Teeing Off for the Cause(s)

9/23/2022 (Permalink)

Some of our favorite moments from this year's golf tournaments.

Summer has always been one of our busiest seasons here at SERVPRO. Between the increase of seasonal losses, like fire damage and community events we regularly volunteer with, there is never a dull day!

The most common of these community events are charity golf tournaments. This year alone we have sponsored and/or participated in over six tournaments. The Haverhill Firefighters Relief Association tournament kicked off the season at the Bradford Country Club, followed closely by the YMCA of the North Shore’s tournament at Turner Hill Golf Club in Ipswich.

Next up our Key Account Manager Nury Cardoza hit the green to play in the North Shore Chamber of Commerce’s annual tournament at the Ipswich Country Club. A little rain didn’t stop her and other fellow chamber members from having a great day on the course!

 August brought us back to the Bradford Country Club for the Haverhill Police Relief Association tournament to support our brave men and women in blue. We then found ourselves at the Merrimack Valley Golf Club, where the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center held their first annual tournament to raise funds to assist in their mission to give back and support the Veterans within our community.

Finally, we rounded out the year at the Rowley Country Club for the Ascension Memorial Church’s Remembrance Cup. The tournament also benefitted The Open Door in their mission to help fight food insecurity within our community.

It's always great to give back and support so many local organizations that help make our community a better place. We can’t wait to tee off again next year for more worthy causes!

Earth Day 2022

6/14/2022 (Permalink)

A big thank you again to all of our wonderful volunteers!

Here at SERVPRO of Haverhill/Newburyport, green is kind of a big deal. From the literal color, like our trucks and branding, to the figurative meaning, like our eco-friendly products, it’s truly in every part of our business. 

This commitment to green has also extended into our community, most recently with our Earth Day celebration. On Saturday, April 23rd, we joined the Haverhill city-wide Earth Day cleanup, leading a team of volunteers to clean Riverside Park and Athletic Fields. Our all-star team of volunteers consisted of SERVPRO Haverhill employees and their families, members of the Haverhill High School Varsity Wrestling team, members of the Consentino Middle School National Junior Honor Society, as well as kind-hearted members of the community who heard about the event and wanted to join in on giving back to our planet. 

A massive thank you once again to everyone who came out and volunteered their time! The park looked beautiful once we were done and we could not have done it without you! We had a fantastic time at what we are sure will become an annual event. If you missed it, be sure to follow us on Facebook, where we post about any events we will be taking part in as well as advice on what to do if you experience a loss, like fire damage.

  We also did an Earth Day Cleanup down in Danvers with our sister franchise, SERVPRO of Danvers/Ipswich. You can read all about that cleanup on the SERVPRO Danvers blog.

Enjoy Your Stay!

4/29/2022 (Permalink)

With the spring season seeing an uptick in travel, SERVPRO is standing by to support New England hotel and motel owners when it comes to unexpected commercial maintenance issues, which can sometimes result in professional commercial restoration needs. 

Where do these issues come from? 

Well, inclement springtime weather can pose a significant threat via high wind gusts or torrential rainfall.

A simple solution? 

SERVPRO’s Emergency Readiness Profile, which provides commercial property owners with complete access to their critical contact information and shut off locations in a single spot. 

Many of our hotel and motel chain owners find this a very helpful tool when it comes to tracking and preparing against seasonal storms and the damage they can cause.

However, there are other commercial property pitfalls to be aware of, especially when your business hinges on customer satisfaction based on exemplary accommodations. 

Preparation is key, particularly for the hospitality industry. 

Two key preventive priorities for hotel and motel managers should always be their commercial property’s HVAC and plumbing systems, both of which can cause extensive and costly water damage to your building… not to mention business interruptions and maybe even a few bad reviews on popular travel websites. 

While prevention may be better than cure, as the saying goes, it’s practically impossible to prepare for every eventuality. That’s why, your neighborhood SERVPRO team is simply a call away -- eager to deliver commercial services you can count on.

Time to Toss the Tchotchkes

4/29/2022 (Permalink)

So, maybe it’s a silly title but your local SERVPRO team knows that fire safety is nothing to joke about. However, you might be surprised to learn about some odd fire hazards that pose a real threat, despite almost sounding made up. 

Though they look innocent enough, did you know that crystal figurines -- like these guys -- can actually cause a fire in your home. Sure, it’s a rare enough occurrence; however, depending on where these mementos are placed, specifically, within direct sunlight, these items can actually lead to a residential fire. 

Even if you did toss any glass or crystal tchotchkes, your home might still be susceptible to the smoke and flames caused by glass doorknobs, jam jars, and even fishbowls. 

Avoid the need for professional fire restoration service by ensuring that glass or crystal objects are placed well away from windows, where they won’t encounter direct, sustained sunlight.

In the event that a particular item escaped your notice and things became too hot to handle, your SERVPRO of Haverhill / Newburyport team is standing by to provide expert fire restoration for your home.

It’s Springtime: The Season of… Snain?

4/29/2022 (Permalink)

It sounds a little like something out of a Dr. Seuss book, but “snain” is actually a real, albeit unofficial weather term, and one that you’ve likely experienced, especially in New England. 

More commonly referred to as sleet, this mix of rain and snow is often observed during the colder winter months, and, coupled with high winds, can be the culprit behind storm damage leading to slippery roads and downed trees or power lines. 

So, while you won’t necessarily encounter snain in the spring, you might find yourself grappling with graupel. 

In fact, several sites across New England reported the sudden appearance of graupel on Easter Sunday. 

Described as soft hail or snow pellets, graupel is “not uncommon in the spring when there’s cold air aloft and warmer air towards the ground.” 

Commonly confused with hail, you can easily get a grip (quite literally) on the difference between graupel vs. hail. If the graupel pellet easily crumbles in your hand, that’s your first clue that you’re holding graupel and not hail. 

An even better description for graupel comes from a Maine-based radio station, which reported “Easter Sunday saw Dippin’ Dots Falling from the Skies in Maine, Sorta.”

While graupel isn’t tough enough to pack a punch that results in storm damage, your 

SERVPRO servicepro team of Haverhill / Newburyport is always standing by for any other spring storm remediation you might need, following heavy rains or high winds.

The Mother of Floods

4/29/2022 (Permalink)

As we look ahead to May and Mother’s Day, your neighborhood SERVPRO team thinks it’s important to mark the Mother’s Day floods of 2006, which caused unprecedented damage to New Hampshire’s landscape and its communities.

Sure, they weren’t that long ago, but most people have probably already forgotten that 2006 brought historic flooding to NH, which led to an official disaster declaration by former president of the United States, George W. Bush. 

While no one, fortunately, perished in these floods, water damage across the state of New Hampshire exceeded $14 million, with an estimated 600 roads closed and approximately 60 washed away. 

With these statistics, it’s easy to assume that people just didn’t do enough at the time to mitigate the disaster. 

However, Goffstown fire Lieutenant Bill Connor recalls, “It started as a typically rainy weekend. We started getting calls that were giving us a hint that something bigger was happening.”

As we now know, something bigger did happen, of course; however, for the Goffstown Fire Department, the floods came with a small, but significant silver lining: “We now have boats with engines that are made to operate in different conditions than the ones we used to have. We’ve changed our suits that we use for rescue,” according to Connor.  

Sometimes it takes a mother of a flood to shine the light on the need for stronger emergency forces, in the event that our state should ever experience another flood of this magnitude again. 

Should you find yourself dealing with water damage on your property, your local SERVPRO of Haverhill / Newburyport team will show up to save the day, delivering water restoration and water remediation services you can trust.

Your new favorite home improvement gadget

4/1/2022 (Permalink)

The MM-2000 Goggles also feature 3 thermal imaging modes, and a 4k Ultra-HD camera.

Have you ever wondered if the walls of your home were hiding a world of water damage? We see cases of it regularly. But sometimes, calling in the pros to answer, “what if?” just isn’t worth it. Well, just in time for the start of Home Health Month, we’re here to announce our first ever direct to consumer at home moisture damage detection solution. Introducing the MM-2000 Goggles, a stylish solution to the question “is now the right time to call SERVPRO?”

Our MM-2000 Goggles are the first and only product like this on the market. A moisture meter, infrared thermometer, thermal imaging sensor, and camera, all wrapped into one unassuming pair of glasses. The glasses will even let you know when they detect levels that warrant calling in the experts. There is a micro-SD card slot on the left temple (or arm) for expandable and removable storage and can be charged via USB-C cable.

If you have the companion app installed on your phone, you can review the levels and live footage recorded form each scan, check mold growth in real time, call to schedule an estimate, and even share your scan results with our team for expert feedback.

No more costly tests, no more “honey, don’t worry, if there was a problem, I’d know about it.” Now you too can know if there is something lurking behind the walls of your home, all for $99.95.

To learn more or order your very own pair of SERVPRO MM-2000 Goggles, give us a call at 1-800-401-FOOLS

There’s an App for That!

4/1/2022 (Permalink)

As a commercial property owner, you’ve got plenty on your plate. When it comes to storm preparedness, even in the spring, our team at SERVPRO suggests you take advantage of technology in order to have an extra set of eyes on anything unexpected that might appear on the horizon. 

Spring storms can be just as nasty as those in the winter time. They often bring torrential downpours and high winds, which can result in storm damage on your commercial property, especially if you’re not prepared. 

That’s why FEMA has created an app that is easily downloaded from the Apple App Store or Google Play. The FEMA App is designed to deliver National Weather Service real-time alerts, and can do so for up to five locations across the country. So, if you have more than one commercial property, this is a great option to monitor any inclement weather, no matter where you are located. 

By using this app, you can even share these alerts via text, email or social media posts, which makes communicating with your team, employees, and even customers seamless… and speedy!

While you’re at it, you should also take advantage of SERVPRO’s Emergency Readiness Profile, which gives you access to all of your important contact information and shut off locations in one spot!  

For anything that somehow flies under the radar and causes storm damage, call your local SERVPRO team!

Celebrating the Spring Equinox and All its Unpredictability

3/31/2022 (Permalink)

Spring is finally upon us with its official arrival marked on Sunday, March 20, 2022. The first day of spring, also known as the spring or vernal equinox, brings with it milder temperatures, longer days and… unpredictable weather. 

That’s right -- just because winter is behind us doesn’t mean we won’t see our share of spring storms, including rain accumulations and high winds -- both of which can cause similar storm damage to snow and ice, without proper preparation. 

Now is the ideal time to check your property for potential storm debris, like weak or overgrown branches, along with clogged gutters or downspouts, which need to be cleared in order for heavy rains to flow freely and away from the structure of your home.

As much as we’re all excited to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air, when a spring storm is in the forecast, you’ll want to store your patio furniture -- including table umbrellas -- to avoid any property damage due to high winds.

When a storm hits, no matter how prepared you are, damage can still follow. That’s why your  

SERVPRO servicepro team of Haverhill / Newburyport is always standing by.

Check Your Household for These Hazardous Toys

3/29/2022 (Permalink)

Unfortunately, our SERVPRO team needs to alert you about some popular toys that have become notorious for their potential to cause a fire in your home. In order to avoid the need for our fire restoration service, check your home for the following hazardous toys… (hint: they all have one thing in common and that is electricity). 

1. Ride-on cars: So fun for kids! And yet, a possible safety hazard. Even major retailers like Fisher Price have had to recall some of their most popular products like the Power Wheels drivable cars due to fires caused by overheated components. 
2. RC Helicopters/Drones: the problem here comes from the Lithium-Ion Polymer (LiPo) batteries these “toys” require. Although safe in good condition, a damaged LiPo battery is a serious fire hazard. 
3. Too Hot Hoverboards: similar to the batteries in RC vehicles and drones, hoverboards require an electrical charge. Enough hoverboards have caught fire while charging that they have been banned by major airlines and some college campuses. All the more reason to keep them out of your house. 

Whether from a too-hot toy or some other fire hazard, trust your local SERVPRO of Haverhill / Newburyport team for expert fire restoration should you ever need it!