By Mashum Mollah
It is always difficult to deal with damage to your home, whether it’s caused by outer elements or from within. At that time it is important to remember that there’s no point crying over spilled milk and try to focus on things you can do right then and there to make things better.
Water can be harmful both to your home and your health and by following a few steps you can quickly prepare it for restoration by professionals. I recently talked to Risk-Free Serv to find out more about what can be done when this happens and they helped me with their experience and guided me through the process, so here’s what I learned:
Get Rid Of The Water:
The first thing you need to do is remove all the water from the premises and dry the area. Depending on the amount of water that invaded your home you can either use old rugs and towels or if the situation is more serious you can also rent vacuums and dehumidifiers.
It’s important to point out what type of water you are dealing with. Is it regular, grey, or black water? Grey and black are dangerous to deal with without protection and proper training. You also need to be efficient, the sooner it is removed, the less chance there is for mold to appear.
Remove Furniture:
To prevent damage to your furniture, especially the woodwork you should move everything outside, or at least, to an unaffected area of your home. Some objects are vulnerable to water and there’s no point waiting for them to dry out, instead, you can throw them away. The rest of the stuff should be left to dry and then you can estimate whether they are worth saving. Woodwork is susceptible to mold and you should take extra care there and inspect those items thoroughly.
Time to Dry:
When you remove all the furniture and water you can now start the drying process. There are a few ways you can approach this depending on the amount of damage and type of affected areas. What you need is a constant airflow so you can open all windows and doors to enable that. That’s not going to be enough though, you can also get a few big fans and put them to work. To be sure you are going to do it right you should also rent a dehumidifier.
Disinfect:
You can never be sure how contaminated the water is and it’s important to disinfect the area after it’s dried out. Surfaces damaged by water are a great breeding ground for bacteria, mold, mildew, etc. It is necessary to conduct a thorough inspection afterward because the humidity can stay in hard-to-reach areas like attics, cellars, or beneath a wooden floor.
Professional Help:
Water damage restoration is not an easy task, there’s a number of things you need to consider before you can be sure it’s safe to return. If you don’t have enough experience or confidence to take action, the best way to handle this situation is to call a water damage company that will know exactly what to do.
You need to evacuate the house and contact someone immediately. It is even cheaper to call professionals rather than rent or buy equipment, but most importantly, you want to ensure the affected space is safe from mold, and all affected corners of your home need to be cleared from potential mold growth. More people can also help you take your furniture outside much faster because speed is important here, the more you wait the riskier the area becomes.
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