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Restoring, instead of replacing, can save companies huge potential expenditures The latest technology, state-of-the art equipment and a staff that’s second-to-none in experience and knowledge combine to make Kelowna’s Stutters Disaster Kleenup the top restoration company in the Okanagan Valley. Doug Braun, contents project manager, says the company’s mantra is “Restore, Don’t Replace.” And there’s no one better in the business than Stutters. With a 20,000 square-foot facility in Kelowna, Stutters probably has the best-equipped restoration complex in Western Canada, he says. “We have a total contents solution and we’re really pressing the idea of restoring items rather than replacing them. The savings, in terms of expenditures by insurance companies and the costs associated with landfills, can be huge,” Braun states. As an example, Braun says the landfill in Kelowna alone handles traffic of between four and six thousand vehicles a week. And it currently processes about 244,000 metric tonnes of waste per year. “In four years time, the projections are that it’s going to almost triple to 811,000 metric tonnes. So that’s the reality of what we’re facing and what they’re projecting just here in Kelowna. It makes so much sense to restore rather than just write everything off and replace it through insurance,” he comments.
Contact your local Wood Wyant representative for more information at 1.800.361.7691.
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Ops Talk • Spring 2010
Subsidiary of Sani Marc Group
O’Dell System used by Stutters.
Braun says Stutters offers four different solutions to cleaning damaged items that are affected by water, sewer backup, smoke or soot. One is the Esporta Wash System which cleans all soft contents—clothes, bedding and the like. It uses a process that kills mould, bacteria, fungus and viruses and removes the smell of smoke, soot, bacteria and other contaminants. To clean and restore any electronics components including computers and televisions, Stutters uses the O’Dell System. It has a portable unit and an on-site unit at its restoration facility. Braun says the system is the same one used by NASA and Boeing to maintain their electronic equipment. “The O’Dell System is a high-end piece of equipment that’s used industry-wide. If something is in a flood and we can get it soon enough, then we can usually restore it. If something’s been in a fire, the system can also eliminate odour in plastic. And what it actually does is clean and re-surface metal. And if you look at a computer that’s been treated, and you look at the board, it looks shiny and better than new. It gets it that clean,” Braun states. An ultra-sonic cleaning process called Fireline is another method used by Stutters. Any items that have gone through a fire and are damaged by soot are placed in a special stainless steel tank and cleaned. Even hard-to-reach areas that can’t be accessed by hand can be treated. “It’s the industrial, commercial version of the approach taken by jewellers in cleaning jewellery. We can clean china that’s gone through a fire. We can clean metals and glass. It’s absolutely amazing to just watch the soot dissolve,” he says. For documents damaged by water, Stutters offers specialized document-drying. “There are several different approaches. But the one that we use is called sublimation. That refers to the conversion of a solid to a vapour without going through the liquid phase. What we do is freeze a document and put it through a sublimation chamber. And over the course of two weeks, the ice just evaporates. Done properly, the document comes out almost flat.” Stutters serves the entire Okanagan Valley. In addition to Kelowna, it has offices in Vernon, Penticton and Big White. To learn more about Stutters Disaster Kleenup, please visit the website at: www.stutters.com or phone toll-free: 1-877-763-1540.
