Tips to Follow: Cleaning Your Home After Water Loss

3/20/2017 (Permalink)

Don't let water sit and damage your home and belongings call SERVPRO of South Garland at (972)278-7871 right away.

Cleaning Your Home After Water Damage: Tips to Follow

There can be a lot of damage caused by water in unwanted places in your home. Not only can your house be ruined but also the prized possessions it stores. You can possibly save some of your possessions and minimize damage. Your success will be determined by how long the water has been around. If the water reached electronics, there may be little hope for saving these.

However, carpets and even pieces of furniture might be saved. It is not a good idea to treat this lightly. Even an inch of water in the basement will breed mold. The growth of mold can ruin flooring, carpets, furniture and even walls. This could lead to poor quality of indoor air. Here are a few tips to cleaning your home after water damage.

Dry Your Home

The first tip you need to follow in cleaning your home after water damage is to dry out the area affected. Mop up all the water, use a dehumidifier and fans to help you in drying out the area. Open windows to circulate the air if the weather permits.  Finish the basement and the drywall first. Check to see what floors have water in them and mop each one. If the water has risen higher than just a couple of inches, use buckets and old towels to manually get rid of the water. Pour water out on the lawn. If water is in carpets you may need to lift the carpets and remove the pad underneath as it will hold a lot of water.  Use a wet vacuum cleaner if the plug on the wall is dry and up high. Remember that electricity and water are a bad combination and can be very risky. For this reason, it is recommended that you use the manual bucket method. Professional water damage remediation is needed in this area if you don’t have time and don’t want to make the effort to dry your home yourself. You can give SERVPRO of South Garland a call at (972)278-7871.

Unplug Electronics

When cleaning your home after water damage, remove furniture and electronics as soon as you can. Unplug electronics and disconnect the power. You may be able to save items that you remove quickly. Turn off the power that leads to areas affected, particularly if the water has risen above the height of electrical outlets. Pull out any under-padding and wall to wall area rugs. Get these disinfected and cleaned by brushing them with mild detergent and laying them out in the sun. If the weather does not permit, you will need to get these professionally cleaned.

Prevent the Growth of Mold

Dry out the entire area affected by the flood. Materials such as drywall and wood subfloor can still be moist enough to promote mold growth while seeming dry to the touch. Because if this you should always use a moisture meter to determine if a material is dry.  You can then prevent mold growth by applying a mold growth controller on the floor, walls and furniture. Let this dry overnight. Spray the entire room and you can even use a spray bottle or a mister to do this.

Disinfect Your Home

Dry out the drywall, insulation and wooden beams. The next step is to get disinfect the entire area. The reason for this is because bacteria may have seeped through the sewers and toilets and on the water that filled your home. Use a powerful but non-toxic disinfectant. Every area that the flood water affected including non-upholstered furniture and wood furniture that was on the floor needs to be disinfected.

Restoring your home to its pre-water damage condition can be quite time consuming, and will require much effort from the family or the homeowners. Instead of doing this on your own, you can always hire professional water damage remediation service providers like SREVPRO of South Garland (972)278-7871 we are  always ready to help.