Just one inch of water can cause $25,000 in damage. But if you take prompt action, you can avoid ballooning costs. Unfortunately, most who find themselves in this situation are too flustered to think straight and waste precious time on mistakes.
To avoid this, it’s critical to educate yourself to be better prepared. Continue reading to learn the steps you can take to make water damage restoration efforts more manageable and less costly.
Safety First
Before you inspect your property, you must turn off the circuits for any affected area. However, this advice changes in the case of a weather event where the grid has potentially suffered overall damage. In this situation, you should have a licensed electrician, your power company, or your local fire department ensure that electricity is turned off in your home.
This is because it’s not possible to fully disconnect from the grid if your power meter is still connected to the socket. So, even if you turned off your power or are in a power outage, you can still get electrocuted from potential back feeding into the system.
Note: Never step into standing water until you are absolutely certain that electricity in that area is turned off.
Assess the Situation
Once you ensure it’s safe to do so, you should identify the source of the water. The most common causes of water damage are extreme weather events or defective home elements, such as clogged plumbing. If the issue is from within your house, like with a burst pipe or leaky water heater, you must turn off your water main immediately.
If you can’t find where the water is coming from, contact a water damage contractor promptly to help locate the source. This is because when a water source is unidentifiable, a small leak can be just the tip of the iceberg.
Next, you should thoroughly inspect potential areas that will need water damage restoration and for signs of mold. Make sure you take pictures along the way and document everything you find. And, if you find it cumbersome to take notes, use your phone’s voice recorder.
Contact Your Insurance Provider
Before your water damage cleanup officially commences, you should first contact your home insurance provider. This is when all the pictures you took during your inspection will come in handy.
Those overwhelmed by this part of the process should consider working with a water damage removal company that handles the insurance paperwork for you.
Clean Out the Space
Now that you’ve documented the damage and ensured your safety, you can enter the premises to remove soiled or destroyed items, such as pulling up carpet and removing furniture. This will give you a better look at how extensive the water damage is.
However, the best water damage restoration companies offer these services and can help with the removal process.
Work with Experts for Water Damage Restoration
While there are some minor water damage repair projects you can undertake on your own, most should be left to the professionals.
At Cutting Edge Restoration Inc, we have over twenty years of experience and are available 24/7 for expert water damage restoration in Southern California. Contact us today to learn more.
