Whether it’s from burst pipes, leaking roofs or pipes, clogged sewage pipes, or natural causes, water damage comes with a lot of strain for homeowners. Unfortunately, you may experience water damage at least once in your lifetime. If this is you right now, you don’t need to panic. You need to keep calm and assess the situation.
In situations where the damage is severe, the best thing to do is to get in touch with water and fire damage repair pros. They have the skills and tools needed to restore your home after substantial damage has occurred. But, here’s how to restore your home after water damage.
Steps to Take in Restoring Your Home After Water Damage
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Notify Your Insurance Company
Restoring water damage takes a lot of financial toll on homeowners. From costly repairs to cleaning up and replacing severely damaged structures, you may incur a lot of costs and likely run into debt. Assuming you have a homeowners insurance policy, you should notify your insurance company immediately if you notice water damage in your apartment. Your insurance company may send staff over to assess the level of the damage and also estimate its value to determine how much of the cost they would cover. However, your insurance company may not appear at your residence immediately, so while you wait for them, start taking steps to minimize the damage and salvage what’s left.
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Take Safety Measures
Depending on the cause of your water damage, there are several kinds of risks that you may face while trying to carry out a preliminary cleanup. These include electrocution, structural collapse, health risks from mould infestation, etc. You can take the following safety precaution to ensure your safety and that of everyone else.
– Switch off all electrical systems: Although you may not notice the electrical faults in your home, it doesn’t mean your home is safe from electrical risks, as water and electricity are never a good combination.
– Contact professional electrical contractors: After you switch off your electrical systems, you should have a licensed electrical contractor assess your home for electrical faults before proceeding with anything else.
– In cases of structural damage or mould infestation, it is not advisable to keep living in the environment. Generally, after severe water damage, it’s ideal for you and your family to find a temporary residence. At the same time, you try to restore your home from the effects of water damage.
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Begin a Preliminary Cleanup Immediately
A preliminary cleanup is the first step toward restoring your home. First, drain all residual water from your floors to avoid further damage to your floorings. Lift every wet property, such as furniture, off the floor and move them to a dry and safe place. Also, you can move other personal and valuable items that have not been destroyed to a safer place–a storage unit can come in handy for this. Dispose of severely damaged property.
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Contact a Professional
Severe water damage requires special skills and equipment that only professional water damage restoration experts can provide. Hence, making it too complex and tasking for homeowners to take on. Here are some services that professional restoration experts can provide for you.
– Drying
The effect of water damage stays long after you drain off the water from your floors or stop the source of the water leak. The drying process is necessary to facilitate the full restoration of your home and also to prevent further structural damage. They may use fans, dehumidifiers, plastic sheeting, or heaters to remove the moisture that has been absorbed in your walls and floorings. In some cases, they may need to completely change your flooring, such as carpets, to prevent odour and mould infestation. Also, when exposed to water for a long, your woodwork may experience severe damage and need to be replaced.
– Monitoring
Monitoring the drying process helps ensure that the water is completely dried. This may take several days or a few weeks, but it is an essential part of the restoration process. Retaining some moisture in your walls or floor only makes it susceptible to more damage and may also put your health at risk.
– Repairs
If your water damage was caused by a leaking roof, clogged sewage pipes, or broken pipes in your walls, repairs may help to prevent further damage in the future, saving you a lot of costs. Also, the restoration process may include repairs of electrical faults, total replacement of wood cabinets, and also repainting your house once the work is finished.
Asides from the financial cost involved, dealing with severe water damage can affect you in other ways. It can take an emotional toll on you to see your beautiful home almost turned to ruins. Thankfully, by contacting the right water damage restoration experts, you can restore your home to its initial state before the water damage occurs.
