Services
Document Drying and Restoration in Calgary
Freeze-drying, cleaning and deodorizing for water and smoke damaged documents, books, records and photographs.
Wet paper has a short window. Documents that are stabilized quickly can usually be saved; documents left wet for days often grow mould.
Water from a burst pipe, a sewer backup or firefighting soaks into paper fast. Pages stick together, ink runs, and within a couple of days mould can start to grow. Smoke adds soot and a stubborn odour on top.
Calgary Contents recovers documents, books and photographs for homeowners and businesses using freeze-drying and specialized cleaning and deodorization, then returns them with the rest of your belongings.
What we recover:
Business records and files
Legal, medical and financial documents
Books and personal papers
Family photographs and albums
Certificates, maps and keepsakes
How Freeze-Drying Saves Wet Documents
Freezing wet documents stops the damage: mould cannot grow and ink cannot keep running while the paper is frozen. The documents are then vacuum freeze-dried, so the ice turns straight to vapour without passing through liquid. That avoids most of the cockling, sticking and staining that air-drying causes, and it works on whole boxes at a time.
Our guide to document restoration after water damage covers what to do in the first hours.
Freeze-drying is the right call when:
There are too many papers to air-dry
Documents are coated or glossy
Paper is dirty from flood or sewer water
Books are at risk of warping
The records are hard to replace
What to Do Before We Arrive
- Keep wet documents out of heat and direct sunlight.
- Do not pull stuck pages apart. They tear more easily when wet.
- Freeze what you can. Put wet papers and photos in sealed bags in a freezer to stop mould and ink damage.
- Keep sewer-contaminated items separate from clean-water items.
- Photograph the damage for your insurer.
- Call us at (403) 407-0208, available 24/7.
FAQ – Document Restoration
Can smoke-damaged documents be restored?
Often, yes. Soot can be cleaned from many papers and the smoke odour treated. Heavily charred paper usually cannot be saved.
Can wet photographs be saved?
Many can, especially if they are kept wet or frozen until they are treated. See restoring family photos after water damage.
Are documents from a sewer backup safe?
They need to be decontaminated as well as dried. Keep them separate and tell us where the water came from.
Is document restoration covered by insurance?
Usually, when the loss itself is covered. Business records may fall under a commercial policy. We document everything for your adjuster.
Do you help businesses recover records?
Yes. See commercial contents restoration.
Related Guides
More on saving paper, photos and books.
Talk to a Contents Specialist
Tell us what happened and what was damaged. We will explain what can be saved and what happens next. Call 403-407-0208, 24/7.