Imagine a scenario when a homeowner returns home after a long day, only to see the remains of their furniture and belongings littered all over, floating on water, water soaking into their walls, and destroying some appliances. The welcome home spirit is not recognized at that moment.
Water damage is one of the most uncomfortable and devastating mishaps you can ever experience at home. Well, you are not alone as 55% of homes around the world suffer from water damage. Not to worry, we are here to help you with some easy steps to take when water damage occurs at home.
Call Your Insurance Company
There are different types of homeowners insurance depending on what policies they have. As soon as you make a complaint, an adjuster will be sent to you by your insurance company to assess and check the damage to be certain if it was a covered loss.
Take note of the values of every item you can think of or remember and take many photos of before, during, and after the cleanup. This will greatly help the adjuster assigned to you in assessing the damage to your home.
Inspect Your Home
After a home’s water damage, you are advised to seek the assistance of a restoration company. The restoration professionals on this site say that the restoration team will perform a thorough assessment of the damages in your home. As this inspection is going on, a water restoration specialist will be able to categorize the class of damage that has occurred in your home. The water restoration expert will check the porosity of the materials in the particular area to determine how much water has been absorbed. Moisture detectors will determine the measurement of the level of damage and the estimated amount of work to be done. The damage will be rated from classes 1-4 based on their findings.
The water damage inspectors will also identify the water source and ensure it is being stopped, and determine the contamination level. The contamination level of the water will be rated from 1-3 based on their research.
After a thorough inspection by the restoration company, they will be able to tell you the total time and cost needed to restore your home.
Get Rid Of The Water
The next important step to follow in your home’s restoration process is removing standing water with water extractors. Standing water can lead to the continued deterioration and damage of your home, so the water must be removed as fast as possible. Water extraction is most important, especially when taking care of a flooded home basement, as standing water in the basement can lead to much mold growth. Experienced water clean-up companies know how to use the best water extraction methods. Regardless of the amount of water in your home, water extraction should be done professionally.
Water restoration companies make use of extractors to get rid of water during extraction. These powered vacuums and pumps can get rid of all surface and standing waters quickly from your home. You should learn more about flood repair so you’d know what equipment and techniques are used to restore your property effectively. Understanding this process can also help you choose the right professionals and ensure that the necessary steps are taken to prevent long-term damage.
Various types of extractors can be used in getting rid of water from your home, including:
Wet/dry portable vacuums.
Submersible pumps.
Truck-mounted vacuums.
After the water is being removed, additional inspection is advised to determine the moisture levels remaining and check if the carpet and wood floors of your home is needed to be removed
Dry And Dehumidify Your Home
After the water has been successfully removed from your home, it is time for the restoration company to start dehumidifying and drying your home. Quality industrial dehumidifiers are used to dry out any material containing water or were a bit difficult to identify during the water extraction.
At this moment, your home may be looking dry, but some items can feel wet when touched. If these materials are overlooked, they will likely suffer further damages like breaking, warping, or growing mold. Restoration companies can prevent this from happening by thoroughly drying and dehumidifying the affected areas.
Throughout this stage, the moisture levels of the floors and walls of your home will be monitored to be certain of when your home will be dry enough to commence professional cleaning.
Prevent Molds From Occurring.
Mold can start developing in your home after the first 24 hours of the flooding, and it can be a bit difficult to get rid of when it starts growing. The earlier you start removing the items from the water and start, the lesser chance of the items being lost to mold. If it worsens, you are likely to remove the affected areas.
As soon as water damage is discovered in your home, it’s important to take preventive measures. When getting rid of mold, be careful enough not to spread the mold spores throughout your home. It’s usually best to be assisted with professional help when going through home damage, and it significantly lowers the chances of mold.
Clean And Sanitize Your Home
Professional and thorough cleaning is required in the restoration project of a home. At the same time, restoration companies work towards preserving as many as your personal properties. The cleaning part should be done by experts trained in the sanitization and safety requirements of water-damaged homes.
Cleaning comes in various forms, including:
Wet cleaning.
Drying cleaning.
Spray and wipe cleaning.
Restoration professionals can use abrasives, foam, or immersion cleaning techniques to ensure that every item is as thoroughly cleaned as possible. These experts also specialize in personal protective equipment (PPE) for cleaning hazardous materials. These personal protective equipment include protective gloves, waterproof clothing, N-96 respirators. At this stage, damaged materials that were removed during the cleaning phase are being disposed of.
Complete Restoration Of Your Home
This is the final step for a successful restoration of your water-damaged home. During the restoration period, your home will look like how it was before the water damage occurred. The materials which were permanently damaged will be replaced or fixed. Restoration projects differ; they can be extensive or simple depending on the present permanent damage level.
Your home can be restored to its former condition before the damage occurred if only you follow these simple guidelines listed above.
The required level of restoration depends on the class of the damages that occurred, and simple drying and vacuuming will bring on a total restoration of your home.
Here’s a few more tips. Have your plumber install a ‘ball valve’ that shuts off the whole house when you go away for the weekend or any period of time. Its easy to operate and wont leak like those old fashioned ones on the water meter.
Get bleach quickly to kill any mold.
And if you’re fortunate enough to have a toilet mounted to the floor in the basement, remove it and the water can drain out there.
I turn off the main water valve when leaving the house so much as overnight. Didn’t know those could leak. Thank you, poster #1–I will look into it.
Of course, that hasn’t been necessary in over a year….
I had my sprinkler system set up to work on a separate line so that turning off the main water would not mean my garden died if I went away in the summer. I suppose that could leak, too, but hey. It’s tested every spring.
My plumber put an easy turnoff valve just above my washing machine that use whenever I am done with that day’s laundry. Every time, for decades. It gives me peace of mind.
Change the flex hoses for washers and toilets every 3-5 years. Write the date on them. And spend the few extra dollars for the good ones