How to Repair Your Home After the First Floor Floods

Home renovations can be an exciting experience, but what about repair work? Not at all. When the destructive nature of water damages your home, it can be frustrating and may feel as if you’re taking a step back in terms of adding value to your home. However, the repair process is necessary to restore your home to its original — or better — condition. First-floor floods are a common occurrence when it comes to water damage. You will need to call in professionals who provide drying services to rectify the situation. Depending on the cause of the flood, you may also need to repair or replace drywall, insulation, and flooring. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you.

How you react in the first few moments after discovering your home is flooded may determine the extent of the damage. Here are a few steps to help you minimize and repair damage to your home when it floods on the first floor.

1. Contact your insurance

When your house is underwater, it might be very expensive to restore your house to its original condition. The best time to contact the insurance company is immediately, especially if the first floor flood was caused by natural disasters. Because phone lines to the company may be busy, the sooner you call, the higher you will be on their waiting list. If you cannot reach your local agent, consider contacting headquarters. Your insurance usually takes care of the charges. You can contact your insurance to ask the conditions necessary for the insurance to cover the costs. In the event that your insurance cannot help you, you can opt for a loan with GetPaydayLoans to cover your unexpected expenses due to the flood.

2. Determine the Source of the Flood

Natural disasters are likely to come to mind when homeowners consider a flooded first floor. Finding the source of the flood can help you to protect your furniture, for example.

3. halt the flow

If you can locate the source of the water and turn it off, do so. For example, you could turn off the home’s water supply, turn off a dripping or leaking faucet, or unplug the water heater. If you need to wade through water, call a professional and wait outside to avoid electrocution.

4. Turn off the power

If you can reach the fuse box without getting wet, turn off the power to the affected areas of the house. This will also help to reduce the risk of electrocution. If you can’t get to the fuse box without getting wet, call the pros and wait outside.

5. Record the Damage

While you wait for the professionals, document the damage in your home as thoroughly as possible. This may be required for insurance reasons. Take notes, photos, and even video footage where possible.

6. Take out the Water

Begin as soon as you receive permission to remove the water from your home. Companies may have a difficult time if the problem is widespread in your community. So, get a head start on your home improvement project by doing some work yourself. To begin drying out the home, rent a sump pump or wet vac. However, avoid plugging these machines into affected area sockets, especially if the water level has risen to the level of those sockets.

7. Remove any wet or damaged items

It is pointless to dry the area only to leave wet items inside. This would only serve as a breeding ground for mould and potentially harmful bacteria. Professional assistance will be required to remove the carpeting and drywall. However, soaked furniture, rugs, clothes, and appliances can be removed on your own. If any food comes into contact with the water, you must discard it as well due to the possibility of contamination.

9. The Area Must Be Dried

Unfortunately, removing the water and wet items does not result in a dry environment. A dehumidifier is required to ensure that the area is completely dry. If only one small room is affected, a personal dehumidifier should suffice until help arrives. Commercial-grade dehumidifiers, on the other hand, are much larger and more powerful.

10. Replace Material

Unlike United Water Restoration, many contractors who provide drying services do not replace the drywall, insulation, and carpeting they may remove from your home. As a result, you may need to call in another team of contractors to replace and re-install these items. This should also be covered by your insurance company.

The last important thing to help you in this situation is to ventilate the room. It’s a good idea to air out the house if opening the windows won’t allow more moisture in. You are in a difficult situation because of the flooding but we hope that these few steps will help you to manage the situation.