Flood Cleanup

Floods can damage your household in a lot of ways. Not only is it hard to extract the standing water, but the flood also leaves a nasty residue behind, mold and moisture that can be extremely difficult to dehumidify. 

Doing all of this by yourself can be quite challenging and if you don’t have proper equipment and needed expertise, you might end up with a headache. Therefore, consulting a flood cleanup service company is always a good idea, since they can tackle the flood cleanup issue with ease.

The main subject in this article will be flood cleanup – specifically what it is, how can you stay safe if it happens in your household and how can flood cleanup companies help you to resolve the issue efficiently and cost friendly.

Stay Safe in the Face of the Flood

What if we told you that more people in the US die from floods than from tornadoes or storms? It might not seem plausible, but that’s the truth. This is why it’s very important to stay safe in the face of the flood, and following some of the steps listed below, you ensure that flood can’t do any harm to you:

• Gas and power are off
• Wear protective gear
• Examine the building’s structure
• Remove standing water
• Disinfect
• Dry thoroughly
• First Aid

Insurance Claims

Flood water removal and restoration can get quite expensive depending on the damage and the affected area. This is why you should always check if your insurance covers the cost of emergency flood cleanup and flood cleanup services many companies offer. 

It’s always a good idea to take pictures of the state of your household after the flood and document all the activities that have to be done – together with keeping every single receipt that you may get from the flood cleanup company.

Emergency Flood Cleanup: How Does the Flood Affect You?

The damage a flood can do can be vast depending on its severity. You might think that a small flood won’t cause many problems to you, but if you don’t act fast, you might be facing potential destruction to many objects in your household:

• Wallboard and drywall
• Plaster
• Solid wood
• Insulation
• Pipes
• Appliances
• HVAC

Flood can cause additional damage that you will have to deal with sooner rather than later – mold, burst pipes, moisture etc. 

Flood Cleanup: What Not to Do?

Flood restoration can be a hard thing to do, and consulting a professional flood cleaning service to do it for you is always something we recommend. The flood cleanup company will know the do’s and don’ts when it comes to flood cleanup, but still, we will list what you should not do in case of a flood:

• Don’t enter the building if you see structural damage
• Don’t use electricity
• Don’t walk on unsafe surfaces
• Don’t do structural or electrical work alone
• Don’t let garbage pile up as it could lure pests and contaminate the surroundings
• Don’t leave pools of standing water as it can contaminate the surroundings as well as becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects

It’s important to know these things before calling the professional flood cleanup service. You might ask why, and it’s fairly simple – it’s for the sake of your own safety and because you don’t want to make the flooding problem even bigger by doing something you aren’t supposed to.

What to do Before Flood Cleanup Services Arrive?

If you want to be proactive and help the flood cleanup company before it arrives, you can do some activities that will ensure that their job is that much easier. You can in fact do the whole flood cleanup process by yourself, but this is something we don’t recommend:

• Remove standing water
• Remove all soaked materials
• Shovel out mud
• Clean and dry walls
• Scrub floors and woodwork
• Dry surfaces

The costs of flood cleanup can ramp up pretty fast if you do it yourself, and at that point, you might as well call a professional flood cleanup company that has more experience – it will be more cost friendly and way more efficient.