Water Removal Tips After A Home Flood

Water removal after your home has been flooded needs to be done quickly if you hope to salvage anything. You only have a brief twenty- four hour window in order to salvage electronics such as computers, fax machines and telephones. Other things such as furniture and carpeting have a forty-eight hour window before they will begin to grow mold and bacteria and may become unsalvageable. If raw sewage has flooded your home you won’t be able to salvage anything it came in contact with so you will need to toss those items. You will have to be selective about what you can and can not restore after water damage and remember some items may be cheaper to replace than try and restore.

The first order of business before you can begin any restoration work of course will be to turn off the power to the home to avoid any accidental electrical accidents. The next step will be to remove the water. If you can pump out the standing water do so with a pump if possible or with buckets if you have no other options.

Once you get the standing water out that you can easily pump, you can go in with a wet dry vac to suction up some surface water on the floor and furniture. By this point you probably realize that you need a professional company to help you if you want to salvage things such as your carpeting, electronics or personal items. A professional water restoration company can do what you can’t and suction up the water that is soaked into the carpet and the pad beneath the carpet. Most home carpet cleaners are not designed for this kind of industrial use and will at best only dry the surface layer of your carpet. This illusion of dryness with a wet pad will create a breeding ground for mold to flourish under your carpeting and create a health hazard for you and your family in the future. Molds can be toxic and make you sick if you unknowingly breathe them in.

You should take anything that is salvageable and remove it from the house so it can be dried out and cleaned while the interior of the home is under repair. Items such as blankets and towels can probably be saved but other items such as couches or chairs may not be salvageable depending on how much water damage they have suffered and how long they were under water. Remember the time frame for mold to take root is very brief and once it begins to grow it has to be dealt with professionally to eliminate it successfully.

Water damage can be very destructive but if it is dealt with quickly and professionally the chances of minimizing your damage increase greatly.