If you live near a river, lake or a low-lying area, one of your worries as a homeowner is a flooded house. Generally occurring during weather events where there is heavy rain, floods can quickly submerge a house in several inches of water. But having an indoor swimming pool in your living room is the least of the problems floods bring, as flood water can contaminate clean drinking water as well as cause water-borne diseases to spread. That is why whenever your house gets flooded, it is important that you perform flood damage cleanup as soon as possible.
Flood damage cleanup in your house is never an easy task, but it is an important procedure nonetheless and must be undertaken once the flood recedes. But before doing so, certain precautions must be made. First, make sure that the electricity is turned off to prevent electric shock during flood damage cleanup. You must also check the water heaters and other gas-burning appliances for gas leaks. In addition, wearing rubber gloves, goggles, boots and other protective gear is a must before performing flood damage cleanup. Dressing in such protective equipment prevents you from direct contact with disease-carrying flood residue and stagnant water inside household items. And if you decide to file for claims from your insurance company, having a camera ready to document the extent of damage while doing flood damage cleanup in your house will make your application much easier.
One of the first things you must do during flood damage cleanup is to open all the doors and windows in the house to facilitate drying. Having flood water inside your home even for just a few hours can result in extensive damage, so getting the water to dry up quickly is essential. You should also remove all wet and soaked materials from the house to dry outside or be disposed, and wash all surfaces both in the house’s interior and exterior with bleach or similar disinfectant to prevent the spread the of molds and mildew. And once that’s done, remove the carpet and its accompanying padding throughout the house, as they contain harmful bacteria and will slow down the drying process. And if you have walls made of gypsum board or sheetrock, you should remove it as well to prevent growth of mildew inside the wall cavity. The ceiling must also be checked during flood damage cleanup, for even though the flood may not be high enough to reach the ceiling the resulting high humidity can cause it to swell. Damaged ceiling boards must be re-nailed, refinished or replaced if necessary.
It usually takes 1 to 6 weeks for a flooded home to dry out completely after flood damage cleanup, with the duration depending on how much and how long the flood water was inside the structure and the extent of ventilation. But no matter how long it takes, it is advisable that you should not install new materials in your house until all of the surfaces have dried out completely.
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