SERVPRO Restores Upper West Side Homes with Flood Damage

2/27/2021 (Permalink)

When a flood strikes and damages your home. SERVPRO should be the team to call. Their techs are IICRC certified for any size job.

Upper West Side Residents Choose SERVPRO for Flood Damage Cleanup

The Upper West Side is one of the most well-known Burroughs in Manhattan, New York City. It lies between the Hudson River and Central Park, and West 59th and West 110th Streets. New York is primarily a residential development with a mix of both brownstone and luxury apartment buildings. 

The area was initially settled by Dutch immigrants during the early seventeenth century and encountered resistance from the local Munsee Indian tribes. An agreement to allow the settlers to inhabit the Native American lands eventually got established and the settlement began to grow. The area was known as Bloomingdale and was primarily farmland, with the main crop being tobacco. In 1703, Bloomingdale Road got built to handle the influx of commerce; the road still exists with the well-known name: Broadway. Due to the relative isolation of the area, it became a draw for wealthy merchants to build their country estates.  

The Schwab Mansion

The Upper East Side featured one of the most ambitiously designed homes ever built on Manhattan Island, The Charles M. Schwab mansion. The house took four years to complete construction and drew heavily on French Renaissance styles for its look and cost a total of six million dollars in 1906, which would be $174 million in the present. Schwab named the mansion "Riverside."

Schwab was an American success story and a self-made multi-millionaire who was president of U.S. Steel. He lost his fortune in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and died relatively penniless in 1939, and bequeathed Riverside to the State of New York to be used as a residence for each subsequent mayor. No one wanted to live in the rundown mansion, and during World War II, the grounds were reduced to hosting victory gardens for the community, and it was torn down and replaced with red brick apartment dwellings known as "The Schwab House."

As time passed, through the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Bloomingdale Road saw some of New York's most prominent homes and families. However, by the mid-1800s, the area became host to less-prosperous families, and after the establishment of Central Park, squatters moved their shanties into the area, and it started to be known as The Upper West Side.

The Upper West Side's gentrification began in the late 1800s and after Columbia University relocated to the Morningside Heights building on the land where the Bloomingdale Asylum once stood. Soon after, The Dakota and The San Remo buildings went up. A huge turning point for the area came with the completion of the subway in 1904. This made the West End less residential and made the site have more of an urban look and feel. 

Historical Sites in the Upper West Side

With the long history of the Upper West Side, there are numerous historic structures such:

• American Youth Hostel – the former Richard Morris Hunt landmark that was a blighted, abandoned property received a grant to become a safe space for young travelers. 
• The Dakota - a world-renowned apartment building that borders Central Park
• Firemen's Memorial – erected in 1913, this monument has been the site of numerous gatherings, including after 9/11

Why Does Flood Damage Need Controlled Demolition to Dry Upper West Side Properties?

There are several steps to the cleanup after flood damage in Upper West Side houses. One of the most important is the demolition plan as needed. SERVPRO techs need to decide on various worksite areas when the water intrusion has been too significant for the building materials to manage. 

How a Demolition Plan Works

The techs determine that areas that require controlled demo actions following flood damage based on several different factors such as: 

• Building materials damaged by water
• Porous articles compromised from contaminated water
• Vapor barriers need removal to reduce the required drying time

SERVPRO techs go over the reasons for the demolition in the home and get the homeowner's approval before removing any items or building materials compromised by the floodwaters. The materials get removed in a manner that takes off the minimum amount of sheetrock or flooring, so the least amount of replacement materials are needed.

SERVPRO of Upper West Side at (917) 498-1362 serves the local Upper West Side with any size flood damage cleanup needed by local property owners.