After-Flood Tips for Recovery

Sometimes it feels like there’s nothing worse that could happen to a house than a flood water filling up your home and ruining all of the things that you spent time saving for and buying feels horrible. But once the water retreats and you go down to the garage or the basement to assess that damage, you might find some things that weren’t destroyed in the flood.

While the trauma of the flood is still real, in your mind you’ll be looking to contact water damage restoration companies, your insurance company, and any companies that can offer giant dryers to dry the space out so that you can try and salvage what’s left. Recovery after a flood gives you much to consider, but there are some big things in the right order that you must do. So after a flood, what do you do next? Let’s dive in and take a look.

• Don’t rush this process. It’s tempting just to jump and start rushing through all of the rooms in your home, salvaging what you can. Unfortunately, it can end up in more of a disaster if you do this. Before you deal with the damage itself, you have to think about the safety and protection from the water that you need to put in place. You have to ensure that the electric system in your home wasn’t damaged, and you have to make sure that the water is shut off inside the house, even if it’s been flooding from the outside. You also have to consider the fact that the water that’s been flowing through your home could be contaminated.And this is going to cause a problem with germs and viruses.
• Drain the water where you can. If the flooding is deeper than an inch, then you have to do what you can to get rid of the water, which means bringing in the buckets. You can’t deal with any damage until the water has gone, and you can’t just dry out the room because you can’t drive more than an inch of water. You have to drain it somehow. Water pumps and water vacuums are your best option, and they can help you to get rid of the floodwater as quickly as possible. Make sure that you position the exhaustion hose away from the house and towards the drainage, because this way you can drive the water away from the property.
• Start clearing the damage. After the water has been drained as much as possible, you need to go through all of the soaking and soggy things and start clearing them out of the house. Carpets and floor tiling are often the most commonly damaged after a flood, but it all depends on the type of water that has come into the house. Carpets should be covered by your insurance. And if not, speak to your insurance company to see what you can do.

It takes some time to recover after a flood, but with careful planning it can be done.