Tips on How to Safely Clean a Flood-Damaged Home

Flooding is on top of the list when it comes to the most devastating and damaging things a homeowner can ever experience. There are lots of reasons why household flooding occurs including sewer back-up, burst pipes, malfunctioning sump pump, and heavy rains. Regardless of the cause, a homeowner must know what to do when a house gets flooded. water damage Glendale that’s done early will help in the reduction of the amount and extent of damage to the property.

Safety First

Your main priority when dealing with a flood-damaged home is to ensure your safety. When there’s flooding, you may be forced to evacuate. Before you decide to clean up your property, make sure that it’s safe to do so. The power must be shut down as electricity and water don’t mix.

Gloves, rubber boots, and other protective clothing must be worn before you re-enter your property. Expect to be dealing with water, including all those that the pool of water came in contact with like debris and sewage.

If you noticed that the flood water has reached your refrigerator and pantry cabinets, throw away any of the food that’s stored in them. Also, you have to wash your glasses, flatware, and dinnerware thoroughly as they might have been immersed in contaminated water. Obviously, any food that’s contaminated must never be eaten.

Water Removal

Water removal is an essential part of water damage restoration Glendale AZ. Before you remove the pool of water inside your home, you first need to block the water source. If your sump-pump malfunctioned or broke, replace it as it will help in keeping up with continuing rains. It will also prevent any further damage that may occur to your main floor, crawl space, garage or basement. There are times when seeking the help of authorities is the best move to take, especially when there’s a need to remove the debris stuck in storm drains. Your storm drains will help in stopping the flooding.

When you think you are ready to remove the flood water from your home, we recommend that you don’t use bins and buckets. Instead, use wet vacuums to suck out the remaining moisture and water from your floors and carpets. If you are lucky as the damage is only minimal, mopping the mess will be enough.

Call Your Insurance Company

A homeowner’s insurance varies depending on policies, but most insurance companies will cover flooding caused by storms, broken sump-pumps, burst pipes or backed-up storm drains and city sewers. Your insurance company will have an adjuster sent to your home to assess the damage. The sooner you contact your insurance company, the better so they can pay out faster if your damages and losses are covered.

Post-Flood Clean Up

After you’ve contacted your insurance company and the water is partially gone, it’s time to start the post-flood clean up. You can work on this process yourself or call in the experts. With post-flood care, you’ll be required to determine all the items that you can salvage as well as those that need to be thrown away. Be quick in cleaning up the entire flooded area in order to prevent the growth of mold and mildew.