County Saves $256,000

Rapid response from Midwest Freeze-Dry, Ltd. saved the Cook County Clerk's office more than a quarter of a million dollars in disaster recovery. A serious water main break in Chicago’s downtown area caused the Chicago River to flood into an active records and documents storage area of the Cook County Clerk’s office. The flood occurred over a holiday weekend and caused rampant water damage to books, documents and many other vital statistical records. The county clerk is responsible for birth, death, adoption and other essential documents and records. Although some of the water damaged records and water damaged documents could be replaced by the State, the cost for reproduction was $1.00 page. Most of the bound volumes contained 500 pages or more. The water damaged books left the Cook County Clerk's office facing a charge of $500.00 per book volume plus the cost of binding, bringing the potential replacement cost of the records, documents and leather books to exceed $260,000.

Midwest Freeze Dry, Ltd. developed a new cost effective method for restoration of these vital documents and books using vacuum freeze-drying. Our scientifically developed low cost restoration method involved the use of inert dry gases to extract water away from these documents and books. This restoration process conserved the historical documents and books, which were damaged by water. The savings realized by the county through vacuum freeze drying the water damaged documents, water damaged records and leather books was 98% over the cost of reproduction or, $10.00. per volume. This saved the Cook County Clerks office over $256,000.00.

This is one example of how Midwest Freeze Dry, Ltd. can craft solutions specifically tailored to fit the individual needs of each new project. Our cost-effective conservation and restoration methods for documents and books utilizing specialized drying including, vacuum freeze drying, freeze-drying, thermal drying, cryogenic drying and plasma fumigation can answer your disaster response needs. Whether you require conservation or restoration of water or fire damaged documents or books damaged by water from a flood, water from a fire, water from a storm, ground water, water from a hurricane, water from seepage, water from sprinkler system or not by water at all, chances are we have or can develop a cost effective solution to suit the needs of your project.

We Specialize in Salvage and Restoration providing Low Cost Vacuum Freeze Drying: Cost-effective Vacuum Freeze Drying for Water, Fire, Smoke and Soot Damaged Materials:
Books and Manuscripts	Furnishings	Legal / Medical
Coated Papers	Antiques Furniture	Attorney, Client Files, Documents
Drafting Linens	Archaeological Wood	Confidentiality Files, Documents
Fine Art Books	Wood Floors	Court Records, Documents
Leather Books	Wood Furniture	Dental Documents, Files, Records,X-Rays
Library Papers, Manuscripts	Wood Objects	Hospital Documents, Files, Records,X-Rays
Maps		Legal Documents, Files, Records
Parchment	Historical	Medical Documents, Files, Records,X-Rays
Pulp Paper	Archival Periodical
Schools' Library Books, Documents	Archival Periodical Documents	Paintings and Drawings
Vellum Books	Architectural Materials and Maps	Acrylics
	Baseball Cards	Art on Paper
Business Files and Documents	Porous Board Stock Boxes	Drafting Cloth
Accounting	Certificates	Fine Art Drawings
Contracts	Rare Documents	Fine Art Prints
Employee Files	Paper Money Collections	Linen Drawings
Flight Logbooks	Stamp Collections	Water Colors
Plans or Blueprints
Product Catalogs	Keepsakes and Collectibles	Photographs
Reference Materials	Awards & Achievements	Albumen Prints
Microfiche	Baby Books	Aperture Cards
Microfilm	Baskets	Chromogenic Prints
	Collectibles, Collections	Gelatin Dry Plate Glass Plates
Family Files and Documents	Memorabilia	Matte and Glossy Collodion Prints
Appraisals	Leather	Photomechanical Prints
Birth Certificates	Newspaper Articles	Photographs
Death Certificates	Photo Albums	Prints
Household Records	Recipe Books, Cards	Slides
Loan Agreements	Scrapbooks
Passports	Wedding Albums	Textiles
Securities	Yearbooks	Embroidery
School Transcripts		Flags
Tax Records		Needlework
Vellum Documents		Rugs
Vital Records, Documents		Silks
		Tapestries