What to do When you find Water Damage

It’s important to fix the problems causing water damage right away, to prevent further damage.

Inspect Your Home

The first step you should take is to identify where the water is coming from and what type of water damage you might have. If you have black water in your home, you should contact some professionals to help you. Black water can contain human waste and other very toxic material.

If you have standing water in your home for more than 24 hours you should contact Wasatch Disaster Recovery to help you clean it out. When water sits for a long time it can cause mold to grow, it’s important to get a thorough inspection done to make sure there is no mold.

Mold and other toxic material can be dangerous for the elderly or people with pre-existing health conditions. It can exacerbate their condition or even compromise their immune system.

Turn Off the Power

The next step when dealing with water damage in your home is to turn off the power. If your breaker box is in a room that has been flooded do not try to turn it off yourself. Water and electricity can be very dangerous when mixed together, you should contact a licensed electrician to do it for you.

Remove Water

Using a wet-dry vacuum you can remove any water or fluid from your home. After all the water has been cleaned up you should open up all the windows in the affected rooms to dry them out. If you don’t have any windows, de-humidifiers and fans can help

Clean & Restore

Remove and dispose of carpet, baseboards, insulation, wall panels and drywall that may have been affected. Porous material can easily get damaged when soaked in water. When removing drywall, remember to cut at least six inches above the water line on the drywall. Even if the water has not reached that high the water can cause the wall to expand and contract causing it to fall apart.

Once the room has been cleaned of debris and repaired you should wash and disinfect the walls and floors. This will help prevent mold from growing in the future.

Wrapping Up

Finally your home is clean, fresh and getting back to normal. Now it’s time to contact Wasatch Disaster Recovery to inspect your home for mold and any leaks that may have been missed.