Large scale flood damage restoration
What happened?
In mid-February 2020, during Storm Dennis, the River Trent burst its banks and flooded 18 residential properties—ground-floor flats and two-storey semi-detached blocks located directly beside the river. Contaminated “black water” spread through all ground-floor areas to a depth of approximately 0.5 metres.
Every ground-floor room was affected, with damage to flooring, skirting, door frames and doors, as well as kitchens and bathrooms. We attended site the following day to begin damage assessments and implement immediate mitigation measures.
Our response
We mobilised quickly to make the properties safe and to limit further loss, providing temporary electrics, a complete strip-out, decontamination and sanitising. We then delivered full reinstatement works, including redecoration. Initially instructed on only three properties, we assumed responsibility for an additional 15 nearby homes due to the internal reactive maintenance provider’s lack of capacity. This required careful coordination of access across multiple tenants, prioritising vulnerable residents—while operating during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Given the age of the buildings, immediate asbestos remediation was necessary and was managed and carried out by BELFOR’s asbestos specialists. To address widespread moisture, we installed multiple dynamic drying solutions across all 18 properties, achieving an average drying time of 11 days per property. Water damage within cavity walls required turbine injection drying systems and tenting to ensure effective, efficient drying.
During initial surveys we also identified pre-existing defects (e.g., damp proofing issues) that needed to be addressed to rebuild the homes not only to their original condition, but better than before. In parallel, we put an ongoing support system in place to help manage tenant contents not covered under the claim, including full inventory, removal and disposal.
Results
Through proactive project management and continual communication with Housing Association managers, the Loss Adjuster, insurer, and tenants during the flooding surge event—and throughout the COVID-19 outbreak—we maintained momentum across the programme.
By coordinating our in-house end-to-end services and collaborating closely with all stakeholders, we successfully returned the first tenants to their homes within four weeks.
“This project was one of the first major in-house, end-to-end projects we undertook in the business. The way in which our teams responded to this loss, in the middle of a major wide area flooding surge event, and then the way in which they managed the restoration and reinstatements through the first outbreak of the pandemic, working with the client and supporting their customers was truly remarkable. Through communication and collaboration across our in-house end-to-end service, we managed to get the first tenants back in
their homes within four weeks.”
Paul Anderson – Director of Construction Services
