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Flood Clean Up

Water is deceptive.  You’re not fully aware of just how powerful it is until your life has been ravaged by it, either through a particularly nasty storm or hurricane, or through a flood that invades your home and wreaks havoc on your property and personal belongings, as well as the health of those who live there.

Even an inch of standing water can cause thousands of dollars in damage to your home, ruining flooring, walls, furniture, carpeting, and appliances.  It doesn’t take much.

Flood recovery is a long, difficult process, but it can be accomplished.  Here are a few flood clean up tips:

Contact your insurance agent, and provide detailed documentation of your belongings and the damage.

Extract excess water from the residence, using pumps or wet-dry vacs.  You will probably find a good amount of mud covering your floors, so shovel as much out as you can.  Then use hoses to wash muds away from hard surfaces.

Carpets will need to be professionally treated, cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized, if they are to be saved.  Remove all carpets from your home and throw out wet and damaged padding.

Remove all furniture, rugs, bedding and clothing to dry outside.  Use fans or blowers to circulate as much air as possible in the house.  This will remove residual moisture in the air or any surfaces.

Electricity should be shut off and not turned back on until the electrical system has been inspected by a professional and given the okay.

Heating and cooling systems will need to be inspected.  Flood soaked insulation should be replaced.

Professional cleaning is recommended for all electronic items, appliances, TV’s, radios, vacuum cleaners, etc.  Do not attempt to operate them until this is done.

For best and most thorough results, contact your local flood damage clean up company.  They will be able to handle all aspects of your repair work, from water extraction and drying, to carpet cleaning and mold removal, as well as any structural repair or reconstruction as needed.  Look for the IICRC seal and call for a free estimate.