flooding-in-your-house

Flooding in Your House: Act Fast to Minimize Damage

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The ultimate plumbing disaster and nightmare for a homeowner is Flooding in Your House. Upon discovery that this is occurring or has already, it is easy to panic and in that state not know what to do. Regardless of your reaction, the one thing you don’t want to do is wait.

This is no question a scary situation for anyone. However, rather than make a bad situation worse financially than it needs to be, regardless of where we discover the source is, you want to act as fastly as possible. Below are our suggestions for what to do in the case of Flooding in Your House.

Top 5 Things to Do When you Discover Flooding in Your Home

1) Shut Your Water Off

If you realize you have Flooding in Your House, the first item of business is to stop any and all water flow. If you realize where the leaking or damaged fixture is you want to turn this off. Either way, you can just locate and turn off the main water shut off for the home also.

2) Protect or Move Your Furniture

When realizing of Flooding in Your House, this is an idea to save what you can. Carry any furniture or important items to a dry area. If for some reason you are unable to move the furniture, place a few layers of aluminum foil underneath the legs. Then pin-up the skirts, so no color from the furniture runs to the floor.

3) Turn Off any Electricity

Water and electricity just do not mix. Ever. Thus, when you see Flooding in Your House you want to get the power off as quickly as you can. Do this by going to the main circuit breaker and flip any switch on to off. Remember if the floor in front of the breaker panel is wet, stand on a dry wood plank before touching the breakers.

Flooding in Your Home: Getting the Cleanup Process Started ASAP

If you’ve realized that there is Flooding in Your House, you definitely want to call in a professional plumber, like us here at Poole’s Plumbing. Likewise, you want to get in touch with a restoration company. The purpose of the restoration company would be for in-depth cleaning and to be sure to prevent mold growth.

Though it is safer to wait for the restoration company so they can properly remove items. But getting things dry as quickly as possible is necessary. While you wait for the restoration company, the following things can be done to assist in rectifying Flooding in your House.

  • Remove as much excess water from the floor as possible. Mop up tile and hardwood, blot the wall-to-wall carpet with towels, and use a wet-dry shop vac (not your regular vacuum!) to remove standing water.
  • Get the windows open! Well, do this if it’s cool and dry outside. Otherwise, turn on the air conditioning to aid in drying. However, if the flooding is from sewage, and the water level has risen high, do not use the AC method.
  • Open all cabinets affected by the flood. Turn on any exhaust fans you can. Likewise, run any ceiling fans that can help speed up the drying process.

Document Damages for the Flooding

We discussed that when you do have Flooding in Your House that initial period of being scared. Seeing the damage to your home and your belongings can be startling but in this our last suggestion about Flooding in Your House, we remind you to document these items. Be sure to list an inventory of anything that has damaged, a list of when they were purchased and their cost or value. As you move along in your cleaning, take some pictures for when you file an insurance claim.

As we note throughout this post, we know Flooding in Your House can be a shocking and uncertain development. However, if you can take it all in stride and remain calm, make a call to the pros here at Poole’s Plumbing, and get the help you need, and the problem minimalized as much as possible. To reach us here at Poole’s Plumbing, visit poolesplumbing.com.