Protecting Your Documents and Document Restoration

11/19/2018 (Permalink)

Do you have a plan for your irreplaceable documents in a flood or fire?

As we are thinking about potential furnace and fireplace puff-backs this fall, we also want to think about items that may be affected by soot, especially documents that are necessary and irreplaceable.

We have all seen photos or baby books that have been affected by water or covered in soot. It’s a sad image and it’s hard to imagine all those memories that are now impossible to view because each photo is stuck to the back of the one on top of it. And while a parent is cringing at the loss of these photos, professionals also cringe as they see the tell-tale signs of water damage on a manila folder that contains sensitive and vital information pertaining to a client, patient, or a case.

Thankfully, while these cringe-worthy moments might be brought to you by a flood or fire, SERVPRO of Charlottesville is proud to sponsor the relieved smiles and grateful exclamations that come after the disaster. We offer document recovery and restoration and have our own Vacuum Freeze Dry Chamber to help ensure recovery of your documents to highest attainable quality.

Vacuum Freeze Dry Chamber sounds intimidating. But this method for restoring documents is the only restoration method approved by the National Archives and Records Administration. It’s a simple but intensive process. For documents that have been damaged by water we first freeze these documents to prevent further deterioration. The chamber is then able to reduce the temperature of the documents so quickly that the ice is turned directly into vapor and removed from the documents without allowing further damage that results from liquid water. This process is accomplished inside the vacuum with specifically targeted and monitored heating elements.

Once the moisture is removed from the documents, we can continue removing residue and cleaning the documents as needed. Depending on the type of moisture that affected the documents, or soot in the case of a fire, we may use Gamma Irradiation to remove any microbial growth or other contaminants that may cause the documents to be unsafe.

We also offer digitization services. If after this disaster you have realized that you really should have a digital backup, we can create this digital file and deliver it to you. And, upon receiving this file, if you no longer wish to have the hard copy or if the documents are beyond further restoration, we can also offer certified destruction of these documents.