Steps To Take When Your Home Is Affected By Water Damage

Key Takeaways:

• Water damage can occur suddenly or gradually because of various factors such as leaks, appliance malfunctions, structural problems, and natural floods.
• If your house has been affected by water damage, the first step is to stop the water source. Once you’ve done that, take pictures of the damage.
• The next step is to contact your insurance provider and start water damage repair within 24-48 hours. Ensure safety during this time by turning off electricity and wearing protective equipment.
• Remove standing water with buckets or a wet-dry vacuum to initiate the drying process. You may also need to remove flooring or insulation to prevent mold from spreading.

Water damage can strike at any moment and place and can be a nightmare for any homeowner.

It can result from simple causes, such as an unnoticed roof leak, to complicated ones, such as natural floods, basement flooding, and pipe breaks. Whether simple or complex, such damage may destroy your walls, harm wooden antiques, tarnish metallic objects, and contaminate your indoor areas.

Few things are as frustrating as coming home to water damage. If this has happened to you, follow these steps to get your house back in order. This blog post by J & E Restoration Pros will walk you through those steps in detail.

Step 01: Stop the Water Source

Your first concern should be to locate and stop a leak or other cause of water damage. Most house water damage is caused by leaking pipes that are damaged or rusted, but an appliance malfunction, a leaky roof, or a structural problem might also cause it.

When it comes to leaky pipes, one thing is sure: what appears to be a little leak is typically the first indicator of a much larger problem. Even though the initial water damage seems minor, it is critical to act as soon as you discover it.

Step 02: Take Pictures

Once you’ve determined the source of the leak, take photos to track the development of the damage. Keep whatever images you have of the damaged area before the water damage. If you can’t find the source, hire a competent remediation firm to examine the matter since this is critical to safeguarding your rights to insurance payout and other remedies.

Step 03: Contact Your Insurance Provider

Contact your homeowners’ insurance carrier if you are insured for water damage. The company will send an adjuster to inspect and evaluate the damage and determine whether or not the loss is covered. If you already have flood insurance, begin documenting the value of each item that has been damaged. This guarantees that the adjuster recognizes everything when they come to your property.

When you call a reliable local water damage repair business like J & E Restoration Pros, they work with your insurance company and the adjuster to ensure everything is recorded correctly.

Step 04: Ensure Safety

One of the most critical stages in any significant house disaster, such as flooding, is assuring the safety of everyone in the building. To be safe and safeguard everyone:

• Turn off the electricity – but remember, water and electricity do not mix! If shutting off the electricity requires you to enter or stand in damp places, leave it on until you can bring in a professional, such as an electrician. In any case, only re-enter your water-damaged house once the power has been turned off.
• Wear protective equipment such as gloves to help protect yourself from injuries or cuts that may have bacteria-filled water in them.

Step 05: Start Water Damage Repair.

If your home was flooded, you should start the restoration process within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the all-clear from authorities. In many cases, the devastation is too great for a single person or family to bear. To keep safe and guarantee that the damage repair procedure is completed appropriately, seek the assistance of a restoration agency.

You may need to remove flooring, drywall, and insulation to prevent mold from spreading in your home. Depending on the scale of the water damage in your home, furniture may need to be dried, cleaned, or discarded. Water and moisture may quickly harm hardwood flooring, so this procedure should begin as soon as possible.

Step 06: Initiate the Drying Process

Wear protective clothing if you opt to start the drying process yourself. 

When there is a lot of standing water, remove it with buckets or plastic tubs. Then, in difficult-to-reach locations, use a mop to absorb extra water. Once most of the water has been removed, rent a wet-dry vacuum from the nearby hardware store to finish the work and allow the space to breathe and dry properly.

If electricity can be restored, use central air conditioning to remove humidity. Floor fans and dehumidifiers can also help dry your home’s damp areas.

Step 07: Identify Mold and Mildew

Mold is more likely to appear in your house after prolonged water and moisture existence. Mold can begin to grow within a day or two of a flood; therefore, you must act immediately. You can use household cleaning products such as bleach and soap to combat the mold problem.

However, this will only be a temporary solution because it will not address the root cause of the problem. In some cases, your home may have a substantial mold infestation. If the damaged area is more than 6 square feet, it is best to contact a mold remediation company.

Ending Note:

A water damage emergency occurs when water becomes uncontrollable and begins to flow uncontrolled throughout your property. Timely action and involvement are critical if you want to mitigate the damage and return your house to its former beauty while considerably reducing the expense of repairs. If you follow these measures in a water damage emergency, you can significantly reduce the damage to your house.

J & E Restoration Pros serving Lawrenceville, Georgia, can help! We have provided high-quality water restoration services to residential and business clients for over 30 years. We recognize that each task is unique, so we adjust our efforts to our client’s specific needs.

Get in touch today!

Posted in J & E Restoration Pros Blog | Comments Off on Steps To Take When Your Home Is Affected By Water Damage