What To do When You Have Water Damage

Have you experienced some type of water damage to your property?

Many people go their whole lives without experiencing any type of water damage at all. Although, statistically, it happens quite frequently. When it happens, the type and extent of the water damage can vary. You could experience anything from a small drip related to a roof leak or under the sink to a busted water heater or toilet supply line. Regardless of where the water came from, here are some things you can do to improve the situation:

First Steps for Water Damage 

• Shut off the water supply – The very first thing to do, especially if there is a lot of water, is to shut off the water supply. Depending on the source of the water, there could be a specific shut-off valve; toilets, water heaters, and sinks will often have their own shut-off valves. However, the best bet is to shut off the primary water supply valve. This valve can be found in front of your home near the street.
• Remove standing water – The most important step in water remediation is to extract (remove) as much water as possible. Water restoration professionals have special equipment for extracting large amounts of water. However, there are still things you can do to remove water and minimize damage before the restoration company arrives. Using a shop-vac, mop, towels, or even buckets (hopefully you don’t have that much water!) can all be useful tools to remove water. If the water damage was the result of a drain backing up, make sure you don’t dump extracted water into that same drain!

Wet and Water Damaged Contents 

• Pick up contents – Do your best to pick up your possessions off the floor and move them to a dry area. Clothes, shoes, decorative items, small pieces of furniture, rugs, even the kid’s homework are susceptible to damage the longer they are exposed to water.
• If you are going to move a rug, proceed with caution. They can be heavy on their own but when they soak up a ton of water they’re almost impossible to move..no matter how much you go to the gym 😊
• Prop up furniture – For furniture that is too big or heavy to move you can put foil under the legs to help prevent water damage to the furniture. If you’ve ever had your carpets professionally cleaned, the company may have propped up your furniture with little styrofoam blocks. Those little blocks are great for preventing secondary damage to your furniture!
• Art work – Move art work and paintings to a dry area of the house and shut the door. High levels of humidity can cause significant damage to art work. Moving it to dry area could save you a lot of heartache in the future. Once the professionals arrive, they can advise you on what to do next.

Safety measures during water damage

• Stay calm – It sounds obvious but it’s also easier said than done. It’s likely that you’ve never experienced major property damage but even if you have, panic can set in. When your house has flooded and there is water everywhere, emotions can take over and critical thinking can go out the window. Stay calm, it’s going to be ok.
• Don’t do it alone – If you are by yourself when tragedy strikes you can quickly be overwhelmed. While you should absolutely call a professional water restoration company it may be a few minutes or hours before they can arrive on site. Calling a family member, friend, or neighbor to come over can really help you manage stress levels and think through the next steps to take.
• Slips and falls – Perhaps the greatest threat to your physical health during a water damage event is slips and falls. We’ve all seen the yellow signs with the stick figure man looking like he’s somewhere in-between break-dancing or falling. Unfortunately, there’s no one at our homes to place those signs. Proceed with caution as you walk on wet floors or walk from a wet floor to a dry floor. Just like the tires on your car, you’re more likely to lose control on slick, not soaked, surfaces.

Professional Assistance with water damage

Sometimes it is obvious that a professional needs to be called; standing water, sewage, water raining down from the ceiling, ect. Other times, the need to call a restoration company might not be so clear. We often hear people say things like, “it wasn’t a lot of water”, “it will probably dry on its own”, and my personal favorite “I’ve got a fan I can put on it”.

• “It wasn’t a lot of water.” – That might be true, or, it might not. Sometimes you will see the loss happen and get it cleaned up quickly. However, many times people don’t see the loss happen they only see the result. Even slow leaks can cause a lot of damage over time. It’s always best to have a professional come out and verify the damage (or lack of) just in case. Don’t risk big time damage in the future so you can avoid a ‘service call’ fee.
• “It will probably dry on its own” – In some cases this can be true but, while everything was drying on its own, what else was happening? We’ve seen a lot of mold that was a result of people thinking something would dry itself.
• “I’ve got a fan I can put on it” – I get it, water damage restoration isn’t cheap and there are a lot of other things you’d like to spend the money on. Gutting and rebuilding parts of your house because of mold isn’t cheap either. That “fan” you’re going to use is likely quite a bit different than the high-capacity air movers a professional will use. Additionally, “air movement” is just one step out of four in the dry-out process. Finally, how are you going to verify that the structure is dry? Restoration professionals have special meters that detect moisture content in different materials. Unfortunately, “it looks dry” and “it feels dry” are not valid methods for verifying the moisture content of a structure.
• Sellers Disclosure – If you sell your home in Texas you a required to list any water damage to the property. Any good buyer’s agent will ask to see the reports from a professional water restoration company in order to verify that your home was dried. If you can’t produce these documents there is a good chance that the buyers will want mold testing performed in order to insure there are no issues.
• Water damage leads to mold – The reason it is so important to start the drying process quickly when your home has water damage is that wet materials can grow mold. Depending on environmental conditions, mold growth can begin in as little as 24 hours following a water damage event. It is essential that you call a professional water damage restoration immediately to prevent this from happening. Mold damage restoration is a much bigger issue (and much more expensive) than water damage. Plus, most insurance policies in Texas will not cover mold damage.