What You Need to Do If You Have Water Damage in Your Home

Updated 11/1/2022

When you have had a lot of water come into your home, it can cause a huge amount of damage to virtually every part of the home. It can even ruin the home’s structural integrity. When you get a water damage service, you can find out the basement restoration cost as well as the cost of your other repairs. You may need to pay a basement water removal cost before you can get the repairs done.

The basement water cleanup cost can be a lot, depending on the size of your basement and the amount of water there. It may also be affected by the amount of equipment that is needed for the job. The bathroom floor repair water damage cost may also be high because of the expensive materials that most people use in their bathrooms. Try to get an estimate first before the water damage repair starts.

Getting your home back to normal again is the main idea behind the repairs. This can take a while, however, because a lot of the building materials may need to be replaced. You may also need help with mold and/or mildew that is growing inside the house because of the floodwaters.

Water may make life on earth possible but it can also cause a lot of damage. The most widespread natural disaster in the United States is flooding. At least 90% of all natural disasters that as declared that by the president include some amount of flooding. The home water damage can be costly. For a home that is 2,000 square feet and has 12 inches of interior water damage, it can cost more than $50,000 to make the necessary repairs. Walls of water can go as high as ten to 20 feet in cases of flash flooding. If your home has been impacted by a flood or other problem, there are things you need to do.

Turn off the electricity. If your entire home has been flooded, you need to shut down the power to the entire house. If there are only portions of your home that have been impacted, you need to cut the power to those rooms or areas. If you have appliances or devices in those areas, if you want to save them, you need to move them out of the flooded area.

1. Remove any standing water. If you can plug something in, you can get a wet vac. If you do not have one, you can rent one from a local hardware store. If the area that is flooded is too far from an outlet that you can use, do not use an extension cord. These can cause more problems than will be solved by using a wet vac. These can be really helpful when it comes to getting rid of standing water from a flood or a water leak. If this is not an option, because there is no power or for whatever reason, you can use buckets and towels to get the water out of your home. The sooner you can get the water out of your house, the better. The longer the water is allowed to remain in your home, the more damage it can do to your home.
2. Get the area as dry as you can. When you are working on water leak repairs or other flooding issues, you need to get the affected area as dry as you can. After you have gotten rid of the water itself, you should bring in a dehumidifier and fans to get the area as dry as you can get it. If it is dry outside, you can open up windows and turn on fans to get the air moving through the area. Mold can begin to grow within 48 hours so you want to get your home as dry as possible as quickly as you can. You may have to get rid of drywall that has been impacted by the flood or other home water damage.
3. Move any carpets or rugs out. It may be possible to salvage your carpets and your rugs if you move them out of the area as soon as you can. Home waater damage can be particularly bad for these items but is is possible to have them professionally cleaned and disinfected. The longer they are allowed to sit in water, the harder it will be to clean and disinfect them. You will have to get rid of any underpadding material. This often will just turn into a sponge and you will not be able to save that.
4. Deal with mold. If you have a flood or other home water damage, you have to do whatever you can to prevent mold from growing in your home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified thousands of kinds of mold and all of them can be dangerous for people’s health. Mold spores are in the air around us all of the time. They love to find wet or damp areas to settle and grow. If you find any evidence that mold has started to make your home its home, you should contact a local mold removal or mold cleanup company. They can help get rid of the mold in your home and make it really safe.

Before you suffer home water damage, you should also check your homeowner’s insurance policy to make sure floods are covered.