Restoration has its own vocabulary, and it turns up in estimates, drying logs and insurance letters. These are the terms we use most, explained the way we would explain them on a job. Where a term has its own article or service page, the explanation links to it in the related reading below.
- Affected area
- The part of a building that took water, smoke or mold, measured in square feet. Scopes and equipment counts are based on it.
- Air mover
- A high-velocity fan that pushes dry air across wet surfaces so they release moisture faster.
- Antimicrobial
- A treatment applied to cleaned surfaces after water damage to stop mold and bacteria from growing while materials dry.
- Backwater valve
- A one-way valve on a building’s sewer line that closes when the public sewer surcharges, keeping sewage from flowing back in.
- Black water (Category 3)
- Grossly contaminated water, such as sewage, flood water from outside, or water that sat long enough to grow bacteria. Porous materials it touches are removed.
- Board-up
- Covering broken windows, doors or storefronts with plywood to secure a building after a fire, storm or break-in.
- Clean water (Category 1)
- Water from a sanitary source, such as a supply line or a tub overflow before contamination. Materials can often be dried in place.
- Containment
- Plastic sheeting, often under negative air pressure, that seals off a work area so mold, dust or soot does not spread to clean rooms.
- Dehumidifier
- A machine that pulls moisture out of the air so wet materials can release theirs.
- Dry standard
- The target reading for dry materials, taken from the same material in an unaffected room. Drying ends when wet materials match it.
- Flood cut
- Removing drywall in a straight line a set distance above the high-water mark so the framing behind can be cleaned and dried.
- Gray water (Category 2)
- Water with some contamination, such as washing machine discharge or a sink backup. Pad and soaked porous materials usually come out.
- HEPA vacuum
- A vacuum with a high-efficiency filter that traps fine particles such as soot and mold spores instead of blowing them back into the room.
- Hydroxyl generator
- An odor treatment machine that can run while people are in the home, working more slowly than ozone.
- Local Law 55
- New York City’s 2018 law on indoor allergen hazards, including the rules owners follow when removing mold in residential buildings.
- Moisture map
- A floor plan marked with moisture readings in each affected area, used to plan drying and to document the loss for insurers.
- Negative air
- A setup that exhausts filtered air from a work area so air flows into it rather than out of it.
- Pack-out
- Inventorying and moving belongings out of a damaged home so drying, cleaning and rebuilding can happen.
- Protein residue
- The sticky, nearly invisible film left by burnt food, which needs degreasing rather than soap and water.
- Puff-back
- A misfire in an oil burner that blows oily soot out through the heating system into the rooms.
- Scope of loss
- An itemized list of the work needed after a loss, with quantities and reasons, used by adjusters to approve the claim.
- Structural drying
- Drying the building itself, including studs, subfloors, plaster and slabs, not just the visible surfaces.
- Thermal fogging
- An odor treatment that heats a deodorizer into a fine fog that reaches the same cracks and pores smoke did.
- Thermal camera
- A camera that shows surface temperature; wet areas usually read cool, but every cool spot is confirmed with a meter.