noah's ark came to my shop...

[nashvillesigns]

Happy new year everyone!
it finally happened...
burst pipe above my shop from a unoccupied unit, and water rained EVERYWHERE.
so much moisture in the walls the paint started to blister. the entire shop windows fogged over and iced up.
All of my vinyl stock is pretty much ruined.
After drying out all the equipment, i was able to get my printer, (mimaki jv-33) running again.
the RIP computer is kinda toast, though. gonna find another faster one somewhere.

my question is,
1. since the oracal printable material is buckled by the paper getting wet/moist, is it fixable?
2. i figured the banner material is good. i will test that.
3. what are the long term effects of the water damage to my electrical stuff?
4. the mimaki is printing like it never happened. why am i so nervous?
5. shop smells like a barn. God, i love horsehair plaster.

thanks for reading!


-mosher

 

[JgS]

Sorry about that. Was water dripping on the printer? If not I would think it is OK. But I still wouldn't turn it on untill the moisture goes down.

I had something simmiler happen at my shop during the summer. My vinyl was not saveable. The backing paper became warped and that was the end of that.

I wold make sure to get lots of pictures and take note of everything damaged in case you need to file a clam with your insurance.

 

[Gino]

This happened to us in 1995.

I don't know about nowadays, but back then, any electrical or computer type equipment was considered toast immediately. While most things can tolerate some water hitting it temporarily.... water coming down through ceilings, walls and other places than out of a clean beaker, the water is considered contaminated and your electric eyes, motors and whatnot won't last long. I'd call your insurance company immediately and get the ball rolling.

Most things still worked the next day for us, but as we replaced equipment, no one was even interested in our old stuff. Tried one of the plotters about 4 or 5 months later and it wouldn't work. Made some crazy sounds, but didn't do what it was supposed to.

 

[CanuckSigns]

I would call your insurance company right away, let them know what happened and I would have them pay for a tech to come out and at the very least give the equipment a once over and make any repairs/replacements that need to be done.

I would assume your landloard's insurance would cover this seeing as how they didn't heat the unoccupied unit well enough to prevent the pipes from freezing

 

[fresh]

You are a much calmer person than me. I'm sorry to hear about the loss, let us know if we can help out while you are offline.

 

[kanini]

So sorry to hear about his! This is exactly why you pay ridiculous insurance fees year after year, let them know what happened and get the most out of your insurance right away! Good luck!

 

[MikePro]

paper-backed vinyl & laminates are ruined by water.
your equipment might be ok, as most of the important electrical components are raised & enclosed.
Remove HD's asap & store in a safe/dry place... data is priceless.

now's a good time to cash-in that insurance coverage. ...and move to another location.

 

[g&eprinting]

I am in Everett MA and would be happy to help if needed as well..

G&E Printing
165 Chelsea St
Everett MA
02149

Eddy
617-294-2945

 

[SIGNTIME]

if its going through your insurance you should get an adjuster cause insurance companies will try to get you to settle quick for an unfair amount

 

[CanuckSigns]

if its going through your insurance you should get an adjuster cause insurance companies will try to get you to settle quick for an unfair amount

You wanna talk about unfair, just ask what the adjuster takes! When we had our fire we considered hiring an adjuster, untill they told me their fee is 25% of our final payout or around $65,000!

 

[Locals Find!]

You wanna talk about unfair, just ask what the adjuster takes! When we had our fire we considered hiring an adjuster, untill they told me their fee is 25% of our final payout or around $65,000!

That seems high till you realize that an experienced well qualified adjuster will get you 25% or more, than you would have gotten by doing it yourself. Adjusters are professionals and will go through every single item you possibly owned that was damaged and account for it. Things you wouldn't even have given a second thought to.

I had an associate of mine whose house burned down that hired an adjuster that adjuster accounted for minute things he would have never thought about like toothbrushes, cleaning supplies, linens, the food in the house, etc.... Thousands of dollars in goods that most people don't even give a second thought too in there day to day lives as it's only a few dollars here and there when your purchasing the stuff and living your life.

 

[CanuckSigns]

That seems high till you realize that an experienced well qualified adjuster will get you 25% or more, than you would have gotten by doing it yourself. Adjusters are professionals and will go through every single item you possibly owned that was damaged and account for it. Things you wouldn't even have given a second thought to.

I had an associate of mine whose house burned down that hired an adjuster that adjuster accounted for minute things he would have never thought about like toothbrushes, cleaning supplies, linens, the food in the house, etc.... Thousands of dollars in goods that most people don't even give a second thought too in there day to day lives as it's only a few dollars here and there when your purchasing the stuff and living your life.

There is still a maximum the policy will pay out, in our case our loss was a little bit more than our policy maximum, so there was no way to get more money. If you have enough coverage to add 25% without reaching your policy limits! you are over insured.

 

[401Graphics]

Im also not far from you. Let me know if you need any help. Send me a PM

 

[Techman]

Both my encads went through Katrina. Rain water all over the place in the building. Ruined every thing in the materials room..

However, after they dried out the encads started right up and ran perfect. I still have one encad and it still runs fine eight years later.

So, I believe you will be just fine..

 

[SightLine]

Sorry to hear about the mess. I just woke up this morning to the same thing. Fortunately it was not in my business but a 16x32 workshop in my backyard. Newish steel building I built about 8 years ago and I ran a 3/4" water line out there. I left the spigot on the building dripping slowly, apparently too slowly. Wife said the water pressure in the house seemed weak yesterday afternoon and I did not think anything of it since a few outside faucets had been left dripping due to the deep freezing temps expected here. Well temps are supposed to get back up in the mid 40's today and not supposed to go below freezing for the next couple of weeks so I went around outside this morning to shut the faucets off. Noticed right away water literally spraying out the edges of the roll up door. Apparently I built that building very well, I had to force the regular door open and when I did there was literally 6 inches of water well contained in there. Sloshed on in, got soaked, shut the water off to the building, and opened the roll up door. It took a good 15 minutes for the water to drop to about a half inch deep. Going to take several days to get everything dried out. Had to come in to open the business up but am taking a big 16" squirrel cage fan and a couple of other fans back home shortly to start the drying out process. Looks like my plans for this weekend are set with dragging everything out of the building.

 

[nashvillesigns]

water updates

Thanks for the replies, guys....

UPDATE.

1. Figures i lose the stereo equipment that runs the shop. sounds like a morgue in here without it. dropped the stuff off at the repair shop. really can't justify not fixing my Denon.
there is something to be said with music in the background of a manufacturing shop. i am a believer!

2. printer works very well. Even after i unplugged it for a whole weekend. before i did, i filled up the heads with cleaning fluid and unplugged it. left a fan blowing on that in another room for those three days.
did not want to dry out the heads.

3. water does not discriminate. it does have an appetite. it wrecked all the paper cores, both receivers and the vinyl stock. waiting for the insurance adjuster to come here. i feel an argument coming on.

4. the computer that runs the mimaki got soaked, but seems to be working. i blew dry that with my compressor and sprayed it with QC spray. knock on wood.

So, we are up in running with only a downtime of a day. the walls look blistered and i am watching the ceiling. it looks mottled and there is a bow in it. still debating drilling a hole in it to test the integrity. i don't really have the room to move the printer away from under it. more on that fiasco.

 

[SignManiac]

I'm glad it wasn't as devastating as it could have been. A flood is one of my biggest fears as we have a fire suppression system throughout the entire building. I could be out hundreds of thousands of dollars with the equipment I have. Better knock on some wood.

 

[Locals Find!]

I'm glad it wasn't as devastating as it could have been. A flood is one of my biggest fears as we have a fire suppression system throughout the entire building. I could be out hundreds of thousands of dollars with the equipment I have. Better knock on some wood.

If your running electrical equipment which I am pretty sure you are. You don't want to be using a water based suppression system. You need a foam based suppression system.

I would definitely check with your Service company that is doing your quarterly inspections about the system you have in place and whether or not is the proper system for your needs. Many people don't pay much attention to their sprinkler systems and whether or not it's the right system and it can have disastrous consequences on your business in a very direct way with or without a fire occurring.

I ran the inspection division for a large fire sprinkler company a few years back so this is something I know about.