NATURAL DISASTER FLOOD DAMAGE RESTORATION IN LOUISVILLE

What To Do If Your Home Is Flooded

There are quite a few reasons why your home might get flooded. Some involve natural disasters, and others can be caused by broken appliances, piping, or even putting out a fire. You should use proven practices within the first 24 hours after the flood to keep your home safe and minimize the damage, and flood water removal is just one step in the process.

Floods vary by the destruction that they bring in. If you face a flood caused by a natural disaster, the damage is usually exponentially larger than a flood, let’s say, a broken appliance causes that. 

If your home has been affected by the flood, the first thing you must do is take care of yourself and your family’s safety. Items can get replaced. People can’t. Floods are not just risky for your physical health but also for your mental health as well. You can take a look at FEMA guidance in regards to what you should do in case of floods.

Once you are safe and sound, you should contact your insurance company. If your insurance covers flood damage, there should be minimal cost out of pocket for you, if any at all. The insurance company will send out an adjuster to evaluate the damage and outsource the water mitigation and water restoration process to a company such as Orange Restoration.

Before you enter your property

If your home was hit with a severe flood that had you and your family leaving the property, you should be very careful when coming back. The first thing to check is if the house has any visible structural damage. If it does, you should not step a foot inside of it and let professionals secure the property.

If your home is seriously flooded, you should contact your gas, water, and electricity service providers and ask them to shut off the utilities for you. This way, you avoid running into additional issues that might pop up while working on flood water removal.

You should wear protective gear such as waterproof, high boots, and gloves. You do not want flood water coming in contact with your skin. Some flood waters carry tons of bacteria that can cause harmful effects on you. If this bacteria gets in contact with an open cut, you can be facing a severe infection.

Before going back to your property, you should be ready to take many pictures of the damage. The more pictures you take, the more proof you will have of the damage and present it to your insurance company.

Flood water removal

Once the utilities are disconnected, and the building’s structure is secure, it’s time to remove the water and unrepairable items. Flood water removal is a dirty job and requires specialized heavy-duty equipment. Especially if you are dealing with sewage spills or water that came from outside, these types of floods bring large amounts of nasty bacteria that, if not removed properly, can have severe effects on your health and your home.

If conditions allow it, the water should be removed from the property under 48 hours from when the flood occurred. This way, the effect of the flood is minimized as much as possible. Standing water creates excellent mold development conditions, which becomes a very unpleasant problem to deal with and requires mold remediation services.

Flood water removal should be done along with removing items that are not going to be repairable. Even though it is hard to part with your belongings, quite a few of them can be damaged to the point of no return.

Drying out process

Another crucial step in repairing your flooded home project. After the floodwater removal process has been completed, you will need to dry out the whole area and get rid of the moisture that is impossible to get rid of with water removal equipment. If electricity can be turned back on safely, you should turn on your air conditioning unit to start moving the humidity out of the house.

You should also be using heavy-duty dehumidifiers, fans, air movers. If you go with professional water mitigation and water damage restoration company, they will have equipment on hand, and you will not need to worry about renting it from somewhere.

A water restoration company, such as Orange Restoration, will measure humidity levels along the way and will know exactly when your property is dry. You do not want to rush the drying process because any humidity left behind can increase the risk of mold and mildew.

Inspect the area for mold

Mold can develop reasonably fast, so you must spot it when it occurs. If you do not spot any mold initially, make sure to monitor the affected area for some time after the flood has been cleaned up. If you get rid of it as soon as it appears, you have a good chance of eliminating it for good.

Check for financial assistance

Research if the area that your property is in has any financial assistance programs going on for flood restoration. Voluntary agencies, government disaster programs, and insurance companies could offer people grants or other financial aid types.

Restoring your flooded home

The last but not least step in this process is restoring your home to its original shape. Before you get to this process, you should make sure that your home is completely dry with no water left standing and with the humidity removed. There also should not be any mold that has developed. Besides, your home should be disinfected thoroughly to ensure that no bacteria is leftover that could have been brought by outside waters.

Water damage restoration is a step that will take the longest time from start to finish. This step will involve tearing out floors, walls, ceilings, etc., damaged by the flood and can’t be repaired. If plywood slabs are soaked in water, they wrinkle up and become soft. It is almost impossible to bring them back to a regular shape, so it is much easier and cheaper to replace them.

Items damaged during the flood but can be repaired can be turned into a contents restoration service like the one we offer at Orange Restoration. Other things that cannot be restored should be disposed of.

Orange Restoration – Water Damage Restoration Louisville, KY company

If you are faced with a flood in your home or business in Louisville, KY, New Albany, IN, or surrounding areas, Orange Restoration is here to help. With almost two decades of experience and extremely detail oriented and well trained, licensed professionals, we make sure to bring your property back to its original condition and take the hassle out of the whole process for you. We are just a phone call away!