Check out our new SERVPRO of Black Hawk Count makeover at our central office in Waterloo! Our new look screams GREEN TEAM loud and proud!

Investing in top-of-the-line equipment is essential to ensuring the success of your restoration project. Having high-quality tools and equipment can make all the difference in achieving your desired results. By acquiring the best possible equipment, you can increase your efficiency, improve your output quality, and ultimately boost your chances of success. SERVPRO of Black Hawky County invests in the best tools for the job, ensuring we get you back to "like it never even happened!"

The rainbow that appeared while SERVPRO was on the job is a great testament to how this story ended. The best part?? The person who experienced this flooding and damage has now been a SERVPRO employee for the past couple of years and she is a great addition to our team! Despite the mess that can sometimes come with life, there is always a rainbow at the end of a storm! SERVPRO is here to be your rainbow!

SERVPRO recognizes the importance of organized documentation for insurance claims and your peace of mind following a fire incident. Rely on SERVPRO to restore order amidst chaos and prioritize your valuables!

Scott and Chuck stepped into the construction role for a day to build us our very own "wall experiment"- The wall looks dry, but is it? This portable wall is used to showcase the fact that often times even when your insulation or drywall is saturated from behind, the outside looks dry to the eye. Let's give it up for Scott and Chuck, this demo is such a cool tool for us to help educate!

Our staff has been trained by IICRC on constructing and setting up containment and decontamination chambers with negative pressure. These chambers are built on-site in areas with bacterial growth or biohazardous material to prevent the spread of harmful substances through inhalation, ingestion, or contact. Our team believes that education is essential to ensuring safety. We are always striving to improve our skills and knowledge to better serve our clients.

Standing over your toaster while it cooks your food can make it seem like it takes decades for you to get that perfect piece of toast, but you're doing it right! Never walk away from appliances when they are in use or yours could end up looking like this!

When a faulty toilet leaves a water mess, we intervene! Our team set this up by drilling holes and putting these tubes up into the ceiling which then pushes air into the ceiling cavity and in turn, produces quicker drying time for the drywall as well as the subfloor from underneath. In this particular job, they were able to utilize multiple hoses in different areas all off of one air mover!

The face behind the phone! We want to give our Job File Coordinator, Derise some praise for her efforts of always being a friendly voice to our customers when they call! In addition to Derise's kind demeanor, we also want to thank the rest of our team for continually providing wonderful customer service for people in their times of need

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County was named Business of the Year, 2021. We’re proud that this award pays tribute to the owner, Scott & Libby Demuth, and all the employees who passionately & selflessly serve, helping people rebuild their lives after a catastrophe! We feel extremely privileged to be part of all the outstanding businesses and individuals that were awarded.

Some of our team enjoying the beautiful night in honor of employee appreciation at the Bucks Baseball Stadium! It was a great night to enjoy some hotdogs and hamburgers, as well as each other's company!

Mold formed from frost over the winter in this cellar located under the front concrete stoop. Although this was a tight space, our technician was able to get in there and remediate the mold! He was careful to contain all the mold spores within that space and using an air scrubber to filter the bad air outside. 

Our team shows ingenuity and pride as they tackle how to dry an attic after an ICE DAM causes water to leak through the roofing system.Project manager, Keith, and technician, Ben, built 6 shelves for our air-movers so as to dry the north side of the roof FAST & EFFICIENTLY. Way to go! If you see signs of water damage on your ceiling, there might be a water leak coming through the roof. Inspect your attic for signs of water leaks or high humidity to avoid further water damage and mold issues.

When the boss gives a shoutout for his team during a zoom meeting, you gotta share the KUDOS! “I appreciate my team so much…they’ve been averaging 11–13 hour days, plus weekends, cleaning up 26 residential water & fire losses combined, 5 commercial buildings, including a local restaurant, a strip mall in Waverly with 5 businesses shut down after a fire, provided compassion and cleanup after a trauma and they got a family back into their home in Cresco after being displaced for 1 year due to a fire. SO proud of this crew!" -Scott Demuth

Listen Now: 

Character Counts SERVPRO -- Thu. Oct. 22, 2020 by News/Talk 1540 KXEL

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County was nominated for the Business of Character: Character Award for the help they provided to another local business. Franchise owner, Scott Demuth shares the importance of customer service, our priority to share care and concern, and about our services.

Here's our smile supplier, Debbie Robeson, as she passes out a treat and some knowledge about our services to our realtors at a community event. We are grateful we have the chance to partner with realtors for any home-related services such as mold remediation, detailed cleaning, carpet cleaning, and more!

Stormwater filled the ceilings and ran down the walls of a middle school classroom. The high humidity loosened signs from the walls and weakened the material of the tile which eventually crumbled to the floor.

We set up a dehumidifier and several air scrubbers on the wrestling mat of this gym because of high humidity and water damage. 

A Desiccant Dehumidifier is a piece of powerful equipment that allows us to serve larger commercial losses such as storm damage in a school. This will lower the humidity of large spaces by adsorbing the moisture and leaving the machine as warm dry air.

Ceiling tiles from a classroom fell onto the floor and desks because of water that seeped in from a damaged roof. The moisture weakened the tile and the material started to crumble. We will pick up all the debris, remove damaged tiles, dry and clean the carpets as well as remove any moisture in the air.

Content from a middle school will be packed up and cleaned in a safer and more controlled setting. In the meantime, the structure will be cleaned and sanitized before new or clean content fill the room again. 

We filled up our green trailer with several types of equipment to clean up this middle school. The school received major storm damage after heavy winds blew off the roof. We set up the equipment in several classes and the hallways.

Panic is reasonable when you are watching your basement transform into a water park. We are here to help your panic turn into peace. Our team went to work as they extracted the water, put up several drying equipment, and removed drywall. 

Business underwater? 

We helped clean up water in a local business in Waterloo, after a flash flood. Water seeped into the activity room, dining hall, bar, and cooler in a county club. There were several puddles on the cemented and carpeted flooring.

Call the professionals.

As a business owner, you want to ensure that your business is well taken care of and while you may have expertise in a different area, our expertise is in water and fire restoration.

This imported Iran rug was a pop of color on our gray cemented floors at our warehouse. A customer dropped off this beauty so we can have it professionally washed and dried for them. No problem! The colors looks even more vibrant than when it came in. 

At the 2020 Northeast Iowa Regional Board of Realtors Vendor Fair, we set up our display table to showcase three of our services. Although we specialize in fire and water restoration, our services include carpet cleaning, mold remediation, and nicotine cleanup. We even brought one of our equipment that deodorizes a home. The place was scented of homebaked cinnamon rolls! We hope that we can of assistance to our local realtors and even homeowners in their process of selling or buying a home.

This carpet looks great! The pattern is called "shark teeth" but don't worry, this carpet won't bite. Our technicians have done an excellent job in stain removal, dry and wet vacuum, as well as deodorizing the carpet. The pattern is created with the vacuum wand that overlays after various sweeps. The pattern is raked out to leave it at its original state.

The landlord of a local apartment complex in Waterloo called us to assist after a grease fire that turned on the sprinklers system. We responded to the call immediately. 4 floors were affected. We extracted the water and set up equipment to dry.

We clean up BIG messes so we know how important it is to prevent them. We dropped off large boxes of tissues and sanitizing wipes to the Cedar Falls School District. We hope this can keep our school safe and clean. Superintendent Andy Patee was there to receive our gift.

This living room suffers smoke damage to the interior of the home and contents. You can see the outlines of the stuff that has been removed from the wall. 

Cardboard placed on a stove caught on fire and smoke traveled throughout this home. The kitchen vent had the most soot but white kitchen cabinets also became shades darker.

Be careful of what you place on the stove even if the stove is off. We might accidentally bump into the stove and turn it on without realizing it. A box went up in flames creating a lot of smoke.

This was the aftermath of a smoker malfunction and the food inside got too hot. The smoker experienced most of the damage. The restaurant received a full smoke/fire cleanup.

It is common for mold to start growing on the rubber of your front-loading machine. Avoid growth by cleaning it regularly and making sure the room is dry from humidity.

Give your neck a good stretch by turning your attention to the ceiling. Check your home or business for any yellow stains. It may be the result of a moisture problem. Whether it's from roof damage or a leaky pipe, prevent higher cost in damage by being observant of your home and dealing with the issue as soon as possible. We are here to help with your water damage needs.

This blue bucket collects water coming down from the ceiling. If you don't have a bucket, you can easily use a deep cooking pot and protect your carpet from getting wet. Water can get inside your home from damage in your roof or a full gutter. 

The owner is not sure how this hole in the roof happened and even that it was there until he noticed water leaking from the ceiling. What is the condition of your roof? If you have a water leak and need an extraction plus cleanup, give us a call. We are here to help.

A great shout out to our production managers Brett and Evan who took some time during their weekend to help with beer pouring for the Iowa Irish Fest. It was a really good time!

On August 3rd, 2019, we went out as the SERVPRO family to be apart of a fun weekend community event called Iowa Irish Fest. This festival was so much fun as it celebrated Irish culture and was filled with entertainment. We are excited to be apart of the Waterloo community and seeing it flourish as it did that weekend. 

Our production manager, Brent went to a job on a farm for a possible water backup/sewage loss. As he was leaving from the inspection, this calf ran towards him. The calf was nibbling on Brent's clothes. He probably never envisioned that he was going to have an opportunity to feed this adorable baby cow. The expression on Brent's face is priceless.

On June 4th, We were able to see so many of our friends having a great time at Beaver's Hills. We were able to sponsor a hole for the event. We brought our very own SERVPRO canopy, some chairs, goodies, AND because we are very much about educating, we made a mini-golf game with one of the equipment we use on the field called an InjectaDry. We had so much! Thanks to all the real estate agents, insurers, and adjusters for having such a good time with us.

Before our technician starts to steam clean the carpets, our technician goes around to spray and treat concentrated spots or stains. This will ensure that we take tough stains out and make those carpet are ready for the first day of school.

Most mornings, our green trucks are in the gravel next to the warehouse getting ready to be loaded up with equipment for the day's job. It's quite a treat to see all these trucks exiting the driveway and on their way to a different location around the cedar valley. Wave to our team if you see them on the road. They will really appreciate it.

We are very fortunate to be trusted by the school to clean and polish their floors before students come back to school. Our cleaning technician buffers the floor to remove old wax as well as any dirt buildup. Then after cleaning the floors, our team will apply 3-4 layers of wax. 

This was the aftermath of an AC malfunction. The electrical fire engulfed the entire fourplex. After the fire department had to take the necessary function to put out this massive fire, the complex received severe fire and water damage. 4 families are now relocated while we clean and restore after this unfortunate disaster.

This home was so hot inside that all the smoke had to eventually escape. Many windows were shattered including a small window on this front door. It's scary to imagine the same front door that usually opens up to an inviting place, could now open up to a major disaster. We are fortunate that this homeowner had trusted us to completely restore this home. 

This small home is going under major restoration and construction after a fire engulfed every room in the house. While the home is vacant during this process, we are ensuring the home stays protected from unwanted visitors. Our team is able to come and work during any time of day to get this home looking "Like it never even happened."

As an industry professional, we’ve learned the most effective method for saving papers and photos is to place the damaged items in the freezer to halt the damage. It’s not a one-step solution, but freezing the items buys you enough time to stabilize the situation. The trick is to take immediate action, so we have time to decide what documents must be saved and what documents can be tossed.

With storms threatening to cause havoc for renters and landlords, we have taken it upon ourselves to educate the community about how we can be of service to them in any disaster.

Starting the education process, we shared at the Landlords of Black Hawk Association’s monthly meeting in April of 2019. Our Project Manager, Evan Meyer, and Marketing Representative, Debbie Robeson, showcased our services and specialty equipment that could be helpful to area landlords.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be a vendor of this organization. 

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County is thankful for the advances in technology with the ITEL app. It helps determine replacement costs for carpet and pad after a water loss. The ITEL app is one more way we are implementing technology to help reduce stress for customers and insurance agencies alike.

Our technician, Adam Koch, is going by a new title these days: The Professional Packer. It's true. Adam has proved to be meticulous and efficient in packing our SERVPRO vehicles with equipment.

He's saved our team many headaches in the few short months he's been with us, and we could not be more grateful for his dedication to our team.  

Severe cold temperatures led to a water pipe break at the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber office located in Waterloo, IA.

The loss occurred on a Monday morning, and by the following Monday, the office space was back to being fully functional and operational.

This commercial building suffered from a broken water pipe over the weekend. When everyone arrived to work on Monday morning, they were shocked to find 2 inches of standing water on the second floor. 

With the help of our team, we extracted the water and dried the affected area before the damage could get any worse. 

On January 10^th, the American Red Cross introduced their new Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) to the public by serving coffee and donuts at a local Hy-Vee in Waterloo.

It's our pleasure to house the new ERV at our location, keeping it charged and ready to go. The vehicle will respond to local and nationwide disasters with the help of donations and volunteers.

When nonprofits and for-profits work together, amazing things can happen for our community.

On December 26^th, SERVPRO sponsored the First Responder Bowl held in Dallas, Texas. Even though the game was canceled, we were able to honor the heroes who serve our country on a daily basis.

Our Smile Supplier, Debbie, visited some of our insurance agents on Halloween dressed as “Better Together”.

What goes together better than milk and cookies or peanut butter and jelly? The only thing we could think of is SERVPRO and insurance agencies. We couldn’t do our work without their work.

Our deepest appreciation goes out to all of our agencies. Thank you for all that you do!

In September of 2018, we invested in bettering our company by attending the Customer Obsession Summit hosted by VGM. At this summit, we learned the importance of listening to our customers and truly hearing their needs and wants.

Earlier in December, we hosted a food drive for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. At the conclusion, we were able to donate 76 lbs. of food and 54 meals in total. In the photo, Nikki, our Job File Coordinator, is donating non-perishable and personal-care items.

Business office contents were packed properly and cleaned carefully after a humidity issue from a water problem forced the evacuation from the building. Items are stored at our local SERVPRO warehouse until the business building is ready to be occupied again. We are Here to Help!

The Injectidry system is the way to disperse and circulate air BEHIND things to dry it out. It utilizes a regular air mover by attaching the large “lego look-alike” piece to the front and adding as many hoses as necessary to spread the air around. The hoses focus the air to specific cavities that are wet.

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County drilled holes in the kick plate area of the cabinets to permit the hoses to be positioned for directional air distribution.

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County enjoyed a beautiful day at Fox Ridge Golf course in Dike with over 120 people representing our communities in the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber Golf Classic 2018.

Sponsoring a hole with fun games and frozen snickers FORE the golfers PUTT a smile on our face!

On July 3^rd, SERVPRO of Black Hawk County rushed over to Des Moines to help with water cleanup after receiving 10 inches of rain overnight. Commercial buildings and residential areas alike were swamped with flood water.

We truly feel for all of the individuals affected by the flash flooding.

If you have a loss, give us a call. We’ll do everything in our power to help. Call (319) 268-1521. We’re only a phone call away.

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County was called into Mason City to help with a commercial water clean up after flash flooding occurred in the area. Devin, one of our technicians, is using a hard surface squeegee wand to suck up the water that leaked into the building overnight.

If you look closely, you can see water is actually leaking through this ceiling and falling to the floor. Quite a nightmare for any commercial or residential building, but SERVPRO of Black Hawk County came in fully armed to save the day.

This building is now fully operational “Like it never even happened.”

Did you know SERVPRO of Black Hawk County cleans concrete? You heard right! This apartment suffered a water loss and needed a good cleaning after.

The equipment you see in the picture is called a hard surface wand. It can be used to clean concrete after post construction cleanup or category 3 water losses—which contain harmful bacteria. The hard surface wand uses high pressure to clean and extract water at the same time.

Looking at this apartment kitchen now, can you imagine it full of water? As crazy as it might seem, this is actually the after photo of a job that SERVPRO of Black Hawk County took care of. With professional training, our technicians made this apartment look brand new again.

Did you know that SERVPRO of Black Hawk County can do more than residential jobs? Thanks to our SERVPRO Strong motto, we take on big projects with confidence.

The photo above is a utility room inside of a hotel that experienced a water loss from a pipe burst. The water displayed is a category 2, meaning it contains significant contamination and has the potential to cause discomfort or sickness if contacted or consumed by humans.

The mold in this photo was hidden behind wooden paneling in a customer’s basement. This customer shared, “The project manager kept me in the loop, and I always felt like I knew what was going on and what was next. His crew was top notch, always professional, and left the work space clean at the end of the day.”

Our floor mat system can be used to help dry hardwood floors and potentially save the floors from a more expensive replacement. This equipment removes water from floor boards via dehumidification. A major benefit to this system is the hands off feature; once installed, it can be left alone.

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County now houses the American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV). ERV is used to bring supplies such as water and blankets to disaster areas after devastating storms.

We are happy to provide a service to an organization we love and support.

The neat thing about SERVPRO is we are the only company in the restoration industry who works together as a team instead competing against one another. In times of crisis, we actually send crews to needed areas to meet the demand.

In the photo above, SERVPRO of Black Hawk County was called into Mason City to help the SERVPRO there with extensive flooding occurring at the time. We divided and conquered to ensure that everyone got the help they needed.

After a water loss, many times we’ll drill holes in the affected wall. By drilling holes at the base of you wall—underneath the base board of course—we can actually SAVE your wall from having a serious problem such as mold.

The problem with having water behind your walls is dry wall is highly absorbent of water and moisture, and you usually can’t see it until it dries and leaves a yellowish stain. By this point, it’s clear there’s a problem.

The holes we drill provide ventilation when air movers are aimed at the affected area and eliminate the chance of having the yellowish stains as well as mold.

Whenever mold is discovered and confirmed, we separate the contaminated area away from the rest of the house with a mold remediation containment barrier. The barrier is made from long sheets of plastic taped into place and held up with rods.

The containment barrier prevents mold particles from flying all around the house when we are removing it. In addition, we wear protective gear because mold can be harmful to your body and lungs if you’re exposed to it for long periods of time.

If you ever find mold in your home or work place, remember not to disturb it. Leave it to the professionals at SERVPRO of Black Hawk County.

After a fire, the smell of smoke is EVERYWHERE. Even in wood. Good thing SERVPRO of Black Hawk County has a solution. Our ozone generator removes odors from books, papers, fabrics, and furniture by altering the oxygen molecules.

The clothes and fabrics in the photo are placed in a small room with the ozone generator—the green machine on top of the shelves—, and then we let the generator do it's thing.

Depending on the situation, it may take two or three times to get the items odor-free because every situation is different. The temperature, exposure, and many other factors all contribute to the odor.

The ozone generator is the first step in the process of removing odors. It's like a little piece of magic.

These walls have taken in a fair amount of smoke and nicotine over the years, and it’s starting to show. You can see in the photo exactly where the curtains used to be in this home.

Something to keep in mind is nicotine stains don’t happen overnight. They come from years of exposure to smoke and nicotine, so if you don’t want this to happen to your home, you may want to limit the amount of smoking that goes on inside.

We invest in our SERVPRO of Black Hawk County employees by sending them to education classes put on at SERVPRO regional meetings.

Marketing departments from the SERVPRO’S across Iowa gather to discuss social media trends, and unique ways to educate homeowners and business proprietors on recovering from damages of water, fire and biohazard.

Project managers from Iowa experience hands on demonstrations by equipment venders as they discover new ways to use drying tools in homes and businesses.

Franchise owners study up on business advancements and network, sharing insights on clean-up efforts in water and fire losses.

It’s all about us, all for you! More instruction and training brings positive results during catastrophic times like flooding or a disaster with basement sewer back-up or restoring people’s lives after a fire.

Ask for SERVPRO of Black Hawk County when you have a fire or water problem.

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County is happy to have a desiccant dehumidifier as part of our clean-up efforts for water losses in the Cedar Valley & surrounding areas.

It has a sophisticated technique of using desiccant, a material that adsorbs moisture from the air, which is different than absorbs. Adsorbs draws moisture out and it STICKS to the desiccant material commonly in gel form, instead of absorbing it INTO the material.

• Moisture collects on a Silica gel material.
• Dry processed air is released into the affected area/room through a hose.
• The rotor brings soaked desiccant into a “reactivation” air stream where it is heated.
• As the desiccant dries, it releases its moisture into the reactivation air stream as water vapor which is ducted outside through another hose.
• The cycle repeats on a continuous basis, providing a constant drying process.

New equipment to better serve you!

The square footage of an area determines the number of air movers and dehumidifiers it takes to adequately dry out the carpet, walls and ceiling of a room that has experienced a water issue. The larger the space, the more equipment is needed.

A commercial building in Waterloo, Iowa, needed SERVPRO of Black Hawk County to bring in 65 air movers and 19 dehumidifiers for over a week to get the wet problem resolved.

This picture is just a small part of the building.

Mold was discovered behind drywall in a basement! What NOT to DO:

• Don’t touch or disturb the mold.
• Don’t blow air across any surfaces with visible or suspected mold growth.
• Don’t attempt to dry the area yourself.
• Don’t spray bleach or other disinfectants on the mold.

DON'T take matters into your own hands: Call SERVPRO of Black Hawk County at 319.268.1521. This IS what we DO!

A contained fire left smoke and soot residue throughout the newly renovated BraceAbility offices in downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa. SERVPRO of Black Hawk County along with Fereday Heating and Air Conditioning cleaned up the fire damage while business continued! SERVPRO of Black Hawk County is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and being "Faster to any size disaster" helped this business stay open.

Cleaning up a large grease spill on carpet

Photo was taken during a carpet cleaning.

Photo taken during carpet cleaning. We take pride in cleaning the carpet in your home like it was our own!

Another wonderful carpet cleaning completed by our technicians!

Picture was captured cleaning a wall inside a machine shed fire. We had to dry sponge the walls and ceiling then wet wash and dry all surfaces. We were happy to have had all hands on deck for this project to make the process faster.

SERVPRO of Black Hawk County technician is in the process of extracting water from the breakfast area from a large water/fire loss at a hotel. We make disasters "Like it never even happened."

Two extraction trucks onsite of a large fire/water loss in Evansdale Iowa. For commercial jobs, it is imperative that we have the proper vehicles and equipment to handle large-scale jobs such as this one.