3 Tips to Minimize Damage While Waiting for Help

10/6/2020 (Permalink)

While unwanted water has the potential to cause downtime, taking quick action with the above damage tips may minimize the damage.

The moment water floods your Broken Arrow, OK, business, you know there will be a lot of work to clean up the mess. After ensuring the property is safe, calling your insurance company, and contacting a water damage and restoration company, there is often a wait time before the real cleanup can begin. Although the true cleanup needs to wait, below are three damage tips to help speed up the process once help arrives.

1. Document the Damage
It can be easy to want to start sorting through the mess and researching cleaning tips. To ensure you get the most out of the water loss, documenting all the damage needs to happen. Take videos or photographs of every affected area, as well as all the items in it. Once everything is documented, saturated furniture or textiles, such as rugs and draperies, can be removed outdoors to dry out.

2. Extract the Water
A pipe burst is a common source of water infiltration. If that happens, it can mean 100s of gallons of unwanted water. Once it is deemed safe to enter and the water is turned off, getting rid of as much water as possible as soon as possible increases the chances of salvaging more items and reducing the chances of mold growth. If there is significant standing water, use a bucket to bail out the water. Once the levels lower, use a wet/dry vacuum.

3. Dry Out
One of the top damage tips from experts is drying everything out. Even if the water is visibly gone, it could have wicked up walls and into carpeting and other items. That excess water also increases humidity levels in a structure, potentially resulting in mold growth. Turn on any fan you can to get the best airflow possible. Be sure to regularly move fans so that all areas get dried out. If possible, use a dehumidifier to bring humidity levels closer to normal.

While unwanted water has the potential to cause downtime, taking quick action with the above damage tips may minimize the damage.