Best Ways to Clean up After Water Damage

Watching water spread throughout your home is typically devastating. If unprepared, you may feel like you’re losing belongings, worry about if insurance will help the financial costs, and generally feel hopeless.

These are both common thoughts, but as long as your family is safe, the damage isn’t permanent and the plumbing items are replaceable.

We’ve compiled a few tips to keep in mind for after any event that may cause water damage. These tips are made to help minimize the damage and make recovering from wet disasters just a bit easier. Keep reading for more information!

Water Damage: Not Just Natural Causes

When most people think of water damage, they think of flooding from heavy rains, hurricanes, or even what is seen on television after a tsunami.

While each of these events can definitely cause their fair share of flooding, some of the most common causes of water damage are actually located in your home!

Leaking pipes and water heaters, clogged drains and sewer lines, faulty washing machine hoses, and burst pipes are all recognized as culprits of indoor flooding. Luckily, each of these issues will fairly obvious signs and can typically be addressed before any major water damage occurs!

Address The Problem Now, Not Later

Once you begin to notice signs of water damage or problems in your plumbing that could lead to it, the best thing to do is call a professional plumber.

From there, the problematic pipe, water heater, or hose can be repaired which will leave the cleanup. When there has been a flood of any kind in your home, getting the water out as quickly as possible is key.

This may mean using a pump or a ton of towels. After the majority of the standing water has been removed, survey the damage and figure out what was in contact with the water:

Drywall, cabinets, floors, bathtubs, toilets, and furniture are all considerations to be made. Each of these items may need to be dried out professionally or completely removed and replaced in order to prevent the growth of mold and mildew.

Unfortunately, after the major flooding that Hurricane Harvey caused, many homes had to be completely gutted due to how high the water was. Luckily, in the event of a flood caused by plumbing, the water won’t reach more than a few inches. With that said, it is still necessary to act quickly to minimize costs and prevent further damage from occurring.

Air Scrubbers & Their Importance

When dealing with the aftermath of any type of flood, you will find that your home smells different.

This could be for a number of reasons that include the actual flood, leftover water, mold or mildew, and the fumes from chemicals.

An air scrubber can help remove any and all particles that could be found in the air. Using these machines will help keep your home smelling fresh, but will, more importantly, keep your family safe from any toxic fumes.