls or in the shower especially
• Basements & crawl spaces
• Attics and roofs
• Underneath carpeting
• Window, refrigerator, washing machine, and dishwasher seals
• HVAC air ducts
  
  

How can I remove mold from my home?

If you spot mold growing in your home, do not try to remove it yourself. Special tools are needed to thoroughly eliminate the mold, and attempting a DIY removal just puts you at risk for spreading the mold and becoming sick.

If you live on Long Island and have a mold problem in your home or business, call the professional mold removers at GreenPro Cleaning & Restoration. Visit our website for more information, or call us for a free quote at (631) 940-8100.