Polygon helps school, lessons can continue

A bursted water pipe flooded an entire school in Oss, Netherlands. Thanks to quick action from a Polygon team, the damage was down to a minimum.

As every morning, the schoolyard of Het Hooghuis Stadium was still deserted when Facility Coordinator Peter van Bakel opened the building and walked in. Then, suddenly, the peace and quiet was over.

- A mirrored surface of water stretched out in front of me, says Peter. As I walked down the long corridor my concern grew, as every office and classroom I passed was flooded. Twenty-five rooms in total.

The problem turned out to be a burst water pipe. Soon after, Florus van der Wal, Regional Manager at Polygon, received a call from a loss adjuster. Of course he wanted to help out.

- Flooding on this scale is a disaster for those affected, says Florus. At the same time, as a professional, I think it’s a wonderful work, since you can mean so much to others, as a team.

Within an hour, seven men from Florus team, arrived on site. With wet vacuums they immediately started to chase the unwanted floods down the drain. At the end of that same afternoon all water was gone, and Peter van Bakel dared to breathe again:

- The people from Polygon clearly knew what had to be done. Not only how to pump the water away, but as a drying specialist they also limited the consequential damage.

The Polygon team put cupboards and lockers on reels, lugged furniture to floors, pulled out baseboards and carpeting, and installed drying equipment. The teachers had to sort their papers themselves and put them in boxes. The boxes, together with undamaged furniture, were then transported to Polygon's temporary warehouses. The total freight consisted of two complete sea containers.

Unfortunately, there were also irreparable water damage. As much as fifty cubic meters, Florus van der Wal estimates. For this he had large containers installed at the school.

- There were chipboard cabinets that looked pretty good, but Polygon knew that you could still have to throw them away within a year because of rising damp, says Peter van Bakel.

By now, the water is gone, but there is still plenty of moisture on site. Unfortunately that will remain for a while.

- Polygon were only able to dry comletely for a few weeks, Says Peter. Then the Corona measures were relaxed and the students came back to school.

Polygon has exchanged the drying equipment for the furniture, and made all the lockers usable. Drying will resume during the school holidays. Peter and his colleagues at the school are more than satisfied with Polygon’s efforts.

- They really have unburden us from A to Z. They will also guide us in the further recovery, when the moisture is gone. I have nothing but praise for them, we could never have done this ourselves.