The vast majority of drying contractors in the world are using out dated and wasteful technology. If you doubt this simply take a close look at your drying invoices.

Fist of look and see how much floor covering that you are replacing. If you are replacing carpeting more than 10 % of the time then something is seriously wrong. Either your current mitigation contractor does not know what he is doing or he is double billing you, collecting on both the mitigation and reconstruction portions of the billing.

Next look at how often sheetrock is ripped out of the structure. Unless it is a sewerage loss then sheetrock and the wet insulation behind it can be saved 100 percent of the time without drilling holes or cutting out the sheetrock. I know it’s not what you are used to but its totally achievable if the contractor understands the true science behind drying.

The problem is that despite so called industry certifications very few contractors and even fewer on site drying technicians actually under stand how to dry out water damaged structures.

The average company uses extracts the water, removes the carpet and or padding and then loads up the job site with so called turbo dryers and dehumidifiers. This process will eventually dry out most structures but it is painfully slow and it requires a lot of demolition because of the need to direct airflow directly to the wet building materials. Because of this need to direct air flow holes must be drilled in sheetrock and carpet padding removed.

This has been the norm for years but it is unnecessary and very wasteful. Most contractors are equipped with seriously out dated equipment and methodology that makes the above mentioned scenario a self fulfilling prophecy.

The fastest way to tell if your contractor knows what he is doing is to look at his equipment, if his dryers are shaped like whistles with the airflow directed out of the bottom to facilitate the floating of the carpeting then he has substandard equipment.

If he is using anything but a low grain dehumidifier then you are paying for basically nothing.

If he is not controlling the temperature with a thermodynamically controlled heat source then he is using outdated technology.  

The best way to get what you are paying for is to educate yourself and your adjusters in the science of drying.