What To Do When Dealing With Water Damage

11/5/2021 (Permalink)

Water pouring out on the hardwood floors causes stress to our clients.

It’s 5 pm, and you get home from a long day at work. You decide to go down to the basement to grab something from the freezer to make for supper. Get to the bottom and smush, water everywhere!

What do you do? Say some choice words and think “Ugh, not today.”

Call your insurance agent to let them know you have a claim to call in, then investigate where the water is coming from.

Water damage does not always come from heavy rain or a storm. It can come from a broken pipe, an overflowing toilet or sink, a crack in the foundation where water may have been pooling. Once you know where the water is coming from, you can begin the steps to stop it and mitigate it.

If the water is indeed coming from a pipe or overflow, it is important to know where your water shutoff is in your home or business. Emergency Ready Profiles are available, it’s a handy tool to know where it is and how to shut it off.

Once that is done, call a restoration and cleaning company, like SERVPRO. Unless you have a water shop vac and a few air movers and dehumidifiers, it may take you a while to clean it and we want to help you avoid microbial growth at all costs. The restoration company can do moisture readings and determine what is needed to dry the space, and get you back to where you were before. They can also determine if any drywall or insulation will need to be replaced or removed, all while working with your insurance and other vested parties. Any reconstruction that may be needed will need to be done by a company that specializes in that but luckily, SERVPRO offers reconstruction services as well as specialized subcontractors to help take care of the project from beginning to end.

It never hurts to do maintenance on any pipes or check on the water shut off, but in the case that something happens and you have water, those are some steps to take towards mitigation!