Taking Care Of Water Damage In Your House

Anywhere there is water there is the potential for water damage

. Whether it be in the kitchen, the bathroom, laundry room or outside in the yard, when water ends up where it's not supposed to be it can lead to damage.

If your flood is relatively minor, you can easily take care of it yourself with some perseverance and simple tools. The main thing is to take care of it quickly. Getting the water dried up will prevent further damage and keep mold and other types of problems from cropping up.

Professionals break water damage into three main categories: Clean, grey and black. Clean has no real contamination and is what happens when the sink overflows. Grey water has some contaminants that can make you sick, but nothing totally disgusting; this is what you get from the backed up garbage disposal. Black water is the really disgusting type and contains solid human and animal waste.

Depending on the type of water you need to clean up, you should be careful to take precautions to protect your health. When dealing with grey or black water it is always a good idea to wear protective clothing and sturdy non-porous gloves.

Walking by a wall after a rainfall and finding a water spot is certainly going to make you wish you hadn't seen it. But, take heart, it's a good thing you did, because just think of the consequences if you hadn't. You might end up with having to replace the entire wall if you weren't alerted early to take care of the leak and early prevention is worth a pound of cure. Mold and mildew love dark, moist places to fester and they can lead to illness.

If you come home to water standing in a room, go and turn off the electricity before walking it. You don't want to get yourself electrocuted on the way to shutting of the water under the sink. Besides, while you're shutting off the electricity, you may as well turn off the water too.

With any unwanted water, you need to get it dried up as fast as you can. Use a wet-dry vacuum to suck up as much water as you can manage. After you have done that you need to provide a lot of air circulation to dry up the rest. Fans, dehumidifiers and anything that moves air will help. You will probably have to leave them working for at least a day or two.

If you had deep flooding, it is a good idea to remove the baseboards and disinfect them. Removing them will allow them to dry well and it will also give the area behind a chance to dry.

Cleaning and disinfecting everything is very important. Disinfect and deodorize your carpet extremely well and you may not need to replace it or the padding. Sanitizing is important to stop the growth of mold, mildew and any other microorganisms that love moisture and dark places. These can be the hidden source of coughing, sneezing and watery eyes.

Remember to check things other than the floor and walls. Think about your furniture that probably got wet as well and sanitize it too. Use high quality oil on your wood furniture to restore the luster and replace vital oil.

With luck and some hard work you won't have any actual damage because you tackled the leak right away. If that wasn't possible, you'll know that you did everything you could to avoid damage. If the problem is very severe it's probably best to call in some experts as they have all the right equipment for taking care of your home. Hopefully, your homeowners insurance covers water damage and they will take care of everything for you. If you're not sure, now might be a good time to pull out your policy and check it.

by: George Archer

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