DOCUMENT RESTORATION

"State of the Art" document restoration techniques
result in fast complete recovery. Accurate
assessment of damaged documents determines the
most efficient and cost effective method of
restoration.
American
Catastrophe
prudently
categorizes
the damaged
documents
to ascertain
the priority
of restoration
and creates
an accurate
inventory to
ensure an
organized return of documents when restoration
has been completed. Assistance of the facility staff,
augmented with American Catastrophe's guidance
is a necessity.

Almost all commercial and most residential clean-up
projects will require some sort of document restoration.
The success rate of restored documents is very high
(90% of smoke and/or water damaged papers can be
restored to at least a reproducible condition). As
with almost any type of restoration work, immediate
attention maximizes results. The techniques used
will depend on the type fo damage the printed material
incurred.

WATER DAMAGED PAPER
Printed materials exposed to water or high humidity
levels must be carefully packed so that the papers
will not fall apart when handled. The papers
are removed from the premises and transported
to a facility with a blast freeze capabilities. Once
frozen, the printed material is placed in a
barometric chamber where it is transformed into
a dry state. The documents are then placed in
an ozone chamber (to eliminate any odor) and,
once treated, cleaned with vulcanized dry
sponges.

SMOKE AND/OR SOOT DAMAGED PAPER
Smoke and/or soot damaged documents are removed
from the location and hand cleaned, sheet by sheet.
A vulcanized
dry sponge
capable of
absorbing
minute
particles is
applied to
both sides
of each sheet.
This removes
any soot or
smoke residue.
The documents are then placed in an ozone chamber to
eliminate smoke odor.