When You Need Water Removal

When your home is flooded and in need of water removal it is an unwelcome surprise that could breed damage to your home and stress to your well-being. A sudden and unexpected water removal, can actually cause a tremendous amount of costly damage. It may ruin some items and cause damage to your property, but you can save some of your possessions when you know what to do. The degree to which you can protect your home, belongings, and prized possessions depends greatly on how quickly you act. However, most electrical or electronic items will likely be destroyed.

From Our Water Removal Experts to You

While our water removal experts are trained to know exactly what to do once we get to your flooded home to perform water extraction, and dry the home, we understand that you may have never experienced this in your life. Our team of water removal experts got together to put together a list of things that will help you when you need it most.

What to do When Water Floods your Home, Basement, or Crawl Space

When you need water removal, DO NOT:

• Stand in areas with wet ceilings that could collapse.
• Turn on AC or Heat if the area is contaminated with sewage or mold.
• Do not spread sewer flooding into other areas of the home.
• Go into any areas that are contaminated with septic overflow, sewage, or mold.
• Attempt to remove water with a standard vacuum.
• Bring electrical appliances to an area in which you need water removal.
• Use extension cords in the flooded area.
• Use any power in the affected rooms.

When you need water removal, DO:

• Turn off the main water source or the source of flooding in your property.
• Turn off circuits to the water damaged areas, if in doing so you will be safe from electrocution.
• Blot any areas that you can with towels to remove water that could cause you to slip.
• Find a safe area to move furniture, electronics, rugs, and other items.
• Begin making a list of damaged, destroyed, or lost items. Take photos, if possible.
• Remove any wet area rugs to a dry place, such as a garage. Lay them or hang them to dry.
• Remove perishable items such as newspapers or important papers to a dry area.
• If you will be safe from electrocution, remove any electronics and electrical appliances.
• Remove furniture, prop it up, or place aluminum foil on the legs to lessen further damage.
• If your ceiling is bubbled, not bulging, you can place a trash can under it and make a puncture hole with a screwdriver for the water to flow out, if it is safe from collapse.

A Flooded Home Must be Dried

While most small water removal claims can be handled this way, it is very important to call an experienced company, like Dry Out Systems, to remove damaged materials that typically prevent full drying. It is very important to dry a water damaged home to prevent mold growth. Further, an important aspect provided by Dry Out Systems is insurance claim processing. Having processed more than 10,000 claims in 20 years, we know exactly what to do and how to do it. Some things to remember about the claim process in order to have a solid, paid claim are:

• Call in your Insurance claim for water removal and drying as soon as possible within 48 hours or less.
• Make sure that you document any damage to your belongings.
• Photograph the structural and personal property damage before and after.
• Make sure you repair the source of the water leakage or, at a minimum, stop it from continuing.
• Make sure your home is dried properly either by having a professional drying company dry it or have them check for moisture with state-of-the-art moisture detection.
• Save electricity bills from prior months to help get reimbursement for the cost of drying equipment electricity.
• Have all of your insurance and mortgage company information available.
• Understand that the insurance adjuster, while very nice, is working for the insurance company.

A flooded home is serious business, and we know what it takes for proper water removal for protection of your home and your belongings. More importantly, we know just how stressful a water damage occurrence can be. Hopefully, these tips will get you started in the right direction. We can help you further, so call us anytime day or night. For more information about our water removal services click here.