Five Steps to Take for Effective Water Damage Cleanup & Repair
If you have found yourself in the unfortunate situation of dealing with water damage, it is important to understand the steps to take. Whether the water damage was the result of a local river or stream overflowing its banks and flooding surrounding properties, or it is the result of a roof leak, burst pipe, or an overflowing sink or toilet, the importance of taking quick action remains the same. The longer you wait, the more significant the water damage can end up becoming. Each hour that passes with standing water in your property will add further damage to its physical structure as well as continuing to damage all of your personal property that is contained within. With this in mind, the five key steps that you need to take to clean up the damage that has been caused by water include:
- Fast and decisive action
- Quickly acquiring professional assistance
- It is important to quickly get things dry
- Clean and sanitize
- Repair and restore
Immediate Action Is Necessary
As has been stated, taking quick and decisive action needs to be the first priority on your list. To begin with, you will want to consider getting photographic evidence of the water damage that has occurred to your property. This is going to come in useful when it comes time to approach your insurance company about a settlement. Beyond this, you need to get the standing water out of your property as quickly as possible so that the water damage can be halted. You can use equipment such as sump pumps and wet/dry vacs to accomplish this, but your best move would be to hire the services of water damage cleanup pros.
Quickly Bringing in Professional Water Damage Restoration Help Is Essential
As has been noted, you need to bring in professional help to truly address water damage in the most effective way. When you hire water damage repair professionals, they will come armed with their specialized knowledge as well as their specialized equipment. This will prove essential in ensuring that the situation is addressed quickly and effectively. These professionals will know how to assess your situation and then get to work right away removing standing water and drying out your property.
The Drying Process Needs to Be Accomplished as Quickly as Possible
Drying things out is one of the most important steps. Once the standing water is out of your property, the drying process needs to begin. You can assist this process by making sure to open up all of your doors and windows to the outside world. You can also keep everything open indoors. This includes leaving interior doors open, opening up closets, cabinets, and drawers. You can also make use of fans and dehumidifiers to assist you in the critical process of getting everything dried out. The faster things are dried out, the less the overall damage is going to be to your property.
Cleaning and Sanitizing
Cleaning and sanitizing are two of the most important steps in the process of cleaning up from water damage. Everything in your property needs to be effectively sterilized. It also needs to be cleaned properly. All of this needs to occur before any restoration and repair work commences on your property. Water damage professionals have extensive experience in effectively cleaning and sanitizing so that the water damage restoration in Atlanta process can begin.
Water Damage Restoration and Repair
After all of these steps have been taken, the process of restoration and repair can commence. This will include the repair of any structural damage that has occurred to your property. It is common for floors, ceilings, drywall, carpet, and other elements of your property to sustain serious damage from water. All of these issues will need to be addressed through the process of repair and restoration. This process of repair and restoration is where the services of trained professionals will truly save you money. They will be able to determine what can be salvaged effectively and what cannot be. These skilled contractors will make a major difference in the final outcome for your property and they give you the best route toward restoring things back to the way that they were before the water damage occurred.