Water damage the extremely intimidating when it catches you off guard. Your first instinct may be to panic but if you can resist it then you’ll be able to do some good before the professionals arrive. The faster you deal with the water the more likely you are to lessen the total damage and of course the total cost. Here are some emergency water removal tips that will get you out of danger while you call a water damage removal company.
The first thing you must do is find the source of the water and deal with it. This may mean shelling of thwarting the whole house or this may mean dealing with a toilet. To regurgitate it contents, in either case swift action is the key. Of course if the flooding is due to weather you must try everything you can stop the water entering your house. Sandbags are an excellent way to divert the flow of water and potentially stop the damage.
While working to stop flooding don’t take any risks with your personal safety. Water is one of the best conductors of electricity and unless you switch off the power to the house if you inadvertently touched something with a charge running through it you can be electrocuted. This should be one of the first things you do before after you switch off the water in the house.
Where possible allow your house to get wind and air flowing through it. Use fans to dry out water damaged rooms.
Most people were dealing with a flood or other types of water damage are dealing with it for the first time and often they have many misconceptions about what their insurance companies cover and what they can do about the damage. Here are the top four things that people believe about water damage but are not true.
- You do not have to call your insurance first! Most people believe the first person they should call is their insurance but in reality the first business should call is a water damage restoration company. The insurance claim and all of that can be handled after the damages cleared up the longer you wait the worse the damage will get.
- Your insurance will not cover mold! Mould grows rapidly and needs to be contained as fast as possible. If you take the time to call your insurance company first rather than calling a water damage restoration company you will give mould the time it needs to grow and become a major problem.
- You cannot save carpet if sewage has already gotten onto it! You may think you be able to save things but with sewage the best thing you can do is destroy it. You need to have the area cleaned and disinfected. Sewage can cause you and your family major health problems.
Renting the equipment yourself and watching a few YouTube videos does not make you an expert! Many people feel that they can do the job themselves but they don’t have the years of experience that water damage restoration company does. What this means is that while they may be able to deal with most of the water they will not know where to look for hidden water and it could lead to problems later on. These problems can become very expensive.
