Greetings to all PACR members! If you missed the last PACR Power Meeting about Hands on Water Damage you missed a great update on the S500 Water Damage Standards. Constant reminders of protocol and what it really means to be a Professional. Purely coincidental I had a business colleague who I happen to run into at a chamber networking event that mentioned his water heater went out a few days back and he had not done anything about the wet carpet. We set up an appointment for a crew to visit his home the next morning. When the crew was there they noticed brown wicking on the baseboards, casing and door jambs. It was a pretty clean basement so there apparently was no cause for immediate concern. My friend’s wife was quite distraught over the ordeal and could not understand why he was making a fuss over what was originally just “cheap” carpet. I did explain the ramifications of mold growth and indoor air quality and that it all needed to be addressed to maintain the quality of living space and the value of their home. During our Power Meeting the point of questions that should be asked at any water loss was addressed. One of those questions was “Has there ever been another water loss on the premise?”  This is a question is probably overlooked more than any other. After our Power Meeting my friend Jeff was emailing back and forth on how distraught his wife was and that he happened to run into his neighbor at Wendy’s who questioned as to why he did not contact him after he noticed our vans at his home. His neighbor owns his own carpet cleaning company. Of course Jeff explained that we have heat drying technology and that we do other business together. As it turns out we ended up talking on the phone as I was driving at the time (Bluetooth of course). I asked the question as to if there had ever been another water loss at the home? He stated that yes, it was a sewer back up but his neighbor with the carpet cleaning company came over extracted the sewer water, set up a few fans and sprayed it heavily with a deodorizer. You can imagine the conversation that I had with him at that point. My point to you is if you are a true “Professional” get involved with you local Trade Association and separate yourself from the guy who proclaims to know what he is doing  without any certifications or training at all. Together we can make this happen and soon the consumer will know how to tell us apart. Hope to see you at the next Power Meeting and we can discuss your thoughts. To Your Success! As always, thank you for being a member of the PACR.   Steve Moran 303-791-1870 steve@acleanercarpet.net