As a homeowner, it is vital to know how to react to situations that can occur in your residence that involves water damage. These water damage events can range from bursting pipes to overflowing toilets to natural disasters like floods and hurricanes. You must know how to protect your home and your family in the event of such catastrophes.
Take quick action in order to…
– Mitigate the amount of damage done to your home by the presence of water, causing the loss of household goods and personal belongings.
– Decrease the chance of development of rust and mold in your home, which may ultimately lead to structural problems.
– Salvage any important materials that you can like tax documents and family photos if the damage is severe enough.
Next, it is critical to know what to do if the water damage is the result of a natural disaster. Your first goal after a natural disaster is to ensure that all the occupants of your home are safe and have been accounted for. Once you have done this…
Steps to assess the damage of your home:
– If you remained home during the disaster, make sure the outside area is safe to venture out into. In the event of an evacuation, take the necessary precautions to ensure that it is safe to return to your residence.
– If significant damage has been done to your home, verify whether or not your home is even structurally sound enough to make entrance into.
– Be extremely careful when testing out the electricity in your home after the natural disaster. The combination of water and electricity is not something you want to be a part of.
– If any of your appliances or heat is provided by natural gas, make sure the sources to these systems are safely secured and no leaks are occurring.
– Check the exterior of your home to see if there are any entry points for further intrusion of moisture. You may have to make temporary roofing repairs or board up windows that may have been broken during the natural disaster
Ensure your safety after a major water damage event.
– Take the time to disconnect any electronics you may have in your home and relocate them to a nearby area that is safe and dry.
– As quickly as you can, make an effort to shut off the flow of water in your home by turning off the main water supply.
– Do not leave standing water in your home. Quickly remove any standing water from inside your home in order to prevent significant structural damage or further damage to your personal property.
– Any materials in your home that have already suffered water damage should be immediately removed.
– After all of these steps have been taken, begin to ventilate your home to prevent massive mold build up.
Now that you are well-versed on what action to take if your home has been affected by a major water damage event, you need to start thinking about how to deal with the aftermath. The experienced professionals at Accutech Restoration can assist you in recovering from the water damage, set your mind at ease and make it seem like it never happened in the first place.