FLOODING usually spells disaster for most businesses but trade at Longwood-based Chem-Dry has never been busier.
Director Darrel Sykes, head technician David Clapperton and their teams have been working flat-out since flooding last month inundated swathes of Yorkshire.
Chem-Dry specialises in restoring buildings following fire and flooding and Darrel and Dave have been cleaning up and drying about 200 houses and commercial premises.
Indeed, the company has had to turn down almost 200 jobs in South Yorkshire to focus on jobs in the worst-affected areas of Kirklees and Wakefield.
Darrel believes his company will still be repairing the damage for the next two months.
And this isn’t the first time Chem-Dry Huddersfield has had to deal with the aftermath of major floods.
As part of a national flood team, the company has helped clean up after the Surrey and Hampshire floods last year and the Carlisle floods of 2005.
Darrel and Dave achieved fame in 2006 as the ‘Disaster Duo’ on the BBC1 programme Disaster Master.
Established in 1992, ChemDry contracts include the Galpharm Stadium.
Darrel said: “It’s been crazy. It’s the busiest ever. We’ve been working flat out weekdays and weekends. Our staff have been fantastic. We’ve had 10 to 20 jobs a day.
“Some are only cellar floods but some are up to four feet deep in the kitchen.
“A job like that will cost £20,000 and last two months.
“It’s good business for us but I don’t enjoy throwing out people’s belongings. People can be quite traumatised by it.
“You have to have good people skills. You get old ladies crying and you have to sit down with them and talk to them gently about what’s going to happen.
“It can be hazardous too. Floorboards can have been weakened and you can end up going through them. You’ve got raw sewage and contamination to deal with.”
