Eclectic Homes

7 First Actions to Deal With Flood Water Damage

The more a water-damaged home is left sitting, the more the damage will increase. The tasks after a hurricane are chilling, but it is important to start them right away. Through the years I’ve worked on many restoration jobs caused by water damage, and this I will let you know the first measures you should take after your home was damaged by water. Hopefully this can help minimize the harm and make the recovery process as easy as possible.

Before Photo

Federal Emergency Management Agency

1. Contact your insurance carrier. Do not do anything to your home till you have contacted your insurance carrier. In the event you have to eliminate anything right away, make sure you record it with images or movie. The insurance company must send out a water remediation specialist immediately.

2. Telephone the specialists that are right. Obtain a water remediation specialist in your home when possible. These specialists remove all the damaged contents and start the practice of drying out everything. I recommend bringing in a mould specialist also once everything is dried outside to make sure the remediation process was successful. You want to be sure everything is dry and the mould was removed before you start any remodeling. Of course you would like to get back into your home when you can, but hurrying can result in future mold issues.

3. Avoid dealing with mould by yourself. For natural disasters the size of Hurricane Sandy, remediation should be left to an expert. In case you have to start the process on your own, take extreme care. The more you disturb the mould, the greater the chance it can spread throughout your home and become toxic to your wellbeing.

4. Switch off the power. Before you perform any work, turn off the power to the areas you’ll be working on.

Before Photo

Federal Emergency Management Agency

5. Sort through the harm.
Furniture. Any furniture that has been saturated should be thrown away. Carpet. If your carpet was saturated, eliminate it. The best way to eliminate it is to cut it into manageable parts using a box cutter or knife. Roll up the sections, leaving the rug pad, then cut on the mat into strips and eliminate these too. Carpet is held down from wooden tack strips — thin strips of wood lined with hundreds of upside-down nails. These can be removed with a chisel and a hammer. Millwork and Sheetrock. Any millwork, such as baseboards, should be removed and discarded. Remove wet Sheetrock and any moist insulation behind it. Cabinetry. When water has gone underneath your cupboards, you may have to eliminate these as well. If just a small amount of water moved under them, you may have the ability to save them. You’re able to cut or drill holes in the toe kick — the bottom-most part of the cabinet that sits on the floor. The toe kick is slightly recessed from the rest of the cabinet, so drilling into it will permit air to flow beneath the cabinet and dry it out. These pockets are fairly simple to spot when you start the reconstruction. Flooring. Simply because your tile or hardwoods look and feel dry on the surface doesn’t mean they’re totally dry. When hardwoods are set up, a layer of roofing felt is placed between the subfloor (plywood) and the hardwood flooring. This creates a superb moisture barrier to the flooring. Regrettably, it also holds much of the water that falls on the floors. However, there are machines that can pull the water through the floors without removing them. I have had middling success for this process. If water is still current after you attempt this, you’ll have to remove the hardwood floors. Tile often has the identical issue — water may get trapped between the tile and subfloor — so you may want to eliminate your tile floors as well.

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6. Order a Dumpster. When ordering a Dumpster or another garbage bin, then get the biggest one available. The cost difference between the assorted dimensions is usually minimal. Then have a plan in place before loading it up. You would like to receive the most quantity of debris to the minimum quantity of space.
Split things before you throw them away, and be sure that they lie flat on top of a single another.Place the lighter things on the bottom.Make sure that you can open the doorway to the bin, then according to one end. If you throw things on the surface, you won’t be able to package the bin efficiently.Use care when loading things!

Before Photo

Federal Emergency Management Agency

7. Work closely with your own adjustor. Be sure that you are onsite once the adjustor visits your house. When you have a contractor that you are working with, be sure that person is onsite also. They can both look at the damage and provide opinions about what it’ll take to rectify the circumstance. Collectively, they can also point out areas that may have harm that cannot be seen however.

Resource Guide: Recovering from a Hurricane

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