After you have had water damage to your home, either through a flood or other natural disaster, you will need to dry out the part of the house that has gotten wet. Before you do anything, however, you will need to contact your home flood insurance company to determine the exact steps you need to follow to make a claim. Incorrect procedures may mean that you do not get any insurance money at all.
What To Do Before You Hire A Water Damage Dry Out Company
Before a contractor is hired to perform any dry out services, you will want to know if they can work with your insurance company. In some cases, your insurance company may need access to your home to take pictures, or they may allow the contractor to do it for them. Before anything is moved, or the cleanup is started, you want to get a lot of pictures of the damage.
Water damage can be quite extensive, and the company will need to be sure that the home or business goes through a complete dry out before any repairs are performed. Without ensuring total dry out, any hidden or buried moisture is apt to result in the spread of molds and mildews – which means more damage later or health problems.
Protect Yourself After The Water Damage Dry Out
As you start to clean up the damage and residue from the flood water, you want to take extra precautions to protect your hands, mouth, and eyes because there may be sewage present. Thoroughly disinfecting the area is necessary, and make sure you wash your hands.
How The Water Damage Dry Out Process Works
When you use dry out services for water damage, the process is rather simple. Devices such as blowers and dehumidifiers are used to heat the air and move it around. This puts the moisture into the air and then the dehumidifier can take the moisture out of the air. The water that accumulates is often drained into a sink.
It can take from two to five days to dry out a home or business. The dry out company will need access to your home or business to ensure that it is working properly. If damaged, you will want to ensure that even hidden places, or hard to get to spaces are also cleaned and dried out.
An experienced dry out company is the best way to go when you have water damage. Talk to them about what materials can be salvaged and what will have to be replaced. Many materials can now be saved that used to be trashed, such as:
• Dry wall
• Ceiling tiles
• Paneling
• Masonry tiles
• Wood and metal studs, etc.
Your insurance company will need to approve it in advance – or you may be paying the difference. There are also special procedures that you must follow exactly in order to make a successful claim for dry out and restoration services.